More interview questions with Sara Lynne Hilton

If you had to pinpoint the main theme of The Micah Road Mysteries series, what would it be?

I think it would be that our lives have meaning and purpose beyond our line of sight. I want kids to know that their lives matter now—not just when we are grown. I hope kids walk away from the books with an understanding that the things they do and say matter. The way they treat each other matters.

You often write and speak about history and injustice. How do kids respond to this? 

I love talking to kids about injustice and their role in making things right. I find that most kids have an innate sense of justice. Ask most parents and they’ll probably tell you that their kids very willingly share what is not fair! This innate sense means kids tend to get really passionate when they learn about injustices like slavery.

The key is to bridge history with what is going on in their lives. For instance, when I talk to kids about slavery, most of them get fired up and tell me how they would have worked on The Underground Railroad. So I bridge it by saying, “Hey, I love the way you are talking. I love your passion and courage. Did you know that there are injustices in the world today? You can’t work on The Underground Railroad, so let’s fid a way to use your passion and courage today.” Then the kids and I brainstorm ways to make a difference in their own worlds. 

What is your favorite part about being a writer?

I love talking to kids after they’ve read one of my books. I recently did a school visit where all the kids had read Shadows in Tenebray Forest in advance of my visit. Hearing the kids talking about the characters and debating the choices the characters made was an unbelievable experience. To have the chance to see how my work has left my arms and is out there in the world is extremely gratifying. 

Tell us about the We Walk Tour coming to Abbotsford on February 8.

The We Walk Tour is a three-hour mother daughter event. The tour is hosted by GEMS Girls’ Clubs, which is a dynamic international club program for young girls. For years GEMS has encouraged girls to find their voices and to become activists for Christ no matter their age. The tour is an extension of this. It’s really a call for girls to avoid the lure of indifference and apathy and silence.

The We Walk Tour challenges girls to stand up for what they believe in, even when the world does not value their voices. The event will open with great praise and worship, I’ll be speaking, we’ll have videos, and interactive object lessons. There is a mom-only session led by two amazing women and I’ll be leading a girl-only session. There is a craft, a snack, more praise and worship, prizes and giveaways. It’s a fun and meaningful morning where girls can better understand that their small acts, in the hands of Jesus, can be the catalyst for huge change in the world.

The event is on February 8 at Gateway Community Church in Abbotsford. Tickets are $15 per ticket and can be purchased through House of James, Blessings Christian Marketplace, Tourism Abbotsford or through at itickets.com http://www.itickets.com

You can also find information on my website. gemsgc.org/mrm.

An interview with author and We Walk speaker, Sara Lynne Hilton

Bio

Sara Lynne Hilton is the author of The Micah Road Mysteries series and the keynote speaker for the international We Walk Tour. She is the former Senior Editor for both Shine brightly and Sparkle magazines and a frequent speaker at conferences, schools, church clubs, and other events. She has a deep a passion for encouraging girls to use their voices to make change in the world and to reject the lure of apathy and indifference. Sara resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with her husband, two kids, and a cat named Chucky Buckles.

You can find her at www.gemsgc.org/mrm

1. What is the book series about?

The Micah Road Mysteries are about Tasha and Chloe, two girls who decide that they aren’t going to be the kind of girls who stand back and just allow bad things to happen, they are going to be the kind of girls who do something about injustices. So they convert an old playhouse in Tasha’s backyard into a detective agency and start taking on simple cases like lost cats. However, the girls’ bright shiny plans take a back seat when real life shows up. They end up facing series cases and learning that sometimes doing the right thing is very hard.

2. Book two, The Secret Order, asks the question, “What is true power?” What made you decide to tackle this topic?

I was reading an article about how young girls are targeted in some countries simply for seeking an education. I was struck by how often powerful regimes go after innocent and helpless people. Is true power simply brutality and force against the weak? To me, that reeked of fear and cowardice, and it begged the question, What is true power?

3. The Secret Order suggests that true power is love that doesn’t give up. Did you have that idea in your mind when you started the book?

No, the idea that true power is love that doesn’t give up developed as I wrote. The girls end up discovering the story of a mother and daughter who fled slavery during the 1860’s. As I was writing, the power of this mother’s love became so evident and so much purer and stronger than the forces around them. I wondered if love transcended earthly powers. Could love create a place that brute force couldn’t touch?

When I balanced that idea against my faith it made sense to me. As a Christian I believe God is all-powerful. But what is it about God’s power that brings me to my knees? It is his brute strength? Is it the knowledge that he can crush me? What is it? I realized that it is pure love and grace brings me to my knees. Let’s face it, we humans are pretty screwed up. We are a mess and yet God never gives up on us, and that is a Godly quality that I can’t quite grasp. I can understand brute power. I can understand being so angry that I want to destroy. But unceasing love? Love that doesn’t give up? Love that sacrifices for the undeserved? That is a power I can barely comprehend. That’s what makes me fall to my knees.

4. If you’ve ever been the recipient of love that doesn’t give up?

Yes I have and it was one of the most startling moments of my life.

5. Tell us about the We Walk Tour coming to Abbotsford, BC on February 8th.

The We Walk Tour is a three-hour mother daughter event. The tour is hosted by GEMS Girls’ Clubs, which is a dynamic international club program for young girls. For years GEMS has encouraged girls to find their voices and to become activists for Christ no matter their age. The tour is an extension of this. It’s really a call for girls to avoid the lure of indifference and apathy and silence.

