I was thinking about freedom in honor of the Fourth of July, and am re-blogging this today with hope that you’ll have less luggage and more personal freedom this holiday.
That Secret Corner
Do you have a special place where the best of today’s life intersects with new possibilities? I drafted this after visiting my parents recently at the home where I grew up. They have a wonderful, huge picture window that looks out over a waterway. As a child I used to press my cheek against the cool glass so I could peer high up to bright stars or see a full moon shining on the waves outside. I felt like I could practically walk out on the water and reach up to the moon itself, while being nestled comfortably inside near…
The Lady’s Fingerprints—A Tribute to Elisabeth Elliot
If you scratch beneath those early years, you’ll find the words of Elisabeth Elliot. Her message of relentless hope has carried so many through adversity to the other side of deeper healing. I spent part of this week looking at skeletons and footprints from Dinosaurs in a museum. It’s fascinating to realize that these animals have left an impression that’s lasted countless years. I also heard sad news of a tremendous author passing away and it made me think—what kind of fingerprint do I want to leave when I’m gone? That sea foam-green carpeting When Elisabeth Elliot came to speak…
Giving Thanks
I just wanted to pause and thank so many who have touched my life as a writer and personally as I’ve worked to launch this dream this far. It’s so easy in life to be too busy to say thanks, so I’m pausing here to do just that. I’m excited to work with Johanna Maaghul with Waterside Productions Literary Agency. This opens a new chapter for the books, with hopes for getting them into kids’ hands via a traditional publisher. Thank you all for your considerable support, enthusiasm, and being part of the team blessing us with your prayers and…
The First Step In Air
The First Step In Air
I watched as one teenager after another climbed the high platform, hooked into the harness, and jumped with a whoosh into the trees. This was the last course at T Bar M camp, where I volunteered with a youth ministry and mentored a group of girls. All mine had been through it and survived, so had the boys. My feet were very happy planted firmly on the ground. “It’s called the Screamer or the Breath-Taker. You see, people either scream their lungs out or not make a sound at all. Which one do you think you are?” The camp supervisor…
Resilient Summer Reading
Recently I was in Barnes and Noble looking for some inspiring summer reading for myself and my kids. I naturally found myself thinking of authors that I’ve loved in the past. Thought I’d share a few favorites to inspire your reading with deeper significance, as well as examples of resilience that have kept me going through dark years. Someone asked me recently what the first books I bought after the fires were, and here’s some of my favorites. For adults: The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers I discovered these incredibly inspiring stories, historical fiction, when I was…
Camp Grateful
With summer about to descend and everyone discussing plans, my son Joey nervously waited to see if he’d need surgery on his hand. I saw us all skimming the edge of wishing away the next month due to his injury and the holding pattern we’ve been in. Perhaps you know what that’s like, to be on hold while the world around starts to move faster and you’re chief of “it’ll be Okay” and “we’ll get through it together.” It’s not my favorite place to be, but here I am once more. Facing a summer with an altered flight path again,…
The Blog Machine
A Year Ago… Touched By Sticky Grace I was trailing through the grocery store with my adventurous nine-year-old son Joey and he pointed toward the blood pressure machine, loving all things with buttons. “Mom, can I please play with the blog machine?” I love when he trips on an “oops” word still. There aren’t many these days. And I smiled ear-to-ear that he even knows what a blog is. As we continued through the store, I kept thinking that less than a year ago, really nine months ago, this fun journey through blogging began for me. Then the big AHA….
Guest Blogging At Seriously Write!
Today I’m guest blogging at the wonderful blog to encourage writers, Seriously Write. My thanks to Dawn Kinzer for inviting me to share tips on how to share gems from your heart about being resilient in difficult times, without sharing the “rough.” Come join me there! http://seriouslywrite.blogspot.com/2015/05/how-to-only-share-your-written-gems-not.html
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