People in Storms need a Friend

G’Day,

So you like Tofu? What has Tofu got to do with a blog on adventure? Come on Jack, give me a break! it’s been a long week.

As I sit writing, I look out my window into our overgrown jungle I loosely call our backyard. Just out of my sight, a stone birdbath filled to the brim with the remnants of an overnight storm is being stirred by a small spotted honeyeater fluttering his wings at high speed, sending water in all directions. On many occasions the Editor and I watch these timid little creatures from the seclusion of my writing desk and marvel at the ingeniousness of our God.

If he can engineer the antics of his wild creatures to bring us joy, then surely he is able to engineer each step we take in a life that sometimes seems out of control.

As I look back over the past years, I recognise the hand of Father bending and chiselling my life to get me to this place of writing my first book. If you had told me, even a year ago, that I would spend copious amounts of time wrestling with a word processor to put Mahina down into a book, I probably would have thought you were off your soy bean.

There are a number of themes running through Mahina, but the one that stands out the most is the one on the cover, ‘things aren’t always what they seem’. 

Without divulging too much of the storyline, Father used the examples of many people’s lives to help formulate an idea and weave it into Mahina. One in particular stands out. For the sake of being prudent, I have changed her name and details to protect her identity.

Although Lizzie’s story has nothing to do with the storyline of Mahina, the theme runs right through it.

When I first heard of Lizzie, she was a plain young mum with three young children all under ten. Her husband Dan, worked at a menial job at a school and brought home just enough to make the mortgage and put food on the table. They were a normal couple, with normal hopes, dreams and fears. In a short time, Dan was diagnosed with cancer and he died a horrible death. Lizzie belonged to a supportive church who held her up in her grief and encouraged her to look beyond the storm. As the years slipped by, her kids grew up and left home. Depression raised its ugly head. Lizzie withdrew herself from her support and soon after she was found dead in her car, parked on her driveway.

To her friends and neighbours, Lizzie was going about her life as usual, or was she?

Without dwelling on any aspect of Lizzie’s story, it is easy to pass by people we know and think they are doing ok. Another friend tells me that getting involved in other people’s lives, can get very messy and there is a personal cost. Isn’t that the truth.

If I were to break down Mahina’s adventure into a bite size, name it and offer it to you, it would be ‘people in storms need a friend’.

It might be the difference between life and death.

Are you doing ok?

I hope you will read Mahina and enjoy it. You never know where it will lead you.

Well, that was a happy little first blog.

Oh! Tofu has nothing to do with adventure!

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About JackDey

Jack Dey, born to adventure, lives in the tropical rainforest of North Queensland, Australia. He has three loves in his life: Jesus; the Editor (his wife of 30 something years); and writing adventure novels. He is the author of MAHiNA; Paradise Warrior; Aunt Tabbie's Wings; The Secrets of Black Dean Lighthouse; The Legend of Ataneq Nanuq, The Valley of Flowers; La Belle Suisse (co-authored with Dodie La Mirounette); Zero; Naive; and Brindabella's Prophet. His latest book, Apostate, is currently being researched and written - and you can follow the story along chapter by chapter as he writes in real time! Jack writes only to please Papa God and considers his writing a ministry, demanding nothing from the reader for his e-books. If you like Jack Dey’s books and would like to support his ministry, please consider praying for the team at Jack Dey and telling your friends about his titles. New books are written with the intention of being a pencil in Jesus’ hand and bringing joy and encouragement to you, the reader.