My new corner of the universe is live. JanetOber is here — in the form of a real-live website. She’s been up a few days, but she needed some finishing touches, so she was being shy, but now it’s time to make the official move. She’s here – all shining and squeaking clean.…
Thanks to cool designers and programmers at Bittersweet Creative, I now have a new website. It’s at JanetOber – I’d love to have you visit me there.
Last week I wrote What is Woman – part 1 based on the Monday Morning Memo. Here’s is an interesting follow-up email from the oxford scholar that was quoted, Skip Moen. Interesting … isn’t it? What might be better and what might be worse in the world, if this is truth … and…
The Wizard Academy is a cool, business school in Austin, Tx founded by Roy H. Williams. (it has nothing to do with Harry Potter, wizard simply means wise) A few years ago, I attended a one-day seminar there and hope to go back for more classes. Every Monday morning, the first thing I read is…
“We must keep in mind the story of the statistician who drowned while trying to wade across a river with an average depth of four feet. That is to say, in a culture that reveres statistics, we can never be sure what sort of nonsense will lodge in people’s heads.” …
A New Website is Coming Soon and very soon, you’re going to see a new site. Soon and very soon, you’re going to see a new site. Soon and very soon, you’re going to see a new site. Hallelujah, hallelujah! There’s going to be a new site. Draft of new site…
“There are some good things to be said about walking. Not many, but some. Walking takes longer, for example, than any other known form of locomotion except crawling. Thus it stretches time and prolongs life. Life is already too short to waste on speed. I have a friend who’s always in a hurry; …
My mom is traveling right now. Yesterday I stopped at her house to check something for her. As I was leaving, I was on the phone with her getting instructions to make sure I set the alarm system correctly when I left. After the system blinked “armed” I locked the…
A man who writes a story is forced to put into it the best of his knowledge and the best of his feeling. The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty. A writer lives in awe of words for they can be cruel or kind, and they can change their meanings right…
“Curiosity, especially intellectual inquisitiveness, is what separates the truly alive from those who are merely going through the motions.” – Tom Robbins So are you alive or going through the motions?
Last week I read this tweet by Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner – “Please don’t submit your memoir until you’ve read 20 good memoirs and 5 books on writing memoir – and learned from them.” Since I’m writing a memoir and want to submit it soon, I started a list of all the memoirs…
The Five Fave things of my week. 1. Finishing a half-marathon is definitely a favorite memory of this week – though I hated it at times while running it. (temps of 90+ caused the hate) 2. And the massage ten minutes after I finished the race was great! I was on that massage table…
I ran the 1/2 Sauer – 1/2 Kraut Half-Marathon on Sunday. I wrote a little about it here. Here’s a more detailed recap. First … Justine if you read this (I hope, I hope!) how are you? It was great meeting you at the race – good job on your…
I ‘met’ Zach last night and he’s my new best friend! I know just watching a video of someone on YouTube doesn’t really make them your best friend, but I’m ignoring that fact and pretending … Zach and I are best buds. Zach is funny, honest and determined. And I…
Welcome – you might be here because you were at this full/half marathon and met me or saw this … In a nutshell, my leg story is that I received severe injuries in an horrific accident in May, 2004. It nearly took my life and my leg. I am now writing a…
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” – Walter Elliot That’s what I’m doing today on this trail today. 13 short mile races to equal a half-marathon (13.1 miles)
I have a second name for this site now. And I have a new skort for tomorrow’s half marathon with the name stitched on. So if people see my leg at a race and wonder what the heck happened, they know where to go to find out more information. Ready to do 13…
I spent most of 2005 and 2006 in a hurricane. Yes, it was one of the longest hurricanes in history – ask any meteorologist. I dubbed it Hurricane Reality, because I had to deal with an unwanted reality following a horrific accident. I had too much pain and too many…
The oil spill (timeline) in the Gulf of Mexico is a big problem. It’s not good. It’s devastating in so many ways. There’s a lot of conversations happening about why the explosion happened and whose fault it is that the cleanup is not going faster and better. There’s plenty of criticism, jokes and cartoons flying everywhere. Yes,…
Glad to see that BP knows it’s a good thing to be responsible for one’s actions. Means the issues in the gulf should be taken care of soon. – Photographer Unknown
For Fave Friday posts from others – go to Susanne’s Site It’s Friday (late, but still Friday) so I’m doing a Fave Friday post because it’s important for my well-being to focus on the good things of life right now. My post earlier today was heavy and things like that…
