It’s hard to believe I’m already at the end of week 2 (day 6). The time seems to have flown by but I’ve already learned so much. 1. I’m to look over the details of Isaiah 45:8-12 and read through my journal entry for week 2 day 5 to create a title out of the main idea. Title: The Doubt Buster Now Jen is having us look much closer at the details of these verses. She tells us to disconnect my mind from spitting out an easy answer and listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me. a. Why … [Read more...]
Athena’s Poem, Unbelievably Good
I'm one proud mama because tonight our daughter, Athena, handed us a poem she wrote and dedicated to Keith and I. First off, she is one of the sweetest little girls in the world who happens to be going through a lot right now. When you read what she wrote below, I hope you can see the beautiful heart she has. Her beauty comes from the inside and exudes outward. We are so utterly blessed to be able to be her parents. I asked her if it'd be okay if I shared this and she said yes. I hope you … [Read more...]
Do you have a Doubt Buster in Your Life?
Today (week 2 day 5), she had us read Isaiah 45:8-12 for questions 1 (see the bottom of the post if you’d like to see the passage) and identify the main idea in the passage. a. What is the big picture here? What is God trying to say? Trusting God in all things. While we might question those things that go on around us, or even the world as a whole, we need to remember to never doubt God, who He is, or what He has done. It’s in the doubts that creep in that we can lose sight of the bigger … [Read more...]
The Journey with Elise Stone
Please welcome this week's guest Elise Stone for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? I was raised a Christian. I went to Sunday School and church every Sunday, sang in the choir, attended the youth group. I wrote my first story in kindergarten. I suppose “wrote” is exaggerating a bit. I drew a series of pictures, cartoon panels, and my mother wrote the words underneath. Both God and writing were very important, albeit separate, … [Read more...]
Book Review: Ties that Bind, C.J. Darlington
Book Blurb: Newly released from prison, Brynn Taylor is determined to find her father; a man she’s never met. Her only clue to his whereabouts is the address she finds in a rare volume of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility which he inscribed to her years ago. Armed with a bus ticket, a backpack, and her grandfather’s gun, her search leads her to Elk Valley, Colorado where her plans and her life begin to unravel. Brynn, a young homeless woman, hits bottom when she losses … [Read more...]
The Journey with Jaime Wright
Please welcome this week's guest Jaime Wright for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? I quit writing for two years. Those were the months I agonized as I lost three babies, underwent three surgeries, and spent weeks with nails bit to the quick wondering if my current pregnancy would last to fruition. My fourth pregnancy landed me in the ER with a pre-confirmed miscarriage only to result in a miraculous heartbeat that went on to be an … [Read more...]
Book Reviews by Jean Ann Williams
Where Eagles Soar Jacket Blurb: In 1947, Lily Sanders and her family moved to a homestead in the edge of an Athabaskan village in the Alaskan Territory. It was an ideal location for her father, a mountain man and hunting guide. It also provided a place where the world could not see his brutality. A heartless act by her father leaves Lily brokenhearted and strips away any thread of hope that one day he might love her. She vows to never forgive him and turns to the powerful bond of love she … [Read more...]
The Journey with Melody Balthaser #acfw
Please welcome this weeks guest Melody Blathaser for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? A special thank you to you, Kristena, for allowing me to share my writing journey. It is a privilege! As a teenager, I stumbled upon romance novels and the rest is history. School nights spent under covers with a flashlight, entrenched in an imaginary world of spirited southern belles and handsome drifters. A time or two, I read all night! This … [Read more...]
C is for Character Sketch
When I began to write the fiction novel I'm working on I had no clue how to really do it. There was so much I needed to learn. My true growth started after I became a member of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) and joined the large critique group they have. Over that first month in that group it was amazing how much I had learned. Yet, I had so much more to learn and am still doing so now. I came to realize that I'm a plotter. One day I had an idea to write a quick and concise outline … [Read more...]
Day 89: Worries of Writing Memoir
I want, no, I need to share this excerpt from the book I'm using. Even as I sit here writing this, I feel my eyes moistening. I hope you will see why this has touched my heart and maybe why God lead me to the very book to use in my 365 day journey. "Robin Romm worried whether to publish the memoir she had written about the last three weeks of her mother’s life. She wrote thirty pages of notes during those weeks, then ninety pages in the ten days after her mother died. Romm felt there were … [Read more...]