Welcome "Followers" + More Elliot + Library Additions

-- Bear happily welcomes all you kind people who have recently joined in, becoming regular Den visitors (i.e., Google Followers, and Facebook Likers). Thanks much for your visible support and encouragement. It's wonderful to see all your smiling faces (Karlene, Julie, Sharlyn, Rita, Sherri, Debbie, Aimee, and Darlene), as well as to share in your lives, and to fellowship with you. And thanks also, LaTawnia and ScarletQuill for still hanging in with the Bear despite all the Den rearranging and remodeling projects and test posts while things were first getting rolling!

Bear is enjoying visiting the websites of those of you who have them, and is having great fun participating in the Friday Fiction loop as well. It seems almost like walking in a "virtual church", reading all of people's hearts and walks with the Lord, so beautifully portrayed in their fiction and articles on the websites; and has turned out to be even more of a blessing than Bear originally expected. Plus, Bear is learning much in her writing through it. So know that each one of you is appreciated.

Speaking of remodeling, Bear has been doing some routine Den chores. Many of the Bible tools and videos that were in the main sidebar have been relocated to the Worship Room and Prayer Room (which is temporarily doubling as the Bible Room also, until Den Expansion plans later are fulfilled). Bear decided to stop displaying so many posts in the main Living Room area, and to keep that space for the currernt day's post only. However, to make up for that, there's now a Links List (to Bear's 20 most recent posts) at the foot of the Living Room page, with short intros to each post. Also, located below that list, is the subject index to posts, as well as a Word/phrase search bar that searches all posts. Bear's hoping this will make it much easier for people to explore their own areas of reading interest.

Bear also added a couple new stories to the "Clips of Bear Writings" area, (and will try to be adding a new one there every week or so).

She also updated the library, adding a few links to her Favorite Stories from the FaithWriters' Writing Challenges for these past few weeks, written by other writers. There's some really outstanding God-centered writing there!

For any of you who got a chance to listen to Jim Elliot in this last "Sunday Happenings" yesterday, Bear wanted to let you know that there is one other recording of his on the Net. It's also excellent, and Bear will insert the recording in here, just in case you want to listen to it also. It's another one Bear has personally listened to several times, and she's actually in the middle of listening to it again. However, it's not relevant to his martyrdom, per se, so is a bit "off topic" in that sense; and is just being posted as an "extra", in case anyone wants to hear more straight from his mouth. (For those of you who didn't get to the recording in yesterday's post, Bear recommends that you listen to that one, as the best of the two.)



(NOTE: If you don't see the media player, you aren't on the Den's Homepage and need to click on Bear's Writing Den and look there for it.)

Bear is still thinking a lot about Elliot's recording from yesterday. She's so amazed at how full of excitement and life and pure joy he was -- how he could talk like that in a way that seemed to make the Scriptures sing with his excitement. And she's been thinking about all the worries that she lets discourage her in her own life; which, would lose much of their sting and power if she'd just gladly leap into anything the Lord willed for her with as much joy as he did. She remembers the pictures of Elliot (real pictures -- not the hollywood-type movie version film shots) and his friends on "Palm Beach" just days before they were about to be killed by the Aucas, and how happy they all looked together, laughing and waving at the camera. They were clearly having good fellowship together on that beach, in the midst of their commitment and work -- were good friends on a "guys only" type campout. And it reminds her how much joy the Lord can give to those who trust in Him and follow Him with whole hearts. Their lives were filled with commitment and excitement and faith and hope. Their deaths, though violent and bloody, were comparatively short trauma. And then eternity with the Lord.

Yet Bear gets fearful of praying out loud in front of an angry tow truck driver (as recorded in Friday Fiction a few days ago).

It is much food for good thought, and the Holy Spirit is speaking to Bear in that Gentle yet persistent way He has.
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