For my followers here, please visit my new blog at http://ronashively.wordpress.com/ to keep up with the latest news from Rona Shively! There's a new book due out in February and I'm working on a contest for the Christmas season. Stay tuned!
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Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Come on over!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Moving Day!
Hello all!
I have been working for a while on moving all of my blogs to one place. Benston Blogs will now be maintained over on Wordpress. Although I love Blogger, I find it easier to work on all three of my blogs if they are together in one place. So, if you would be so kind as to hop on over to the new blog site and follow me, I'd so graciously appreciate it! I'm at http://ronashively.wordpress.com!
Thanks!
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Thursday, July 5, 2012
I object...ify?
Recently, I made a decision that surprised even myself. I decided that I would not be going to the movies to see the much-anticipated chick flick, Magic Mike. The reason for this is not that I am a prude or that I feel that I am somehow above watching movies about male dancers. The reason for this is that I have had such a strong opinion over the years about how men objectify women that it would not make much sense for me to go out and do basically what I have thought was abusive to women all these years.
The idea of a movie featuring both Matthew McConnaughey and Channing Tatum is appealing, but it's the subject matter that I was somewhat loathe to accept as okay. I am a Christian woman and although I make mistakes and I may do things from time to time that seem questionable to other Christians, there are some things that I have personal objections to not only as a Christian, but as a woman. Fighting for equality and empowerment does not include treating men in the same way that we say they shouldn't treat women.
So, with this inner struggle taking place, I decided that I would forego the film in favor of watching movies that present these men in their best light. Movies that seek to appreciate them as men and not as sex objects. I thought this was pretty good considering I generally have very little willpower. This is kind of like a chocaholic passing up a plate of fudge brownies. For me, it's a step in the right direction.
Along those same lines, the issue of self-control has always played a huge role in my life. It's never been a strength and it has always presented challenges. Since I've been trying to be a better person and develop my relationship with God, the issue of self-control keeps rearing its ugly head. This movie is just one of many tests that I have had to take recently and though it may seem like a trivial thing to some, it represents some growth on my part. And this type of growing is very difficult. It's tough to know how much leeway to give oneself when you're trying to make positive changes. This is especially true when you know that you've not been quite diligent enough in some areas all along. God doesn't expect us to be perfect. To the contrary, He expects us to make mistakes and to be uncertain about whether or not we are on the right track from time to time. These are the times we are supposed to lean more heavily on Him and allow His word to guide us toward the right decisions. That's what He's here for. He's not sitting up there waiting for us to trip up so He can jerk the rug out from under us.
As a writer, I have had to tone down some of what I write as I've tried to walk more closely with Him. Some of the things I would say in my books before were not what I would call necessary for any other reason than to glorify myself. Since that is not what I am trying to do these days, I felt it would be more genuine and beneficial to the message I am trying to get across in my writing if it didn't contradict itself. If that makes sense to my readers, then I'm on the right track. If not, then the books aren't going to have the desired effect anyway.
The whole point of the books I write is to show the growth of the main character, Rona Shively as she faces the same challenges that most of us face every day. By throwing in some very strange cases and giving a little comic relief, sometimes the focus falls away from the lesson I'm trying teach her, but I am happy to say that at least in my mind, Rona has made some real progress over the years. It's nice when we can have that kind of comic relief in our own lives that allows us to forget our troubles if even for a moment. We just need to pay attention to when what we're doing is merely a diversion until we can gather our thoughts and make a good plan of attack and when that diversion is more of a focus than the problem at hand. Covering up the problem won't make it go away and projecting our issues onto others doesn't help either.
So if you're compelled to see Magic Mike, please don't take what I am saying as some sort of condemnation. Everyone doesn't have the same issues and movie choice may not be as big a deal for you as it is for me at this point in my life. I find myself trying to limit the number of images and words that I let into my brain that aren't lining up with what God is trying to show me about myself. I realize that this may only make sense to me and I'm okay with being considered somewhat flaky in this instance.
I hope you will stay tuned for more details on my newest book. I'm writing it as we speak. In the meantime, if you haven't read the first five books in the series you can order them by e-mailing me at lonestoryteller@yahoo.com. The books are $9.95 each plus shipping and I'll even sign them for you.
Until next time...
“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?
~Job 40:8~
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Out with the old...
Somehow, I'm not sure I like that statement. Out with the old seems to imply that the old simply isn't worth keeping. And since I'm getting older every day, it isn't very smart for me to be so eager to usher out the outdated. In light of this, I decided that this year I wasn't going to make any New Year's resolutions. Instead, I'm going to give an accounting of the things that made the last twelve months meaningful and I'm going to strive toward making even more memories as I venture into this new year. Some of the things that made my list were:
- Attending the Beth Moore Living Proof Conference this summer.
- Taking my daughter to a Kari Jobe and KJ-52 concert.
- Taking my mother to see Joel Osteen in Cincinnati.
- Buying the entire Harry Potter movie collection and watching it as often as possible.
- Seeing movies like African Cats, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, Kung Fu Panda II, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid II with my daughter.
- Going to COSI to see the Dinosaur exhibit and movie and to the Boonshoft Museum so my daughter could see the big constellation display for the first time.
- Taking my daughter to the circus for the first time and riding an elephant with her.
- Finishing my fifth Rona Shively story, Now You See Me.
- Leading my first Bible Study at church.
- Having the opportunity to work with a wonderful children’s theater company in Yellow Springs in my very first job as an Executive Director for a non-profit.
- Starting a degree program (finally) in Religion at Liberty University.
I had a great year in spite of ending up unemployed and I plan to have an even better year this year. But in order to ensure that I suffer no disappointments, I'm making absolutely no big plans. This is a new thing for me. Usually, I'm sitting there on New Year's Eve with my tablet and my pen in hand, writing up a list of things I need to do. Somewhere around April, I misplace the tablet and from that point on it's all downhill. Of course there are things I plan to do, but nothing along the lines of setting unrealistic expectations for myself and then feeling badly because I don't hit the mark. I've adopted the Rona Shiveliest of attitudes this year and will now be removing this pressure from my life. At least, until I get so frazzled by not having a plan that I have to buckle down and write myself out a big "to do" list.
I hope everyone had a great New Year's and that the next twelve months are full of peace and prosperity for you and yours. If you do find yourself making resolutions, resolve to read all of my Rona Shively books this year. You can get them all for just $50! Proceeds benefit Higher Ground Ministries for women's empowerment.
Until next time....
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A Little Bit of Mystery: Short Mysteries to Confuse and Amuse
