• Mar. 19th, 2012 Count it all joy?

    I joined a gym last week. As I perused the group fitness schedule, I noticed a class called Intense Fit. My body said NO WAY but my brain pointed out that the handout specifically said the class was for “all levels” so it couldn’t be that bad. My body is still ticked that my brain won [ read more ]

  • Mar. 15th, 2012 Book Review :: Firethorn by Ronie Kendig

    Do not, under any circumstances, no matter how tempted you are…do not open this book if you have anything urgent on your to-do list. If you have to do laundry or you’ll be going to a meeting in gym clothes. If you have to buy groceries or everyone will be eating cereal for supper. If [ read more ]

  • Mar. 12th, 2012 Does God Care When We Suffer?

    Last week, we asked a tough question …Does God care when we suffer? Because He knows everything that is and was and will be, maybe He is able to view our suffering with a dispassionate air. Maybe not. Let’s dig a little deeper… In John 9, we read the story of the man born blind. A man, Jesus tells us, who had [ read more ]

  • Mar. 8th, 2012 My Five Favorite Romantic Suspense Authors

    A few weeks ago we talked about the seven things readers can do to support their favorite authors . But there was one item I left off the list…on purpose! One of the best things a reader can do to support their favorite authors is … Tell everybody about their books! Every now and then, I’m going to use our Thursdays to introduce you to authors I [ read more ]

  • Mar. 5th, 2012 When the Miraculous Becomes Mundane

    When you grow up in church, it’s so easy for the stories of Jesus to become—well—boring. After so much repetition, we lose our sense of wonder. The miraculous becomes mundane. When the wedding runs out of wine, we aren’t concerned. We know Jesus makes great wine. When the crowds are hungry, we aren’t worried about [ read more ]

  • Mar. 1st, 2012 Book Review::Unleash the Writer Within by Cecil Murphey

    For my first guest post at The Write Conversation  (my first guest post ever!) I reviewed a talk given by Cec Murphey at our local Cross Way Christian Supply . I was impressed by his approachable manner and his willingness to share his writing knowledge with us. He’s written more than 120 books and they’ve sold millions of copies. So when he turned his attention to writing a [ read more ]

  • Feb. 23rd, 2012 7 Ways Readers Can Support Their Favorite Authors

    Before I began hanging out with writers, it never occurred to me that the authors of my favorite books were real people with mortgages, laundry, soccer practices, and—in many cases—day jobs. Obviously, I knew these things, but I didn’t think that there was anything I—a reader—could do to support or encourage them in any meaningful [ read more ]

  • Feb. 20th, 2012 The Cone of Shame

    It happened again last week. I entered the Cone of Shame. If you have kids, you’ve been there. It started out innocently enough. Everyone was smiling as I announced that we (that would be me and my three littles) were going to the store and then we were going to get French fries!(They were. I [ read more ]

  • Feb. 16th, 2012 Book Review and Giveaway :: When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

    Lynette Eason has done it again! When the Smoke Clears is the first in her new Deadly Reunions series (doesn’t that sound ominous!) and it has everything I loved from her Women of Justice series – romance, mystery, and characters with intriguing professions. But she’s taken it up a notch in the suspense department! The first few chapters come hard and fast with all the pacing of a [ read more ]

  • Feb. 13th, 2012 Do You Feel the Love?

    Every now and then, I have a great idea for a blog post, but the words won’t flow. So I change gears. Write something else. And wait. I have waited months. This time, I only had to wait a week for God to finish my thoughts and leave me, again, in wonder at His love [ read more ]