Real Life is Better Than Fiction

Please welcome Kellyn Roth to the blog today. She has a new book out and was kind enough to share it with us. What inspired you to write this book? I always knew I was going to write a story about Alice's sister, Ivy. So I did. I'd somewhat impulsively said she'd had mental issues in book 1 (darned little 14-year-old me!) - so I had to do the research. And once I did, I realized writing a story about her was going to be challenging at the least! However, I was determined to do so - and more than that, to help her. Because it's not easy having any minor learning disability or anxiety or anything of the sort even in today's world. In the Victorian era, it was more like a death sentence. Click the cover to go to Amazon So, slowly, I found a way to help! And that's the story I wrote. Is there a message in your book you want people to walk away with? That they have worth no matter who they are or what they've done, and they are not...

How about that title! Summer has definitely arrived in my neck of the woods. It's been 90* or above for the last couple weeks, and it doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon. That means the weather is only good for reading by the pool, at the lake, or on the beach. Fortunately, a few writing friends and I have teamed up to offer you some great deals. Here is a list of books that are all only ¢.99. But you need to grab them quickly. Just like summer, these HOT deals won't last long. Click the covers to purchase from Amazon. THE GREEN VEIL by Naomi Musch: Set your summer reading for a gripping family saga! In book one of the Empire in the Pines series, lumberman’s Colette Palmer has always loved timber cruiser Manason Kade, but during the summer of 1841, she leaves him behind to travel across Lake Michigan and settle with her family in the heart of the Wisconsin wilderness. Growing into womanhood, she eventually makes her vow to another. The day finally...

Please welcome Leeann Betts to the blog today! Small boats—and the thought of drowning, terrify me. This fear paralyzed me and caused me to miss out on numerous things—until God helped me see the bigger picture. We went to Peru on a mission trip with my church. We arrive at a collection of tiny structures in the middle of nowhere, providing food and supplies for weary travelers. We slip, slide, and scramble down a muddy bank to the water’s edge where our sailing craft awaits. I look upstream. Nothing but a couple of canoes. I look downstream. A metal boat about ten feet long, its canvas covering long rotted—a tiny outboard putt-putting to life under the tentative ministrations of a teenage boy. My hubby helps me clamber in, and I sit in the middle of the middle seat, clinging to the edges of the warped board. The rest of the team is chatting, laughing, leaning against the side, ignoring me, for which I’m thankful. I think, “Okay, God, I can do this. I just have to do t...

You might think this is going to be another food blog, but it isn't. Well, sort of, but not really. Rice pilaf. It's such a little thing. Yet, it's such a big thing. You see, last year I fixed a meal for an older couple at our church. The wife was undergoing chemotherapy and several of us were taking them meals. I made grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, and rice pilaf. An hour after I dropped that meal off, I received a phone call from the husband. "That was the best meal anyone's ever cooked for us. Especially that rice pilaf. That's my favorite." It made me happy to think that such a simple little thing could make someone's day. Recently, after a time of remission, the wife's cancer came back. "Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked the husband when I saw him. "Are you making rice pilaf anytime soon?" I laughed. "When do you want some?" "Saturday night?" "Y...

Lately, I've put a lot of time into canning. I love walking down to my basement and seeing shelves full of healthy, prepared foods. I think I've been on a canning kick since quarantine has been keeping me at home, my shelves were a little depleted from this past winter's use, and the weather has been unseasonably cool. The canning helps warm the house up some without having to load up the wood stove. We really should be done with heating our homes by now, right? The good stuff! Anyway, I shared a picture of one of my canning projects on Facebook last week and received a lot of requests for the recipe. I thought it might be a good idea to share it here as well. I started canning years ago when my kids started working and weren't home as often. It didn't matter how many people ended up home for dinner, I could open as many or as few jars as I needed. Home canned food is also much healthier than store bought canned food. Take a look at the ingredients and then...

