Goldilocks had the right idea: neither extreme worked for her—she chose the one that was just right. The same is true of social and civic commitments. Too many commitments cause us anxiety and stress and result in poor performance in one or more areas of our lives. Often, that’s the area that affects our family. We might wish we could be a superwoman and do it all, but we can’t. Something will suffer—our health or our family’s well-being, a relationship with a friend, or maybe even our position at work. Saying yes too frequently can lead to anger and resentment,…
Category: Encouragement
This is our archive pageFirst Impressions
It was my first book to be published, and I was excited about flying to Colorado Springs to meet my publishers at their headquarters. Coming from Florida and having been warned of the possibility of a late spring snowstorm in Colorado, I carefully picked out my clothes for the trip to make the best impression, strategic about packing a separate suitcase for cold weather and snow. But the next day when the plane arrived in Colorado, my suitcase with my cold weather gear was missing. I awoke the next morning to find a blanket of freshly fallen snow outside my hotel…
Collected
The bear showed up again last night, and trash lay all over the driveway and front lawn. Black bears start bulking up from midsummer through fall before they hibernate for the winter here in the Sierra Valley. It’s easier for them to forage through people’s dumpsters than through the forest that surrounds our mountain valley, so they wander from neighborhood to neighborhood looking for fridge castaways. Groaning, I began the gross and time-consuming task of collecting the litter. One more thing. It was one more thing on my cluttered to-do plate. After a four-day conference halfway across the country, I…
What’s Wrong With These Boots?
Author Yvonne Ortega blesses us with today’s Fascinating Friday post! Ouch! What’s going on? These boots are supposed to be my comfortable ones. The rain is attacking me vertically and horizontally. I need to get the trash can to the curb for pickup. Gremlins must have put nails in my knee-high rain boots. They were buried in the back of the hall closet. Only gremlins could get in there. I looked down at those shiny black boots. My other shoes fit. My snow boots fit, and the company that made them made the rain boots in the same size. Forget…
Better Than Nostradamus
By Jesse Florea Growing up, stories of Nostradamus intrigued me. I was amazed that a man who lived in the 1500s could predict events that occurred 400 years later, such as rise of Adolf Hitler or the assignation of President John F. Kennedy. No, I wasn’t a Christian. But I was curious. I began investigating Nostradamus’ actual claims and discovered his puzzling poetic predictions could be interpreted numerous ways. In addition, he made more than 6,000 prophecies. With that many guesses, certainly a few would come true—especially when he used such ambiguous language. My curious nature didn’t end when I…
Finding God at the Spelling Bee
Most of my newspaper bylines result from faith-based stories that I locate on my own. I enjoy sharing God-stories in the newspaper. As a newspaper stringer, however, I often have the opportunity to cover news-related stories, and I can honestly say I enjoy most of those stories, too. Some are a bit of a yawner, though, and three-and-a-half hours of spelling words fell in that category when I covered a school district contest a couple of years ago. Towards the end, two young brilliant boys went back and forth for thirty-five rounds before Elikem Gato stumbled on the word “mukhtar,”…
On Reading
Reading—and the love for it—is not a genetic trait. Parents who read wish it was. However, reading is developed as a love, a passion, or it is shunned just like any other activity. Find me a person who loves to read, and I can find that person’s antithesis who would rather wait for the movie or TV show to come out. Or just play video games instead. (Maybe “evil twin” is a more apropos term for this character…Just kidding!) Case in point. I’m a writer. I have three daughters. Two of them like to read. One hates it and does…
Mistaken Identity, Grateful Heart
Thank you to CAN member and contributor Michelle Medlock Adams for today’s edition of Fascinating Fridays! I had just finished signing my latest children’s book at the Guideposts Booth at the largest Christian Book Show. To celebrate my signing, my mom and my sister took me to lunch at a beautiful restaurant in downtown Atlanta. As we studied the menu, I couldn’t help but notice a group of women sitting at a nearby table. You know why I noticed them? Because they were all staring at me. I tried to ignore them, but their staring turned to pointing and whispering….
Why I Wrote the Book I Never Wanted to Write
Today we welcome CAN member and author Ginny Dent Brant as she shares the story behind her inspirational book detailing her healing journey. Hearing the words, “You have cancer,” was a shock to this health nut. When I saw my real life MRI flashed up on a screen, it looked like a tornado had invaded my body. Bewildered with disbelief, I asked to meet with a chaplain. The first words from my mouth, “How could a health nut like me end up with an aggressive and deadly cancer like this?” “Ginny, consider it a gift from God,” encouraged Pastor Sewell….
Why I Wrote Love Stays True
When my dad began going through papers and documents in his files, He found three letters he gave to me because he knew I was writing a historical novel series. One of the letters was dated 1857 and was addressed to my great-grandmother Sallie from her father. Another one was dated November, 1864 and was written by my great-grandfather to Sallie before he went into the battle at Nashville and was captured. The third was to Sallie from a friend talking about the war. I treasured those letters and tucked the away to a safe place because I knew I…
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