tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9453102458865820142008-07-18T20:19:32.889-05:00PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-25336998246496347072008-07-18T20:10:00.005-05:002008-07-18T20:19:32.916-05:00

Would you like to earn a free copy of Painted Dresses for your very own? This is a simple contest and campaign in support of Patty’s “Painted Dresses Road Tour” beginning early fall. Patty will be traveling and not only promoting her critically acclaimed novel Painted Dresses, but will also be sharing the story behind her story, “Stranger Than Fiction.” After a dark season in her life, and

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-81152558993963561372008-07-17T09:34:00.003-05:002008-07-17T09:40:28.551-05:00

Painted Dresses hit the bookshelves Tuesday, so be sure to run in for your copy today! Here's a review just in this morning from Cindy Crosby at Faithful Reader: PAINTED DRESSES Patricia Hickman WaterBrook PressFiction ISBN: 9781400071999 • About the Book Patricia Hickman shines in her novel PAINTED DRESSES, a poignant story of sisters who are drawn back together after a death in the family,

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-59600637447907686322008-07-15T04:17:00.001-05:002008-07-15T04:20:12.280-05:00

There’s a lot of activity that goes into moving a group of people from scattered to unified, from loose cannons to the Body of Christ. That activity is translated differently by many Bodies that become the Local Church. One particular pastor has placed on his website a list of these activities. They are typical of what we see—children’s ministry, youth meetings, discipleship and membership

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-48864695122751662492008-07-11T13:17:00.003-05:002008-07-11T13:23:10.679-05:00

RT Rating: 4 stars Painted Dresses Award-winning author Hickman weaves a wonderful tale of women who have triumphed over adversity in this sensitive, caring, heartfelt story. It's a story readers will remember long after they have finished the book. Summary: Gaylen Syler-Boatwright heads to her late Aunt Amity's house to get her life back on track. She discovers a gallery of dresses in

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-48339566430317135732008-06-02T06:03:00.003-05:002008-06-02T06:06:25.263-05:00

Publishers Weekly is the top general market trade pub for book reviews. PW has now reviewed Painted Dresses for its July issue and it’s a stellar review! Woo-hoo! Painted Dresses Patricia Hickman. WaterBrook, $13.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-4000-7199-9 Hickman's slow-paced but best novel since Katrina's Wings begins with protagonist Gaylen Boatwright, whose life is a mess. In her late 20s,

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-42397762320874345242008-05-19T15:37:00.002-05:002008-05-19T15:39:27.507-05:00

As I promised the writers in the Rocky Mountains this past weekend, I’ll blog thoughts on writing. The Emotional Architecture class brought the greatest response, so I’ll add some thoughts to it. It’s really difficult to know how to write out of an emotional architecture without trying it out, failing, and then finally hitting that sweet moment when you realize something is happening to your

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-67705289622726776082008-05-02T13:19:00.005-05:002008-05-03T17:56:30.573-05:00

This is the first couple of reviews to hit the web for Painted Dresses. Couldn't wait to crow! This first is from best-selling author Liz Higgs: "Painted Dresses is both wise and witty, full of living, breathing people, rather than cardboard characters. I'm sure I went to high school with Gaylen, dated Braden, partied with Delia, and ran away from Freddy--that's how convincingly they leaped

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-77950715231089416562008-04-25T10:13:00.003-05:002008-04-25T10:19:30.432-05:00

It’s that time of year again when Patty goes on the Road speaking and sharing on life and faith and dropping in to share at a few writing workshops. However, this year, with the release of my July book, Painted Dresses, comes a personal story not shared by me or my hubby before, and that’s of the big mess we made of our lives the first decade we were married. And then of the redemptive

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-73539644825492284082008-04-15T05:48:00.002-05:002008-07-15T07:37:48.630-05:00

Last year I read an article in Outside magazine about a student named Chris McCandless who literally abandoned everyone he knew, all his possessions, and walked away from his life. His wealthy parents had given him everything in life including a chance at an Ivy league school. But he took all of his identification cards and cut them up. He pried off his license tag, hid it, and abandoned his car

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-85610198351568108382008-04-14T10:10:00.005-05:002008-04-14T10:21:57.325-05:00

There’s a story about a fishing company that deep sea fished for restaurant owners off the east coast. Before the ship would return home, the live fish caught and dropped into a holding tank were going to the bottom of the tank and dying. But one day a sea catfish accidentally got in the tank. Those are trash fish, not good for anything. But the captain noticed that with that catfish in the tank

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-74082140664018531932008-04-03T10:52:00.004-05:002008-04-03T11:21:09.017-05:00

Ever want to lie down and die? Hide under the bed? Think you’re the only person in the world who has your problems? That everyone hates you and that you don’t have one real friend left in the world? So did Elijah. Ever think your dad's not telling you everything? That your sibling hates you? That other men are after your wife? That your kids fight and behave worse than everyone else’s kids?

