There’s so much I could say … so much I want to say in today’s blog post. And yet I weigh my words. Mindful of my word count. Mindful of so much more. My debut women’s fiction novel, Things I Never Told You, releases today. It’s a Little Women gone wrong story about the Thatcher sisters: Johanna, Jillian, and …
In Others’ Words: Eliminate Hurry
I almost … almost made this a one word blog post. The one word would have been “How?” How do we “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry”? Dallas Willard’s statement is grand — Stop hurrying — and show no mercy toward anything that stands in your way of slowing down! — but let’s be honest with one another. Eliminating hurry from our lives …
In Others’ Words: Imagination Will Take You Everywhere
There was a time when I tried desperately to come up with a new story idea. As the saying goes, I had nothing. I played the writer’s “what if?” mind game while I drove around town. While I moved laundry from the washer to the dryer to the laundry basket. While I grocery shopped. While I loaded the dishwasher. While …
In Others’ Words: Repeating Good
Have you ever gotten an irritating song stuck in your head? You hear it over and over again … Yeah, that kind of repeat is not a good thing. But there are times when a certain song uplifts my mood or touches my heart or even inspires me as I write. And I pull the song up on Spotify …
In Others’ Words: It’s Not About Luck
I’ll skip over luck, thank you very much, and go for opportunities every time. Even those “lucky breaks” people talk about? Those were just opportunities in disguise. Think about it: That time you met someone who knew someone … and that other someone helped you along the path to your dream. Or that part-time, temporary job that somehow helped …
In Others’ Words: Preparing for Tomorrow
Even as I prep this post, I’m mulling over the quote: “The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” I agree with H. Jackson Brown Jr. . . . and then, part of me trips over the words “doing your best.” “Doing your best” doesn’t mean today went exactly as you planned. “Doing your best” doesn’t mean …
In Others’ Words: Taking a Closer Look at Failure
I wish I’d had a better understanding of failure when I was younger. I wished I’d known things like: Failure happens — to everybody. Everybody. Not. Just. Me. Failure may feel awful … like the end of the world … but most of the times, you wake up the next day and get a second chance at things. Failure …
In Others’ Words: Win or Lose … Like It!
I’ve seen poor losers … and I’ve seen poor winners, too. I’m not impressed when people sulk when they lose a game. I feel bad for a team when their coach is a poor loser and yells at them … or worse, walks away from them. I also don’t respect poor winners. You know what I mean: those people …
In Others’ Words: Adding Beauty to Life
We all know people who add beauty to life. I also believe each one of us wants to be like author L. M. Montgomery, in that we would like to add some type of beauty to life. Sometimes, though, we get tripped up. We don’t think we add beauty to the world because we think it has to look …
In Others’ Words: The Second Chance of Easter
Easter is the biggest, grandest second chance in the history of mankind. We like to dress Easter up in new clothes or disguise it as the Easter Bunny, but the truth is . . . the Truth is, Easter is all about God saying, “I want more for you” — and then providing the way for us to have …