I’ve had a circus theme this week: circus monkeys on Monday, parade elephants on Wednesday. Wrapping up the week, I realized there’s no circus without a ringmaster. And today’s quote speaks a simple truth straight up: Be the ringmaster. It’s your life. I googled “What does a ringmaster do?” and got some lengthy explanations, but here’s what I zeroed in …
In Others’ Words: Parade Elephants
I’m staying with the circus theme this week. It’s funny how something someone says to you stays with you. It can seem the most innocuous statement, and yet you never forget it. Back when we were a military family, my husband and I and our first three kiddos were stationed in Turkey. I always joke that the option of living …
In Others’ Words: Circus Monkeys
“Not my circus, not my monkeys.” I’ve wanted to share this quote — a proverb, actually — with you for several weeks, ever since my daughter, Amy, shared it with me. I laughed out loud when she showed it to me on Pinterest. And then I thought, “There’s a lot of wisdom in those six words.” Sometimes the proverb is accompanied …
In Others’ Words: Live in the Moment
Dreams are a reoccurring topic of conversation for me. Discovering dreams. Pursuing dreams. Fulfilling dreams. And I’m okay with that — talking about dreams, I mean. When I was younger — wow, I say that a lot lately! — anyway, when I was younger, dreams were so self-centered. So wrapped up in me — what I thought about, …
In Others’ Words: Take Flight
There’s something to be said about trying. And there’s something to be said about those times when whatever it is we’re trying to accomplish just happens. Ponder this with me for a moment: that little baby bird standing at the edge of it’s oh-so-safe nest. And the next thing he (or she) knows, Momma bird shoves him over the edge because …
In Others’ Words: Prayer at Its Best
I always get to Friday and pause … look back to Monday’s post … and consider all that has transpired between the hopes of that “then” and the realities of today’s “now.” Monday included moments of celebration — really? I finaled in a writing contest? — and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday included cold splashes of reality that brought me to knees. …
In Others’ Words: Courageous Steps
I used to think courage always had to be something big — like jumping out of an airplane or saying, “Yes, I’m crazy enough … I mean, courageous enough, to ride that wild bull!” But I’ve learned that courage is often choosing to do the next right thing … choosing not to quit … choosing to say yes because it’s …
In Others’ Words: What Did You Expect?
I’ve sat here for quite a little while trying to figure out how to begin this post. All I have to do is share about being surprised by the unexpected in my life. Yeah. Let me narrow that down to one thing for you. Um. not going to happen. Every time I thought I knew where my life was going, …
In Others’ Words: What Adversity is Not
There was a time in my life when I would handle problems this way: I’d lay awake at night and think . . . and think . . . and think . . . I just knew that if I thought long enough, hard enough — maybe prayed a bit about the situation — I would figure a way out …
In Others’ Word: Looking for Proof
I may have mentioned this before, so forgive me if I’m repeating myself. Back when my first book released — my nonfiction book about late-in-life motherhood, not my debut novel — I had this thought: Maybe, just maybe, this will prove my value to them. Now you don’t need to know who made up “them.” All you need to know …