I had to step away from the blog posts for a little bit as life was overwhelming. Not bad. Nothing was wrong, just incredibly busy. I had to find a few things to drop and the blog was one of them. But, I feel now is the perfect time to pick it back up. Working on week 7 of quarantine here, I think I'm finally caught up and ready to begin again. It's funny how sometimes God knows how much you need a break and gives one to the entire world as well. I for one have been thankful for the downtime. So, what I have been doing during under house arrest? Working on some house projects. You know all those things that you walk past every day and say, "I need to take care of that," only you keep on walking? Yup. Got a bunch of those done. There's still a lot I want to do but I need a little help. Fortunately, my husband has been an essential worker so I haven't wanted to pester him with silly things. All those little triangles are made up of 2-inch scraps An...

Nativity But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:7-8 When we think of nativity, Christmas automatically comes to mind. A nativity is simply the place, condition, and circumstances surrounding a birth. The Nativity is the place, conditions, and circumstances surrounding the birth of Christ. The Place – Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which fulfilled prophecy. What a lowly place for the King to be born. Herod, evil as he was, was used by God as a tool. He was taking a census of the people, requiring them to return to the city of their birth. So Joseph packed up himself and a very pregnant Mary, to go to Bethlehem, thus fulfilling one prophesy of Jesus being born in Bethlehem. The Conditions – While most of us were born in the sanitary conditions of a hospital, Jesus w...

Rejoice Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4 Rejoice – to take joy in, give joy to, take possession of When an angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear a child – out of wedlock – how did she respond? She rejoiced. That would probably not be the response of most young women today had they had the same experience. They would probably scream, holler, cry, etc., but not Mary. Mary rejoiced. Mary knew the Scriptures, as is evident in her song. Here she quotes the Old Testament 15 times. She rejoiced because God was giving her a gift, not only a gift just for her, but for the entire human race - past, present, and future. She rejoiced that she was the vessel God chose to use. While she was proud of this fact, she was not conceited. On the contrary, she was very humble. Mary was spending time with her cousin Elizabeth when she sang this song. I can't help but wonder if she needed a little bit of time to escape and soak up ...

Emmanuel Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Matthew 1:23 This story, like many stories I tell, was taken from a real-life scenario from a friend of mine: While our son Kev was being wheeled into surgery, he just kept crying for his bear he had named Baby Jesus. Although Evie was only getting tubes, Kevin was having a more serious surgery. To be honest, that bear that had been dragged through the mud, into stores, many doctor visits, and finally into the hospital, had unknowingly become my security blanket that day. I remember the empty feeling I felt as the nurse took Baby Jesus from me and took him off to the operating room to comfort my own baby. I know, it was an inanimate object, but just the feel of Kev’s ugly, scrawny, yet loved bear was somehow giving me comfort when I didn’t have my own baby in my arms. I sat there in the waiting room for a few minutes feeling empty and alone wh...

Ornament They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever. Psalm 112:9a Each year our trees look more and more beautiful as we place ornaments all over them. One year, while bringing home our Christmas tree on a very windy day, the tree blew off the top of the car, damaging the top portion of the tree. Once we placed the tree in its stand at home, we had to do a little doctoring to make that tree even somewhat presentable. Some strategically placed ornaments helped as well. Other people may not have noticed, if they didn't look too closely, but our family knew the truth behind it all. Sometimes people are the same way. We dress ourselves up in nice clothes and put on a little make-up to improve our appearance, but all that preparation does nothing for what's on the inside. We may think we're fooling people, and we may be, but we can never fool God. He knows all about us, inside and out. This Christmas season let's not jump ...

Bible Books are some of my very favorite things. I am rarely without a book nearby. If I have a few moments to spare, I indulge and allow myself to escape reality. And then there is the Bible. That is the Ultimate Book. When I get lost in the pages of the Bible, I see miracles, I learn more about God and Who He is, I grow closer in my relationship with Him. Reading the Bible is one of the ways in which God communicates with me. But, do I pick up the Bible enough? Do I spend enough time searching the Scriptures looking for answers to my prayers and questions and finding out how He wants me to live my life? The answer is probably no. We can never spend enough to too much time in the Word. I remember the Christmas I received my first grown-up Bible. I spent the afternoon reading through the first chapters of Genesis. That is definitely one of the things I need to be working on.