I did a few question posts earlier – here and here, but haven’t done any for a while … here’s a question I have today. I heard some news yesterday that made me sad. Depression just wrecked havoc on an individual, a family and a community. My heart breaks for everyone involved. I’ve…
It’s National Running Day – so whether you are a runner or not, it’s a good day to go for a run. We all know how good exercise is for us – everything from our muscles to our organs to our brain works better if we exercise. Yes, it really does…
This story in The New York Times makes me so angry … I can hardly breathe. Child Brides Escape Marriage, but Not Lashes By ROD NORDLAND and ALISSA J. RUBIN Alissa J. Rubin/The New York…
Last week I went to Book Expo America in NYC with a friend Janelle Hertzler. Janelle’s book has recently been published and she had a book signing and a podcast interview. It was an exciting week, though at times it was overwhelming – there’s so many books out there already, why…
I interrupt this breathing time because on May 20th, I think about breathing more than most other days in my life and I thank God for each breath. On May 20, 2004 – I almost quit breathing when the motorhome I was traveling in was in an accident with five large…
Right now a designer, a developer and myself are all pregnant with a new website for here 🙂 The ‘baby’ has to mature more before the birth can take place. Right now I am also determined to meet a Dream Year deadline decided on in January – that is to…
I have an unscheduled day in front of me. No meetings, no appointments, nothing that has to be done. (Yippee!!) Yes, there’s things I could do – like clean or organize or weed – but nothing that will really matter a year from now whether or not I do it.…
Did this ever happen to you? Someone mentions that they wonder what it would be like to do that or have this or go there. You sense they have a desire for this certain thing. You hear it by the way the talk about this thing. Silly example – they…
On Friday I attended a host site for the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. It was a good day with a lot of interesting speakers. My two favorite speakers were at the end of the day – here’s quotes from each of them. Chance favors the prepared mind. – Steve Uzzell Your mind will only take…
For more Fave Friday’s go to Susanne’s site My Friday’s Fave Five 1. iHope with Jonas and Anne Beiler, founders of Auntie Aunne’s Soft Pretzels on Friday night. 2. Girlfriends weekend at a friend’s house on the Chesapeake Bay. Life is good … 3. Monthly phone call with Ben Arment for Dream Year 4.…
Today, May 6th is the National Day of Prayer. There have been emails circulating about the President canceling the National Day of Prayer. They are wrong … here is a proclamation he signed for it. Today is also National Nurses Day. And National Nurses Week is celebrated from May 6th to…
I found Jason Boyett’s blog sometime in the past year. I liked it – his humor, his honesty and his questions. And I looked forward to his latest book “Oh me of little faith” for all those reasons and because the sub-title is: True Confessions of a Spiritual Weakling. I love…
QUIXOTE: Whether one wins or loses does not matter. ALDONZA (jeering): What does? QUIXOTE: Only that he fights… and follows the quest. ALDONZA (spits in vulgar contempt): That for your quest!… What does it mean…quest? QUIXOTE: The mission we follow…. (He lifts his eyes to the stars.) To dream the…
I needed fruits and vegetable this morning, so I went to The Green Dragon, a local farmer’s market that was bursting with produce and people. This shows only about 1/10 of it – it’s a huge place! Strawberries from the Carolina’s Tomatoes, sugar peas, berries, berries and more berries, rhubarb. Cantaloupe, watermelon,…
On Monday evening, I heard Donald Miller speak at Messiah College. He shared some great thoughts, some rambling thoughts that almost lost me and some thoughts about being naked. That just scared some of you and sparked interest in the rest of you – so to clarify, he was talking about Adam…
“It’s how we spend our time that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.” -Marcia Wieder Great reminder that we make choices daily about how we spend our time. When next week, month or year rolls around, what are…
“When faced with a polarity, the fool chooses one pole and disparages the other. But a wise man stands between the two and feels the energy that passes between them.” – Roy H. Williams
I’ve had an unorganized week, especially the last few days. I have a number of different projects happening and I’m having a tough time getting anything significant finished, because I keep moving from project to project … ugh. So I have to think hard to find five favorites of this…
Self-Control … I’ve been thinking about it the past few days since it was the topic of the Blog Carnival this week. You’d think since I’m thinking about self-control, I would self-control myself to get a blog post written. But no, I only thought about self control, but didn’t actually…
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of majority, you should pause and reflect.” – Tim Ferriss
“Our faith is not about magic, it’s about partnering with God to see remarkable things happen through faithfulness and consistency over a long-period of time. If we buy into the instant-results mindset of our culture (that is depressed and confused itself) we will become very frustrated with God. God has…
Wish I could hear this teaching series … Your thoughts about their thoughts shared here?
