This is the finale of the story I began in the previous post about trying not to morf into a toad in response to an encounter with a particularly ungracious toady person. Got one (or more) of those toad-people in your life? I’d love to hear how you handle them. In the meantime, please scroll ...
Goodness Gracious Me!
Niagara Falls from the US-Canada pedestrian bridge This woman was NOT the epitome of grace. In fact, she didn’t seem to have a gracious bone in her body. The school administrator (who was a long-time fan of my books) had asked me to speak to Mrs. Persimmon’s (not her real name, of course) 7th grade ...
Twists in the Road
While recently reading Stephen King’s “On Writing,” I was struck by a revelation decidedly not Stephen-King-ish. In fact, the king of horror would probably scoff if he heard me say it, but Papa God brought me to an epiphany of sorts through Steve’s life story. Without really meaning to, in relating the odd events of ...
Journey to the Center of My Girth
Everybody said it wouldn’t be bad at all. No problemo. They’ll knock you out and the painless procedure will be over so quickly you’ll wonder if you ever had a colonoscopy at all, they said. Completely routine medical procedure these days. No muss. No fuss. No sweat. They said. And I believed them. But I ...
Early Morning Grace Notes
Don’t you just love grace notes? I sure do. Papa God sent me a doozy this past weekend. It was just before sunrise when I finished my second lap on the narrow road encircling the rustic campground bordering a lake where I was speaking at a women’s retreat later that day. I’m an early riser ...
It’s Just Good Horse Sense
I was pedaling past an open pasture on my bicycle the other day and came across a remarkable sight. Two horses were standing side-by-side, facing opposite directions, simultaneously scratching each others’ backs. Each was diligently chewing/scraping his teeth along the mid-to-lower back of the other and they both looked like they were about to spout ...
Get Your Bad Self Down
Deb on her He & Me Retreat I think we all reach a point in our lives when fifteen minutes of quiet time in the morning just isn’t cutting it. We’re exhausted physically, frazzled emotionally, and parched spiritually. We need an extended time of renewal in every sense of the word. After nearly completing work ...
Love: Do You Speaka Dat Language?
I arrived home yesterday from a three-week, self-prescribed sabbatical in the seclusion of our remote Smoky mountain cabin, where I was working feverishly to finish Fear, Faith, and a Fistful of Chocolate, my newest book. F3 is due at the end of this week, although it doesn’t debut until Feb. That’s how publishing works: hurry, ...
What’s in a Name?
Rainstorm in the English countryside “This is all your fault!” my unsmiling neighbor leveled at me yesterday as we crossed paths while picking up moss, limbs, and other grungy debris strewn across our yards. “My fault?” “Dang storm’s named after you, isn’t it?” Oh. I suppose it is. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard ...
It’s Your Serve (Prayer, part 2)
Last week we talked about prayer being like a tennis match. You hit the ball over the net, Papa God hits it back. Over and back. Over and back. You know, the truly amazing part is that Papa God wants to play with us at all. I mean, He certainly doesn’t have to. He could ...