In Others’ Words: Choosing to Live Inside Hope

Beth Vogthope, In Others' Words, Quotes 6 Comments

Do you know what you hope for? We talked about life themes on Tuesday and I think what we hope for is linked to our life theme. If, as I said in the post two days ago, my life theme is relationships, than I hope for healthy relationships. Loving relationships. Life-giving relationships. Obviously I’m talking about the capital “H”, capital …

In Others’ Words: Finding Your Theme

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Life, perspective 6 Comments

  Mention “theme,” and most people are transported back to English class, when the teacher asked, “What is the theme of this book?” Some of us had fun with this question about the central idea in a novel or short story or poem or play, and some of us started counting the days until summer vacation. And then some of …

In Others’ Words: The Power of Quotes

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 14 Comments

I have always been a word person. My mother used to say she thought I was born with a dictionary in my hands. (Now that is an odd visual.) And I have always appreciated quotes, savoring the discovery of someone else’s way with words that makes me pause and think or even laugh out loud, thanks to their fresh perspective.  …

In Others’ Words: How Do You “Do You”?

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perseverance, Quotes 15 Comments

The New Year is two days old. Some of us started 2018 armed with a list of resolutions while others distilled our desire for change down to One Words like trust, kindness, release. Whatever your mode of change, the New Year is prime time for a new you … to a certain point. In the midst of all the New Year-New Me changing …

A Snow Day Giveaway!

Beth VogtBeth K. Vogt, Giveaway 39 Comments

Happy December, friends! Yes, I’m still on my social media break for the month of December, but … … a few weeks back (like in October), some dear author-friends and I decided to have a Snow Day Giveaway from December 4-12. I wanted to tell you all about that now so you had a chance to enter the giveaway for …

In Others’ Words: Honouring Christmas

Beth VogtChristmas, In Others' Words, Quotes 8 Comments

  “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” – from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens *1812-1870), English writer   December starts tomorrow — and with it, so does my month-long break from social media. Last year was the first time I took an entire month off from blogging and tweeting and …

In Others’ Words: My One Word for 2018

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, One Word, Scripture 13 Comments

  Let’s talk about choosing One Word for the coming year.    2018 is just over a month away, but if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, then you know that I gave up New Year’s resolutions over a decade ago. Why? All those good intentions — the “I wills” and the “I won’ts” — faded so quickly, and …

In Others’ Words: Love or Understanding

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Love, Quotes 7 Comments

If I’m reading George Orwell’s words correctly, he seemed to believe that love and understanding are exclusive of one another.  And yet, I find that the people who love me the best are also the very ones who take the time to understand me … the real me. Or is it that the ones who understand me the best are  …

In Others’ Words: Living in Others’ Opinions

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 8 Comments

Do you believe in yourself? Or do you believe in what other say about you? Do you, as author L. M. Montgomery says, “live in other people’s opinions”? The thing about others’ opinions? You can get caught in a vortex of competing judgements, conflicting assessments, erroneous presumptions. And then who gets to decide which point of view about you is …

In Others’ Words: How Stories Conquer Fear

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, Quotes, story 4 Comments

So … the robot. I came upon him while walking with my husband and youngest daughter during a a foggy day in Carlsbad, California last summer. Some ingenious artist painted him on the side of a building. And yes, this painting told a story. You can come upon stories in the most unlikely places. We expect them within the covers …