I felt my face prickle with heat but this time it wasn’t a hot flash. It was the humiliating realization that I was a Have-Not in this particular place and time and there was nothing I could do to change that. We all know they exist: the Haves and the Have-Nots. First there are the ...
Shedding the Snakeskin
You know, now that I’m past that half-century mark in age, I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and realize that the new me is now the old me. Sigh. I guess this thought crystallized last Saturday when I arrived at my first Senior tennis match of the season. Yes, Senior. Senior. ...
Celebrating the New Year
While reading Michael Hyatt’s “Intentional Leadership” blog post this week (if you don’t subscribe, you really should!), I was skewered by a life specific principle Michael quoted from his mentor, best-selling author Robert D. Smith. It went like this: “Eat dessert first. Learn to celebrate life and then live out of that celebration.” I think ...
The Candy that Says it All
Earlier this month, as I was getting in the spirit of celebrating the birth of the Christ child, I bought a dozen candy canes to hang upon my snowman decoration standing with his little wooden arms outstretched for such a festive purpose. I was surprised, upon inspection of the candy cane box, to learn the ...
Pass the Iguana Repellant
Does Deb look as scared as she feels? As I climbed the six steps to the stage that Saturday in December, my hand shook as I reached for the handrail and prayed I wouldn’t stumble over my unaccustomed high heels and go sprawling. I was about to speak to 400 hot-tea-and-scone-satiated women who had paid ...
Goodness Gracious Me (Part 2)
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 ...