What I will pack in my suitcase.

, by

Hola from Janet Perez Eckles…Igniting Your Passion to Overcome A knock at my hotel room startled me. “Room service,” a voice said. I hurried to let her in. “Only need fresh towels,” I said. “I’ll be fine.” She brought them in and I smiled at her. “Thank you. What’s your name?”

Read More

Try Breathing Praise

, by

Dianne Barker here with a few thoughts about praise. “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord…” (Psalm 150:6). Everything that has breath? That includes me. And there are no exclusion clauses.

Read More

Yes! Have the Breakfast Too!

, by

Hello from Kathy Collard Miller in the Southern California desert where it’ll soon be cooler weather! “Mommy, I’m ready to go over to Irene’s!” I cried out. I had my pajamas and toothbrush! It was going to be my first overnighter at my best friend, Irene’s house, across the street. I could hardly contain my excitement. I felt like such a big girl to be able to spend the night at someone’s house. A big step for a first-grader! My mother accompanied me across the street and Irene and I had a great time that evening. We didn’t go to…

Read More

They Were Dropping Like Flies

, by

Hello from Kathy Collard Miller in the Southern California desert where it’s finally cooling down! It was so hot that even the bees were dropping like flies. In our desert area of Southern California, my husband, Larry, and I get used to the soaring summer heat and we thought the insects would too. But we kept finding dead bees by our front door. We thought, “Can’t do anything about it and it can’t be anything too serious,” so we just ignored the strange phenomenon. Until we also noticed a dark spot on the wall near the ceiling—a wall that was close…

Read More

The more setbacks, the more hope for our readers…

, by

Hola from Janet Perez Eckles…Igniting Your Passion to Overcome Life gets rough; family falls apart. Our health betrays us. Facing all this, how can we possibly inspire, educate and change the hearts of those who read our writing? They expect to read great things. But we sit at the computer, our mind blank. And restlessness makes our creativity fade. The strength we had suddenly turns to weakness. The apostle Paul knew this feeling. And what God said to him, He is saying to us too: “My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly…

Read More

Surprise Encounter In An Airport

, by

Hello from Kathy Collard Miller in the Southern California desert where it’s starting to cool down! Some time ago I was waiting in the airport for my connecting flight, minding my own business while enjoying reading a novel. I looked up and noticed a small food counter nearby where a woman was serving customers. I continued reading when unexpectedly the Lord’s still small voice within my heart whispered, “Go talk to that woman behind the counter about Me.” My reaction was unfortunately one that I usually make: “Oh, Lord, you know I don’t like doing things like this. Please! No!” I…

Read More

What to Do When Nothing’s Happening

, by

Hi! Virelle Kidder here from sunny Florida! Have you hit a fallow period in your writing? Doesn’t everybody once in awhile? Maybe you just left a big conference with no book contracts, not even a nibble, and everyone but you is glowing with good news. Instead of thinking your career is over and burying your grief in chocolate or ice cream, consider this a brief writing holiday and try a new strategy.

Read More

God Never Stops Working on Us

, by

Hello from Kathy Collard Miller, here in the Southern California desert. It was always difficult for my mother to relax and trust God, and even when she was in her 80’s, it seemed like the Lord was still inviting her to trust Him more. My sister and I would say to each other, “You’d think the Lord would stop working on people when they get old enough, but He sure seems to still be working on mom.” That was true up until the last few days of her life. When it was time for hospice, she moved into my home but didn’t…

Read More

How do we face bad news?

, by

Hola from Janet Perez Eckles…Igniting Your Passion to Overcome What happened? Remember years past? We had new opportunities, more book contracts, more invitations to speak, and best-selling status was attainable. What happened? Without warning, the economy turned. Competition became fierce, and because of that, at times restlessness made our creativity fade.

Read More

How do we face bad news?

, by

Hola from Janet Perez Eckles…Igniting Your Passion to Overcome “Unfortunately, we cannot offer you a contract at this time.” Gulp. How do we face this bad news? How to handle this reply from publishers has been a quest for me for years till I heard this story.

Read More