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…
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…
Unexpected Hero—Gilbert Blythe, actor Jonathan Crombie
In our modern society, I hear parents that encourage their kids to read books about vampires and edgy topics to help their daughters learn how to be treated by a man. “I know the blood is terrible, but the relationship is so wonderful. That’s what she needs.” Is this really the best we can do as parents? This week a wonderful actor, Jonathan Crombie, passed away suddenly. In his younger years he played Gilbery Blythe on the Anne of Green Gables series. His character was so memorable for his pursuit of the red-headed smart girl, and quiet courage, and funny…
Goodbye, Mr. Leonard Nimoy
When I found out about Mr. Leonard Nimoy’s passing this week, I had to pause our series to say goodbye. Although we never met, his iconic scenes in the original Star Trek, and especially the recent Star Trek films, have left such a warm and lasting impression on me. I appreciate his contribution to pushing the boundaries of fiction and creating new avenues for expressing ideas. Soon after I heard the news, I reached out to my father, a serious Trekkie, and had a nice conversation. It might not have seemed like anything earth-shattering, but somehow the Vulcan has always…
Anne’s Green Gable Hope
“When I left Queen’s my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don’t know what lies around the bend, but I’m going to believe that the best does.” – L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Maybe it’s my Scottish and English heritage that stressed keeping emotions buckled in, but it really has taken some soul searching to find the right balance of understanding others and listening to God’s still, quiet voice in my life. Often it could…
C.S. Lewis, A Great Mentor
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. -C.S. Lewis When I was in college, I spent one wonder-filled summer chasing after C.S. Lewis’ inspirations on a study abroad program in London and the outlying areas of England. Little did I know that the Lord was planting many seeds of inspiration for writing my own novels to encourage and entertain today’s youth. That summer, my grandfather had suddenly passed away, two weeks before…
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