When I wear certain clothes I feel most like me. It’s not just that these clothes are comfortable … It’s that I am comfortable being me when I wear them. I put on a certain dress or a certain sweater or a certain pair of red cowboy boots and I think, “Yeah. That’s me, all right.” I’ve bought clothes because …
In Others’ Words: Failure
Now there’s a truth I wish I’d learned years ago: Failure is an event. An event. There’s no denying that we all experience failures of all kinds in this world. Failures caused by our decisions and our choices. Failures caused by the decisions and choices of others. Deliberate actions and accidental missteps — both leading to failures. But the …
In Others’ Words: Extra Mile
There are two people you can go the extra mile for: yourself and someone else. Going the extra mile for yourself means you try a little harder to get the task done — you give more of yourself, your creativity, your effort. You’re not settling for “good enough.” Going the extra mile for someone else means you sacrifice for that …
When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan: Guest Post with Debut Author Melissa Tagg
My novel, Catch a Falling Star, asks the question: Is life about accomplishing plans … or wishes coming true … or something more? Today’s post is the fourth in the “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan” Wednesday blog series, 11 guest posts by authors and writers, including Deborah Raney, Rachel Hauck, and Susan May Warren, who explore the question: What do you …
In Others’ Words: Honey
I’m winding down April and already marveling at how full the month of May is. One thing is for sure and certain: April did not go according to my plans. Writing that is almost laughable, considering that’s the thread woven through my novel, Catch a Falling Star, which releases May 7: What do you do when life doesn’t go according …
In Others’ Words: Imperfect
If happiness only occurs when everything is perfect . . . well then, not a one of us is ever going to experience a single second of happiness this side of heaven. And yet … happiness has embraced me in many less-than-perfect moments. Surprised me. Comforted me. Strengthened me. Imperfect doesn’t mean worthless. An imperfect moment (or moments) in a …
In Others’ Words: Where Are You Going?
I admit it: Sometimes I want to rush the process. I want to arrive. The problem with that? I end up all confused about my destination. I want to arrive there … and there … and there … and, oh yeah, there too. I start watching where other people are headed (usually other writers) and I think, “I need to …
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: Value — Guest Post by Author Julie Coleman
Julie Coleman and I have been friends, well, it seems like forever. When we met, my husband was in medical school and both Julie and I had young children. Julie’s nonfiction book, Unexpected Love, was released by Thomas Nelson this past February. I am no diva. On a shopping trip in Chicago with my cousins a few years …
In Others’ Words: Space
Romans 5:2 (The Message) is one of my favorite verses. It reminds me that God isn’t a miser when it comes to his grace — that I have spiritual “breathing space.” In Your Words: What Scripture verse expanded your relationship with God?