Oh, there are so many ways I could go with this blog post. Has life surprised me? Oh yes, yes indeed. I just went upstairs and kissed goodnight one of the most a-ma-zing surprises in my life: my caboose kiddo. The child who astounded me by showing up when my husband and I were parenting three teenagers. True story: My …
In Others’ Words: If …
Sometimes it’s good to go back to the anchor truths that hold me steady. The faith-realities — no contradiction there — that I turn to over and over again when doubt whispers in my ear or failure taunts me or an invisible someone insists I’m not good enough. God is with me. His very name is Immanuel, God with us …
In Others’ Words: Do You Hear What I Hear?
I wouldn’t say I never listen. But there have been times when I haven’t listened. Sometimes it was a case of tuning someone out — yes, deliberately — because I didn’t want to hear what was being said. Sometimes it was exhaustion, pure and simple. And sometimes I didn’t realize my attention had wandered until something — a question maybe, …
In Others’ Words: The Power of Truth
This quote gives me hope. There are times in my life when lies prevailed — when I even willingly embraced lies, believing them to be true. But what I’ve learned is that ultimately, a lie must bend to Truth. Even more, Truth will break a lie until it is nothing more than crumbled dust that you can hold in your …
In Others’ Words: Losing
I like to win. Hang around me long enough — and especially if you play a game like Scotland Yard or Bohnanza! with me — and you’ll learn that I don’t like to lose. I know how to lose well, but, well … I embraced the whole “If you’re going to play, then play to win” mantra years ago. Let’s …
In Others’ Words: Creativity
Often when I’m trying to be creative — write a scene in my work-in-progress, for example — I strangle my muse because, well, I’m trying. I haul out all the techniques I’ve learned to write a strong, compelling scene. And then I back my scene up against the virtual wall because I’m trying so very hard to be creative. There …
In Others’ Words: Stronger
There’s a certain music to today’s quote . . . a melody of freedom mixed with a harmony of surprise. It’s that word “Perhaps.” Remove that two-syllable word from the quote, and you change it–drastically. “I am stronger than I think I am.” There’s a whole other rhythm — a bit of pounding bass drum and blaring horns — when …
In Others’ Words: Plans — a Fun Announcement & a Giveaway
Have you ever made plans … only to watch them unravel? I’m not talking what-are-we-having-for-dinner kinds of plans. I’m talking about what-am-I-going-to-do-with-my-life kind of plans. I’ve had life plans unravel. Evaporate. Combust. Let’s see . . . there was my original life plan to be a single working gal — a reporter for the Washington Post newspaper, living in Washington, …
In Others’ Words: Bruises
I bruised easily when I was a little girl. I’m not sure that I learned any significant lessons from those bruises — except maybe to walk a little slower when I climbed the stairs from my bedroom in the basement. Even now, I’ll knock into the corner of the coffee table and think, “That’s going to leave a bruise.” Lesson …
In Others’ Words: Fairy Tales
“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you … “ Anybody else love that song when it’s sung by Frank Sinatra? There’s a bit of a fairy tale thread woven into my upcoming release, Catch a Falling Star. And yes, I loved reading fairy tales when I was growing up. Cinderella was a favorite, of course, but I …