Persistence Children may not know the meaning of the word persistent, but they have the concept down pat. "Can I have a snack?" "No." "Can I have a snack?" "No." "Can I have a snack?" "No." This is a typical conversation with one of the little people I babysit, only the conversation lasts a lot longer. I don't have a problem with snacks, but I do limit them to no more than 20 per day. She'd like more. She's persistent. As a child, I was persistent. Not for snacks, but for salvation. Every night I would pray and ask Jesus to come into my heart. I was afraid that maybe I didn't do it right or something. God was more than willing to listen to the persistent please of a child. Now, as a writer, persistence is key in my life. I have to send out a lot of articles and stories if I want to receive paychecks. You know that old adage, "If at first you don't succeed, ...

Reliable We all want to be friends with that person who is reliable. Reliable people are the ones you can depend on. They are the ones you can call on when you're in a pinch and need a helping hand. Reliable people get things done. I had a great example of reliability in my parents. If they made a promise to do something, it would be done, and it would be done well. That's something I'm still working on. A friend of mine falls into the category of reliable. She is always the first in line to fix a meal, bring a treat, or take care of any job that needs doing. I want to be like her when I grow up. A few years back I was convicted about my own reliability. A friend of mine desperately needed some help. She didn't call on me at that time, but I had to think about what I would have done if she had called me. Would I have told her I was too busy? Would I have dropped everything and ran to her immediately? I honestly can't answer about what I would have ...

Dedication Dedication is something I think is seriously lacking in today's society. So many people aren't dedicated to anything. Young people get a job and find out it isn't as much fun as they thought it should be so they quit, or better yet, they just stopped showing up. They have grandiose ideas about jobs they love with huge paychecks. There isn't anything wrong with enjoying the job or looking forward to payday, but the reality is that jobs aren't always what we expect them to be. Another reality is that companies aren't exactly dedicated to their employees anymore either. People would often take a job and plan on being there into retirement. My grandfather started working for the railroad when he was a teenager and stayed until he stopped working altogether. If someone wants to do that today, companies make it very difficult, if not impossible. But it isn't just the workforce where this is true. People say they'll work in an are...

Patience Years ago I had to make a trip to the DMV. Since I homeschooled my kids, they pretty much went everywhere with me, including the dreaded DMV. This was back before we could do most everything conveniently online. That day my little boy learned the word "patient." I thought he understood the meaning, but I learned the next day that I was wrong. I had to go to the fabric store – one of my favorite places, but not his. Again – homeschoolers – kids went everywhere with me. I had put The Boy in the cart so my hands were free. He wasn't happy and pleaded with me to let him out, "I will be patient!" A fellow customer standing nearby burst out laughing. So, he hadn't learned what patience was after all.  It takes all of us time to develop that  P word. Patience is not a natural human trait. We must learn and practice it. As we mature spiritually we will develop patience. It's one of the Fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. ...

Believe Here's a question for you: what do you believe? I know, it's a rather broad question. What do you believe…about what? I believe it's going to be a beautiful day. I believe I'm going to cross things off my to do list today. But… What do you believe about God? Some of my favorite times of the week when my kids were still all at home were Sunday afternoons. We would have Sunday dinner and sit at the table for a couple of hours talking. Those were the best conversations. These discussions don't happen as much anymore since the kids are all grown and have their own lives, but once in a while they do. One happened the other night with my son and his girlfriend. She was commenting on an article she had read about a Christian celebrity. The point he wanted to make was that we got so caught up in so many different things about worship and spirituality, people have a tendency to push the actual Word of God aside. People are more conce...