Children have a strange power over us, don’t they? A newborn hand gripping a new dad’s thumb can drive a hulking man to his knees in tears of thanks. A baby’s giggle can turn tears of grief into a hopeful smile. But a child’s rebellion can affect the whole family. How do I know? Well, we’ll save my personal story for future posts. Suffice it to say, prodigals wield a power to destroy, but when their …
Two Reasons A Good Life May Be Snuffed Out Early
I’m gonna start out a little morbid today but stay with me…we’ll have a hopeful ending. I want to tell you about a few dark weeks back in 1997. On Sunday, August 31, my girls (ages 12 and 10) and I were driving to church—only 5 minutes away—I happened to turn on the radio and we heard that Princess Diana died in a car …
The Difference Between Forgiveness and Consequences
Picture a beautiful sunny day in the Caribbean. My hubby and I had saved our pennies for a family cruise on our older daughter’s senior-year spring break. On this day we’d chosen an excursion on inner-tube motor boats. Dad got one daughter. I got the other. The guide instructed us on how to accelerate, how to steer, and off we went—about 15 of these cumbersome, floating, …
God’s Big Plan
When was the last time you witnessed a child having a full-blown meltdown in public; complete with head-pounding, ear-piercing, chest rattling shrieking, kicking, and crying their demands? I used to judge. I used to think that mother or father a terrible parent. Until I had children—and now grandchildren. Can I just say, Thank the Lord for Facebook and Instagram! These completely unrealistic snapshots of our lives at least balance …
August Novella News!
I’ve given hints and little tidbits about my next release, By the Waters of Babylon (BTWOB), but it’s finally time to share with my newsletter faithful a little more detail about this EXCITING story! The novella uses Psalm 137 as its foundation for the story, pulling supplemental plot from passages in 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Proverbs. I …
Nicknames, Name Changes, & Nightmare Pronunciations
If you’ve ever read one of my novels, you know they’re filled with difficult-to-pronounce names. I try to extend mercy to my readers by assigning nicknames to the characters, a practice I’ve found nowhere in historical records. But nicknames are something with which modern-day readers are familiar. My readers also have to keep up with character name changes, sometimes changed by God, other times …