Making a Difference
The Seeds You Plant
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” Robert Louis Stevenson. We’re fast coming up on a year of quarantine. My husband and I have been vigilant about taking precautions. I’ve made masks for family and friends and always wear mine when I’m out of the house…
Read MoreMask Maker Heroes: When Help Is Needed.
Thanks to everyone who sent photos of the masks they’ve made. Today I’ve tried to include all the photos I received, although it’s possible that because some came to different Facebook addresses, I missed adding them. I’ve also sent links to my ebook, The Unmasking, to every mask maker who commented and sent a photo.…
Read MoreLife As A Lemonade Stand
While I’m traveling in November, I’m happily sharing some of my favorite blogs from 2009. In the years after I wrote this, our family bought a little cottage in Chautauqua and now spend our summers there. We’re still close to the family in this blog and love spending time with them. Of course Fortunate…
Read MoreFake News? How Do We Decide?
As some of you may remember, I decided to participate in the Better World Books Reading Challenge this year. I’m happy to say I’ve made significant progress and only have a handful of categories to complete. So far my two most difficult reads have been Life by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, my book…
Read MoreChristmas, A Time to Welcome Strangers
Today in honor of Christmas I’m sharing an excerpt from my novel Endless Chain, the second book in my Shenandoah Album series. Endless Chain explores the many ways that we welcome strangers into our lives. In this scene Sam, a minister of a local church and the woman he loves, Elisa and her friend Adoncia, are helping…
Read MoreReaching Out To Help, Even When It’s Not Comfortable
Recently CBS News had a particularly thought-provoking story, and I’ve included the video here for you to see. There’s a short commercial at the beginning, but it is short. Three years ago members of a gym in Nashville, Tennessee, began to talk among themselves about the slowly disappearing body of another member, a college student named…
Read MoreThe Essence of Goddesses Anonymous
This week when I saw this moving Thai commercial on Facebook, I thought wow, this is exactly what I’m trying to say in my Goddesses books–except for the ending, because I promise I don’t sell insurance. Then I realized that I’ve tried to say these things from the beginning of my career, although perhaps not…
Read MoreWhich Three Wrongs Would You Right?
By now many of you have had a chance to read One Mountain Away. If you haven’t, an important element of the novel involves Charlotte Hale, the principal character, who is looking back at her life. Charlotte isolates three things she did in the past that she wishes she could change, then she sets about…
Read MoreHoly Helping Hand, Batman!
I’ve spent a lot of time lately thinking about the ways we help each other. One Mountain Away, coming in August, explores that question among many others, and it will come up again and again as the series progresses. Do we give money? Do we bring casseroles? Do we hold hands and provide a listening…
Read MoreMothers In Law and In Our Hearts
I’ll confess these days I wince when I hear mother-in-law jokes. I wince because I am a mother-in-law times three. I have three wonderful in-law kids, and our family is enriched three-fold by their addition. I’m hoping to be a completely different kind of punchline at the end of my life. As goals go, that’s…
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