Writing Interruptions are Not Wasted!

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore , take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having [...]

Grief and Loss During Or After the Holiday Season

Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and I was waiting to head for the airport at midnight to pick up a dear friend when she was scheduled to land at 1 a.m. While I waited, I sat at my desk, working on a couple of projects while enjoying a holiday movie. As I wrote, I noticed [...]

Pain is a Gift? Suffering With Christ

“So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the [...]

Writing Through the Pain to Comfort Others

Some 20 years ago, I sat down at my desk in a noisy newsroom and began to bang out my weekly newspaper column for a small daily in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I covered the courts and crime beat for The Daily Mining Gazette, but I tried my very best to distance those stories from my [...]

On Writng and Life: There is a Time for Everything.

The preacher was right when he said in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. Take the very first novel I completed. First, a violent storm in my personal life and then a storm by the name of Hurricane Ivan left me, my family, and our city devastated. But all was not lost. The citizens [...]

Poured Out Love

ShoShone Falls located in Idaho towers thirty-six feet higher than Niagara Falls, and the sight is amazing. The water flows around a bend in the river, rushes and cascades over several layers of huge, jagged rocks, and drops 212 feet. A spray rises into the sky and at the bottom is a beautiful rainbow. Standing [...]

A Life Interrupted by Illness

Did anyone ever tell you, “Be careful what you wish for or you may get it?” A few years ago, I stared at the wall  and wondered what it would be like to be able to write all the time. I complained to God how I had all these stories and no time to tell [...]

Holding on Loosely

I’m someone who likes to make plans. I like to know when I’m doing something, how long it will take, and what’s coming next. I don’t like surprises. But one thing this bout with cancer has taught me is to hold on to my plans with a loose grip. James 4:13-15 says, Now listen, you [...]

Lesson Learned: Check

Mother Theresa once said, “You’ll never realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you got.” How true! Life gets busy, the appointment book fills up, plans are made, schedules set, gotta go here, go there, do this, meet them. We got it; we can handle it. There’s lots in life to fill [...]

Grown-ups Get Scared Too

A few Sundays ago I taught in Children’s Church. We’re currently teaching a series on the life of David. My lesson this week was on a time when David got scared. He was sure Saul would eventually track him down and kill him. Forgetting God’s promise, David took his 600 men and their families and fled [...]

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