Click on the image above to see more Friday’s Fave posts. My Five Favorite Things this Week 1. Completing six miles in the Garden Spot Village Marathon Relay on Saturday. 2. Slowly, but surely getting over this darn cold. I had a slight cold before the race and I figured…
This post is about the importance of story in my life. It is an entry into Chris Brogan’s giveaway of 100 copies of Donald Miller’s book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.“ I was born into a controlled world – I escaped through stories in books. Then in my early twenties, I began…
On Saturday by 7AM, hundreds of cars were rolling into New Holland, PA. The line into Garden Spot Village was slow, but organized and we were soon parked. The staff and volunteers at the race were wonderful – hats off to the race director Scott Miller and his team! For the start,…
Life can be tough and if you are in the middle of something hard right now, I’m so sorry. Pain of any kind sucks! Sometimes it’s hard to have any hope and it seems impossible to think of brighter days. I’ve been there – felt that. Accident in California on…
Garden Spot Village Marathon WebCam Click here for a live feed On Saturday at 8AM about 1,000 people will be at this spot to begin running a full marathon, a half marathon or be part of a relay team. I will be here cheering, but my run doesn’t start until about…
My Five Favorite Things this Week 1. The weather!! Yes, I know it’s boring to talk about the weather, but we had temps in the 80’s for a few days and I loved it! 2. Watching my boys’ reaction as they read “Stuff Christians Like” 3. Saw/heard Philip Yancey at Messiah…
“The reason you have a front lawn?” “It’s a tradition.” “Lawns were invented as a way for the landed gentry to demonstrate that they could afford to waste land. By taking the land away from the grazing sheep, they were sending a message to their neighbors. We’re rich, we can…
I’m back with a post a day earlier than planned because a few weeks ago, I signed up to be a guest at a party to discuss American Idol with Stuff Christians Like and today’s the day for that. If you’ve come here via Stuff Christians Like – welcome! If…
Earlier this week, I’ve saw a number of other bloggers mention that they are taking a break from posting for holy week and Easter. I didn’t want to be seen as “joining the bandwagon” so I thought I would keep posting. But I’ve reconsidered and decided I want to take…
On a regular basis I try to look back over my day/week/month/year and remember the good things in my world, so when I saw Friday Fave Five hosted by Living to Tell the Story – I decided to join the party. If interested, click on the link above to read…
Confused by rules and religion, but sensing there’s a creator of the world and of her – she makes a commitment to seek the ways of the creator, more than the ways of others. The place, time and desire of that commitment stays clear in her mind. Time moves on – big…
Believing in our goals to the point of acting upon them as though they are real already is the ultimate test of our faith and faithfulness — and the ultimate trigger for their realization when the time is right. -Dr. Richard Gaylord Brilley
Congratulations! Michele Cervone Scott of Honey Brook, PA You are the winner of “Born to Run”
Don’t ask me why blogger put this big gap here, I can’t get rid of it – grrr! Annoyed – will be happy to move to WordPress ASAP – new site coming soon! Years ago I was watching Oprah as my six-year old son played nearby. She had a few…
This week’s Winning Wednesday book is … Born to Run by Christopher McDougall Here’s why he wrote this book … I started running about 18 years ago while struggling with depression. It was my therapy in many ways. After receiving severe injuries in 2004, I didn’t know if I would ever…
As you aim to stick to those New Year resolutions or the sacrifices you made for Lent, remember this thought from Lance Armstrong … Pain is temporary – Quitting lasts forever. If you have stumbled with your goals, stand up straight and try again. And even if you’ve blown it,…
This post is my contribution to Faith Barista Bonnie Gray’s invitation to write about rejection – go to her blog to read posts from her and others. Rejection from anyone affects me. Thankfully not as much as it used to be, but I still try to avoid it. But there’s…
The winner of Hear No Evil My Story of Innocence, Music and the Holy Ghost by Matthew Paul Turner is #8 which is Hind. If you didn’t win, pick up a copy today or go here to try and win another one! Hind – please email me your mailing address, [email protected]
Hear No Evil My Story of Innocence, Music and the Holy Ghost by Matthew Paul Turner As a kid, Turner loved music, so he headed to Nashville for college and for work. Hear No Evil is a memoir (college years and beyond) of moving from his strict religious home to a…
In The Message, Eugene Peterson gives us a fresh translation of what is often called the ‘fruit of the spirit.’ But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others…
9 Interesting Things Humans Do 1. People who are willing to get up to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually. 2. When people say “Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too”.…
Karen Faust of New Holland, PA is the winner of this week’s Winning Wednesday Book Crave: Wanting So Much More of God by Chris Tomlinson
Enter to win this book for – Winning Wednesday Crave: Wanting So Much More of God by Chris Tomlinson Crave is a book about one young man’s journey of developing a meaningful Christian life for himself. Tomlinson is real about the messy and bumpy road it can be at times.…
