Several people in my family love rainy days … and I have to admit, I don’t. I don’t like driving in the rain when I can’t see the lines in the road. I don’t like having to be out and about in the rain when my shoes get wet. I don’t like what the rain does to my hair. Don’t …
In Others’ Words: The Uniqueness of Sister Relationships
Ah, the complicated bonds between sisters … The shared history of family memories can pull sisters closer … and at other times, the same events can push sisters apart. As sisters grow up and become independent, comparison and competition may flare, straining once comfortable familial closeness. Add a secret to the mix — like I do with the Thatcher …
In Others’ Words: Listen Carefully
Do you prefer to talk or to listen? I admit it: I love participating in a good conversation. A conversation between friends or family, sometimes interlaced with laughter or perhaps tears, can be refreshing. Healing. But more and more over the years, I’ve learned to talk less and listen more. I had to be intentional about being quiet and listening. …
In Others’ Words: Confident to Do It Well
I’m a creative. There’s something fun about the title “creative” for what I do — the fact that I write books. But behind that one word is the reality that a lot of work goes into writing a book. Brainstorming. Crafting characters. Fast Drafting. Rewriting –and repeat, repeat, repeat. Rewriting is a major part of writing a book. Edits equals …
In Others’ Words: Someone to Inspire You
To be honest, I tripped over the first few words of this quote by Emerson before I embraced the rest of the truth. While I agree with him that we all want to be inspired to be who we can be, I’m not so certain that’s our “chief want.” I want a lot of things. I need a lot of …
In Others’ Words: Contented with Little
I’ve come across the same Scripture verse again and again in recent days: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin …” Zephaniah 4:10 NLT As a matter of fact, I ran into the words so many times, I made a graphic of it: I pay attention when God repeats Himself. I’m in …
In Others’ Words: Diamonds in the Rough
Sometimes we overlook things of value. We may hold the roughest of diamonds in our hands and, not seeing its worth, toss it to the ground like pebble. Diamonds in the rough come in all forms. They can be: a person we meet who causes us grief or who we don’t understand or particularly like. an experience that we’re forced …
In Others’ Words: From Here to Eternity
I’ve mulled over Thomas Merton’s words for several days now. “Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” I usually stay away from generalizations like that — careful not to use words like “every” and “all” in statements. But I don’t believe Merton is overstating the truth here. I think we overlook …
In Others’ Words: Life Anchors
“You have to be careful what you anchor your emotions to.” I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago when those words came out of my mouth. She looked at me and said, “That’s a blog post!” And I’ve been mulling what I said ever since then — about how I need to be careful what I …
In Others’ Words: What Each New Day Brings
I’m writing this blog post in a hotel room in Minnesota. A rerun of Iron Chef is on the TV. My husband and daughter are discussing our plans for tomorrow — a college visit and then flying home to Colorado. When I’m done with this blog post, I need to pack. And I’m tired. Of course, I have good reasons …