Up the Old Familiar Path
This afternoon, I walked up the old familiar path to the elementary school to watch the neighbors in their Halloween Parade. I savored a Pennsylvania autumn—the smokey, earthy smell, the crackling sound of leaves and acorns crunching beneath my feet, and the sounds of leaves blowing in the cool wind.
All We Need Right Now
This morning, I found great comfort and inspiration in Hannah Whitall Smith’s words about God: “As we look at the life of Christ and listen to His words, we can hear God saying, ‘I am rest for the weary; I am peace for the storm-tossed; I am strength for the powerless; I am wisdom for […]
Getting Ready to Write Your Book in November
Hello! Hello! Hello! Are you as excited as I am for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? We have 10 days to get organized to write your book. So let’s do it! I’m hoping to write the second book of the This Seat’s Saved series, so I need to think of a plot, new characters, new […]
Riches of Nature in Autumn: The Backyard
Never Without a Witness
I listen to speaker remind us that “God never leaves Himself without a witness.” The phrase brings great comfort, and I cannot remember where I’ve heard the line before. I think of desperate situations where God seems so far away from people. Can I take comfort and courage that God left a witness in Jesus, […]
Why It Works
As I continue to study savoring, I’m thrilled with everything I’m learning. For example, if you consider three good things that happen to you each day, and then consider why they happened, you begin to do what’s called “positive rumination.” Instead of worry, anxiety, or fear, you’re using those neural pathways to think wonderful thoughts. […]
Back Where It Started
Ashley and I traveled to Moody Publishers in Chicago yesterday for an author meeting. My acquisitions editor, Judy Dunagan, reminisced about that wonderful year when she first read the proposal for Seated with Christ. In 2014, my life changed forever when my dream of publishing a book came true. And now? We’re dreaming of more […]
Reading About Savoring
I love reading all the research I can about how to live better. This week, I’m reading about savoring. Savoring means you focus your attention on the positive emotions (or pleasure) of an experience. It means you engage all your senses to notice what you love about anything from autumn leaves, a cat’s purr, a […]
Spread Far and Wide
Do you remember the year I made acorn flour from the enormous overflow of acorns in my driveway and side yard? Well, I thought of that today as I woke up to people collecting acorns from the white oak beside our house. They brought rakes and hoppers, and I had to learn more. I learned […]
The Next One
I spent a lot of time today thinking about the next book after This Seat’s Saved. I love dreaming about another middle-grade novel, and this time, I’m exploring a more in-depth theme of jealousy. I’m thinking of another animal appearing as well. When you pitch an idea to an agent or publisher, the first step […]