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-38272007501209017712008-04-01T10:27:00.003-05:002008-04-01T10:33:49.196-05:00

Jared wanted to go to the mountains for spring break. So we loaded up him and some friends and headed for Boone. They wormed their way into an Annuals concert and then the next morning we all went our own ways, shopping and eating our way up to Blowing Rock. If I could live in two places, the second place would be Blowing Rock. If you haven't been there, it's a mountain village with all sorts

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-82209541856492825832008-03-27T11:06:00.003-05:002008-04-01T10:10:05.034-05:00

I’m going through some changes right now. We’re downsizing in preparation for becoming empty nesters. My youngest will fly the coop this coming summer and head off for college. I’ve got a new novel coming out this summer that is more revelatory than even Katrina’s Wings. In preparation for media interviews, I’ve recently outlined the story of my past deciding which parts to put in and which to

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-3726760035693485952008-03-22T19:23:00.002-05:002008-03-22T19:25:34.392-05:00

Setting: Pilate’s Court, just before Christ’s sentencing. “What is truth?” the Roman procurator, Pilate asked of Christ. In Pilate’s day as in our own society, truth had become nothing short of an opinion. But here the Lord declares His purpose for having left behind the splendor of heaven: to bear witness to the truth. God came to earth to not only define truth, but to hold Himself up as the

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-46346223247419839152008-03-21T08:08:00.002-05:002008-03-21T09:23:38.488-05:00

Memorial Today is Memorial Day for Christians. We remember the life sent from heaven to die on the battlefield of humanity for all of us. Jesus came from his Father’s throne room with marching orders—save them! Then he breathed his last breath and passed on those marching orders to us mortals below—love them. Feed my sheep. “No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-78982555379853341302008-03-05T12:57:00.001-05:002008-03-05T12:59:41.108-05:00

Our dear friend and Safehouse contact recently discussed the plight of the victims of human trafficking with an entrepreneur who told her this story: A young Moldavian woman, believing she was getting employment through an American contact, was kidnapped and brought to the states. She was abused and used ten times a day by male clients and beaten by the man who had kidnapped her. She became so

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-898777414974049882008-02-29T12:34:00.001-05:002008-02-29T12:36:29.211-05:00

No, I haven’t fallen off the planet. Just off to mysterious parts unknown helping lend a cup of water to abused girls. Yes, for friends keeping up with the Hickman’s adventures, we have officially helped launch a safe place for girls abused by some very evil people. Not only are the girls victimized for the benefit of the porn industry including snuff films, (as in “snuffed out” on video for

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-21287823349605756012008-02-17T23:03:00.004-05:002008-02-17T23:07:08.805-05:00

I’ve prayed rushing off to somewhere else. I’ve prayed with my hand on the fevered head of my child. I’ve prayed while my husband slept. I’ve prayed beside my child’s crib. I’ve prayed by candlelight but also bright stadium light. I’ve prayed in the massive roar of a conference. I’ve prayed in traffic. I’ve prayed on the floor of my office. I’ve prayed in a rose garden, beneath a cherry tree, in

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-64980494989958025892008-02-07T10:49:00.001-05:002008-02-07T10:50:39.693-05:00

This week we got some news about a young youth pastor’s wife in Baton Rouge who has terminal cancer, Amy Stockstill. Her father-in-law is the senior pastor of Bethany World Prayer Center. She was not supposed to make it through the week. I just received a link to another pastor friend’s blog with a report that Amy Stockstill is “hanging in there.” But what made me weepy was the photograph of

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-88678524435935165722008-02-06T05:40:00.000-05:002008-02-06T09:43:04.485-05:00

Meditation has gotten a bad rap among some believers. They equate it with eastern mysticism even though meditation was a daily occupation of the patriarchs. The Psalms are full of meditation practices: I will meditate on God’s precepts, God’s law, God’s way, His testimonies (or the great things He has done.) Throughout the Bible we find that the practice of meditating on scriptures and also what

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-41860214827043603372008-02-04T12:32:00.000-05:002008-02-06T09:58:47.677-05:00

Suffering loss led me to include as a Christian the practice of solitude and contemplation. I don’t want to say what this means to anyone but me; but a film director produced a one year documentary on the life of solitude practiced by the Carthusian Monks of the Grand Chartreuse monastery in France, a film entitled Into Great Silence. So if you’d like to try out a day of solitude, perhaps you

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-60495570633267277772008-01-27T14:17:00.000-05:002008-01-28T10:12:37.856-05:00

Saturday just as our youngest son was getting out of play practice at his school, he received a call that a fellow classmate and all around good friend was in an accident. He and his friends drove at once to the scene of the accident only to find that their dear friend Jon and his younger brother James Herbert were in a fatal accident and they did not survive. Our community, close-knit like so

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-51618885893849322292008-01-17T11:18:00.001-05:002008-01-17T11:21:56.739-05:00

The term witness is used by the apostles to talk about the disciples that witnessed Jesus’ acts, his teachings, his execution, and then his resurrection. Before Christ died, the term crops up in the Bible under false witness, when lies were told about him. In the Book of Acts, Peter led the apostles to select a replacement for Judas, a guy named Matthias who had been around with them all and

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-28834548145964407872008-01-14T09:03:00.001-05:002008-01-14T10:13:24.985-05:00

Jeremiah was a young boy when the Lord told him he was going to speak as his mouthpiece to warn Judah about their sins. Judah’s people had, according to the Lord, committed two serious sins. A key passage in Jeremiah lays down the message of the book. First, they had forsaken God, “the fountain of living waters.” Second, they had hewn out for themselves “cisterns - broken cisterns - that cannot

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-945310245886582014.post-21880783901097191272008-01-10T09:05:00.000-05:002008-01-10T09:26:24.913-05:00

Understanding my upbringing has been a lifelong pursuit. One of the most difficult people to understand was my mom. I still have a mental snapshot of her bent over her flower beds. She instilled in me a love of the earth and taking care of what God has given us. I still can’t stand littering and in the spring I obsess over getting those first annuals in the rich black soil I had delivered before

PHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05959412871859510778noreply@blogger.com