Was it only a month ago that everyone was praying for rain? Vegetable gardens were withering and lawns were turning brown. The week of our VBS (July 14-18)  was very hot and muggy, but we didn’t want rain, yet. A thunderstorm hit us during our closing program, and I think it has rained almost everyday since then.

Everything feels clammy and sticky. The car smells moldy. The bathroom towels are sour. It’s August! We should be weary shorts and sandals and getting sunburns on the beach…not sweaters and wooly socks and huddling near the woodstove. We should be having cookouts and volleyball games… not simmering soup and playing board games.

…

It’s a book that most people seem to shy away from, a book that people have called depressing. For me, I have discovered the most encouraging gems scattered throughout its pages. The book? Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes was written by King Solomon of Israel a few thousand years ago. Solomon was the wisest man alive at that time. People came from all over to hear him answer their questions and problems. Yet, at the end of the day, Solomon writes that “all is vanity.” (1:14).

So, what do I find so encouraging? I’ve read the book before and found it a comfort through a very discouraging time of ill health. This fact has drawn me back to it at various points in my life, especially when I’m downhearted. So, why I …

It started with my reading Susan May Warren’s Team Hope series.  I can’t remember which book, but God being our portion was a consistent theme.  Within a week I read the same promise in devotionals.  I heard it through music.  Now, it’s starting to cement in my brain.

God is my portion.

He is enough.

As Psalm 16:5 states: “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.”

Joshua 13 …

Yesterday felt like a fog. I was the tiny ship, being dashed about by the waves and the lighthouse had mysteriously disappeared. I felt completely abandoned as the water spilled in from every available spot, threatening to destroy my last hopes.

Then I heard a whisper. The soft, quiet kind that gives you a brain itch. You know, one you can’t scratch?

But then the whispers grow louder and then blend together until you begin to feel a warmth, a familiarity from somewhere. The warmth grows, increasing until all of a sudden, it becomes a light.

The light swells up until it is a beacon

…

What are friends for?

What are friends for?

For giggling and snickering,

And sometimes bickering.

 

For calling and mailing,

Singing and sailing.

For laughing and teasing,

Each other pleasing.

 

For birthday remembering,

Self surrendering.

For secrets holding,

And gently scolding.

…

Last Wednesday was one of those days when writing the novel I’m working on for my Christian Writers Guild course felt like I was hand-mixing cement. I was 10,000 words into the story and got stuck. I felt I was spending too much time and detail on the beginning part of the story. I needed to jump start it, get it moving in the direction I planned for it to go. It wasn’t cooperating.

As I looked over the pages, trying to discern where the problem was, I realized the setting had taken over. The story wanted to be set in one place, I wanted it set in another place. That first setting was only supposed to be the stepping off point. The story disagreed.

I began to realize …

I love letting others know when something good is coming along the pike. Whether it’s a mom thing, a writer find, or something in between, I’m happy to pass info along.

Robin Lee Hatcher posted this on her blog, Write Thinking. Come tomorrow, there will be a new blog on the net. Writes of Passage

will feature five historical fiction authors (Robin Lee Hatcher, Tamera Alexander, Lori Copeland, Kim Vogel Sawyer and Tracie Peterson) will take turns blogging on writing and everyday life issues.

Although I read more contemporary than historical, I remain a fan. I’ve read a lot of their works, and they transport me in time with their thorough research, solid characters, and interesting plots.

I’m guessing the blog will be …

I am currently going through the book Captivating by Stasi and John Eldredge in a Bible study. I have already read this book before and found it to be a great inspiration. This is not the point of my post though.

While reading this book, I began to find my voice. I have been writing for years. Closet writing was my favorite sport and should anyone ever read something of mine, I was told it was good. Still, I didn’t want to share it with anyone else. I was scared. Not only was I scared of sharing my writing, but I was scared of sharing my thoughts in general. I was always the quiet one who listened, but never talked even if I had an …