Blog

All For Glory

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

God is passionate for His glory.

Scripture tells us that He is zealous for his holy name. (Ezk 39:25) 

I have a confession.

This used to make me a little uncomfortable.

Because when it comes to us, seeking our own glory, being intensely interested in our own fame and honor, is…well…off-putting. We usually call these people egomaniacs or narcissists. 

I was using the motivations of the human heart to understand God and it wasn’t working. 

But then, one Sunday morning, our worship arts pastor said something that stuck.

God’s glory is our good.

I’m pretty sure I spent the rest of the sermon pondering that truth. Rolling is around in my mind and in my heart.

God is jealous for His glory because His glory is good.

His glory fills us with awe and wonder. 

His glory leads us to repentance and faith. 

He deserves all praise and all honor. And in the act of giving Him what’s due His name, we are brought to life.

Because the zeal He has for His glory goes hand in hand with the passionate consuming love He has for us.

Let’s Talk: Have you had any epiphanies lately? Has anyone said anything that struck you as profound and filled with truth? If so, please share!

On Friday, I’m announcing something I’ve been super excited about. It’s one of those things that could be really GREAT or it could flop. Won’t know until I try! Make sure to tune in for the announcement!

 

KISS: Keep It Simple, Silly

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I have such a tendency to over complicate things.

My book releases in a little over a month. A lifelong dream is coming to fruition before my eyes.

Yet I find myself getting overwhelmed with thoughts of sales and buzz and reviews and will my readers like my second book as much as the first and what can I do, what can I do, what can I do!?

It’s right about then, when I get all frazzled, that I take a deep breath and remind myself to KISS.

To revisit a very simple question.

Why am I doing this?

Yes, I want to create buzz.

Yes, after everything my publisher has done, I would love to give them a book with great sales.

Yes, I want good reviews and yes, I want to give my readers stories that get better and better.

But when it comes right down to it, I only need to focus on two things.

Just two.

  • Glorifying God
  • Blessing others
In the stories I write.
 
In my attempts at marketing.
 
In the blog posts I publish.
 
In my online interactions with readers and writers.
 
And in my real life day-to-day, in-and-out activities.
 
Those are my goals.
 
Glorify Him.
 
Bless others.
 
KISS.
 
Let’s Talk: Do you tend to over-complicate things? Do you know your ultimate goals? Would knowing them help you KISS?

Keli Gwyn asks me some fun questions on her blog today. Hop on over for a chance to win a copy of my book! 

Congrats to Jeanette Levellie, the winner of Friday’s giveaway! 
 

Love and Marriage

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Love and marriage. They go together like a horse and carriage…

That song is totally going to be stuck in my head now. 

Oi.

But seriously…

Marriage and love.

Love and marriage.

It’s not a simple thing, is it?

You live with a person long enough and it becomes incredibly easy to take that person for granted.

I promise you, I’m guilty.

Here I am, a romance author, and yet sometimes I feel like I could use a lesson in romance. How’s that for ironic?

I just finished reading Far from Here by Nicole Baart and wow. There are so many things I loved about this novel. The prose. The characters. The story. 

And the poignant, honest moments when the main character, Dani, faced the truth about her marriage. 

Here’s a paragraph that really grabbed me. It comes right after Dani’s husband, Etsell, tells her that she is his home.

I was twenty-one years old. Too young to realize what he was saying to me. Too naive to know that gravity fades. That is dissipates with distance, sometimes becoming a link so weak and tenuous it’s a wonder we continue to orbit each other at all. Etsell and I treated love like a state of being, a law of physics that would exist simply because it always had. I didn’t learn until much later that love is actually a choice. The sort of choice that we have to make every minute of every day, even when we don’t feel like it. Even when all we want is to be anywhere but where we find ourselves.

Because when home is a person, it will always be a moving target.

When I finished reading that part, I had to put the book down and let the words soak. Let them settle.

And when they had, I was convicted.

Not because I don’t choose to love my husband. But because there are days when I don’t show that choice to him.  There are days I’m so wrapped up in my own thing that I neglect him altogether.

Thankfully, he’s a gracious man. A wonderful, amazing man. 

He understands.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t work on getting better.

In different news, I have lots and lots of ARCs to giveaway, thanks to my awesome publisher! So I’d like to do a giveaway today! One random commenter will receive a copy of my debut novel. So comment away! 

Let’s Talk: How do you keep the love alive in a marriage?

Nicole is one of my favorite authors, so I was very excited when she agreed to endorse my debut novel, Wildflowers from Winter. To read her endorsement, click on the link and scroll down.