The We Walk Tour challenges girls to stand up for what they believe in, even when the world does not value their voices. The event will open with great praise and worship, I’ll be speaking, we’ll have videos, and interactive object lessons. There is a mom-only session led by two amazing women and I’ll be leading a girl-only session. There is a craft, a snack, more praise and worship, prizes and giveaways. It’s a fun and meaningful morning where girls can better understand that their small acts, in the hands of Jesus, can be the catalyst for huge change in the world.

The event is on February 8 at Gateway Community Church in Abbotsford. Tickets are $15 per ticket and can be purchased through House of James, Blessings Christian Marketplace, Tourism Abbotsford or through at itickets.com http://www.itickets.com

You can also find information on my website. gemsgc.org/mrm.

Two weeks until We Walk!

The We Walk Tour is only two weeks from today!!

IF you would like to avoid the taxes & fees that apply when purchasing tickets online, you may place a bulk order for tickets with me. A counselor in Canada will get us tickets at one of the local outlets, but I will need to have your order by January 27. Email me for details about how to do this!!

The Comparison Game

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:26

Until last week, I’ve read Galatians 5:26 as an itemized checklist. I understood them as standalone commands.

√ Do not be conceited. (My translation: You shall not be proud.)

√ Do not provoke one another. (My translation: You shall not irritate, aggravate, or intentionally step on someone’s last nerve.)

√ Do not envy each other. (My translation: You shall not covet your neighbor’s jean size, spiritual gifts, picture perfect family, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.)

Within his book, Galatians for You, Timothy Keller gave me needed clarity about this verse. Although they are standalone truths from God’s Word, they’re intentionally woven together. All three (not just the first command) are tied to conceit.

Keller writes, “’Provoking’ is the stance of someone who is sure of his or her superiority, looking down on someone perceived to be weaker. ‘Envying’ is the stance of someone who is conscious of inferiority, looking ‘up’ at someone they feel is above them.”

Provoking and envying are flip sides of the same self-absorbed coin. One is conceit absorbed in superiority; the other is conceit wrapped in an inferiority complex. Both are driven by comparisons, either feeling greater than or less than others, depending on the crowd and context of the activity or conversation. Both seek glory for self instead of for God.

When God is the greatest in our lives we find our identity and worth in Christ instead of comparisons. When God is center of our lives we grab hold of who He says we are! You glorify God instead of self when you . . .

• Praise Him because you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
• Give thanks for the place in life that the Lord assigned to you and to what He has called you (1 Corinthians 7:17).
• Test your own actions, instead of comparing yourself to others (Galatians 6:4).
• Delight in how He has determined the times set for you and the exact places where you should live (Acts 17:26).
• Give thanks for heaven’s gifts, handpicked for you (John 3:27).
• Celebrate that you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).

HE>i: How often do you play the comparison game, which leads to judgment (superiority) or jealousy (inferiority)? 

When we feel conceited–superior or inferior–we need to root our glory, our sense of worth, in who we are in and through Christ.

Tim Keller

grace and peace,

Lenae

Fly to Higher Ground

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor his ear too dull to hear.

Isaiah 59:1 

On this morning’s jog down our gravel roads there were three birds running in front of me, obviously frightened. It must’ve been my heavy breathing that scared them. It certainly wasn’t the speed of my approach! It looked comical as the birds ran as fast their feet could mange. I wondered, “Why run when you can fly?” As if they heard my thoughts, they did just that and flew to higher ground.

Why run when you can fly? It’s a question worth asking. When problems and pain come our way do we run in our own strength or fly to God, the Rock who is higher than I (Psalm 61:2)? In every circumstance, temptation, need, and grief His arm is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear (Isaiah 59:1)!

1 Samuel 30 records that the Amalekites attacked the city of Ziklag, burned it, and took captive all the women and children, both young and old. David and his men experienced deep grief. Crushed with distress and bitterness, the men ran to self-reliance. They took things into their own hands and talked of stoning David. David chose to fly to higher ground. David found strength in the LORD his God (1 Samuel 30:6).

When Esther learned of Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews, Mordecai urged her not to run into the supposed protection of the palace for personal escape. She listened and chose to fly to the LORD whose arm is not too short to save, nor His ear to dull to hear (Isaiah 59:1). She asked the Jews to join her in a three day fast. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish (Esther 4:16).

When the music sounded signaling that all peoples and nations were to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego soared by faith. Rather then caving to peer pressure as the people around them bowed low, they testified that the God we serve is able to save us from it [blazing furnace], and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18).

The blazing furnace of grief, attacks from the enemy, and temptation to bow to false gods is not unique to David, Esther, or Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. It’s our story, too. Let’s refuse to run when we can fly.  Lift up your eyes to the hills. Our help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:2). He’s the greatest!

HE>i: Where do you turn when faced with loss and adversity?

When I get overwhelmed, confused, exhausted, I need a safe place where I can run and be protected. I need the name of the Lord.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss

grace and peace,

Lenae

One month!

The We Walk Tour is one month from today!!! See the post below for more detailed information...

BUT I have news for you!! IF you would like to avoid the taxes & fees that apply when purchasing tickets online, you may place a bulk order for tickets with me. A counselor in Canada will get us tickets at one of the local outlets, but I will need to have your order by January 27. Email me for details about how to do this!!