Do you ever let a mistake weigh you down? Do you allow it to discourage you so much that you don’t move forward? Even if your mistake feels like its larger than life to you, it probably didn’t take place in front of millions of people with no way to…
Praying for Chile and all the areas under Tsunami warnings
And the winner of this week’s Winning Wednesday A beautiful book … Seasons of Solace by Janelle Shantz Hertzler is Martha Merritt Tousley of Phoenix, Arizona. Congratulations Martha, please email me your mailing address. And if you didn’t win … do yourself a favor and order a copy for…
I am super excited about this book! I rarely read a book twice – this is one that I will keep in my living room to pick up again and again and again … the photographs are priceless and the poems are meaningful treasures. Enter to win an autographed hardcover…
Thoughts are the threads that bind us to deeds. Deeds are the ropes that bind us to habits. Habits are the chains that bind us to destiny. – inscription carved on the West Wall at the palace in Maygassa It’s now about 8 weeks since New Years – have you…
This is random … rarely post recipes, but it’s been a kitchen morning, so here they are. My husband is gone for the weekend – snowmobiling with friends. When he’s gone, I generally don’t cook much – don’t ask me why, my two teenage sons live here and last night…
My stern, religious upbringing had many rules – only certain clothes could be worn, no TV, radio or even organized sports. All the rules didn’t work well with an inquisitive child that constantly asked, “Why?” I formed some tough views about God, seeing him as harsh and judgmental. I rebelled…
Fridays are famous … we all love them, don’t we? (know anyone that doesn’t?) There’s a popular restaurant named for Friday – T.G.I.F. There are special rules for Friday: Some businesses allow causal dress on Fridays. Some people get the day off, or at least leave a few hours…
The winner of the second copy of Linchpin that I’m giving away is Jeanne Grunert from Prospect, VA Congratulations Jeanne! (You don’t see Jeanne’s entry in the comment section here, because Jeanne entered on Facebook – I allow entries for Winning Wednesday on both this blog and Facebook)
A few months ago, I signed up to receive a copy of Linchpin by Seth Godin by giving a donation to the Acumen Fund. A few weeks after receiving the first copy, I received a second copy of Linchpin, with a letter from Seth Godin saying, “Here’s a thank you…
Three sayings this week … I like this one because I constantly need to be reminded that I can’t do everything in life. You can do anything, but not everything. – David Allen I had to do this one in honor of the Olympics and Wayne Gretzky’s role in the…
I have a stubborn foot. It has limited flexibility – it is stiff. From the front of my ankle to my toes – it is almost as straight as a board and it’s mostly numb. This is a left over issue from injuries I received in an accident. Post-accident, I…
Last week my husband picked my Winning Wednesday winner from numbers I put in a ‘hat.’ Things are changing now – I learned about a new website, so Winning Wednesday is going high tech. This week I entered a contest for free tickets to Whiteboard. That winner was chosen by Random.org…
Linchpin by Seth Godin Are you scared to try new things? Wonder what others will say? One of the main themes in this book is that you are unique and I am unique. The footprint we leave on the world can be unique if we allow (and push) ourselves to…
Patience – it’s something we all need. If we don’t have patience – we add immeasurable stress to our lives and the lives of others around us. Sometimes we don’t even realize the lack of patience we have with certain people or in certain situations. We act or react the…
All the great spiritual leaders in history were people of hope. Abraham, Moses, Ruth, Mary, Jesus, Rumi, Gandhi, and Dorothy Day all lived with a promise in their hearts that guided them toward the future without the need to know exactly what it would look like. Let’s live with hope.…
In the ancient book of Matthew, the author mentions “Asking, Seeking and Knocking.” We usually look at this as something we do to connect with God … and/or to ask him for favors. Have you ever thought about the fact that this could be a suggestion on how to interact…
I put my husband to work tonight … I was comfortable on my recliner, so I asked him to draw a slip of paper out of my plastic deli container (yea, I’m classy like that) The piece of paper he selected said #9 on it. The 9th person to leave…
It’s February – how’s those New Year’s Resolutions going? When talking about resolutions or goals, almost every person mentions how they want to eat healthier … so it’s safe to assume many of you have said that. Eating healthy is something that is often on our minds, but we still…
I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart, I’m writing the book on your wonders. I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy; I’m singing your song, High God. – King David in Psalms 9 Thanking God that Joseph is standing here with me! His abdomen swelling is down and…
Waiting is hard! And we need to wait in many areas of our lives. “Between the wish and the thing life lies waiting.” – Author Unknown Some of the normal, mundane waits involve traffic lights, check-out lines and doctor’s offices. These we do often, the waits are relatively short –…
Suddenly … My day and my world changes. What I planned to do changes because of what I must do. Reading a text from my son’s friend changes the day and more. Suddenly … The run I expected to go on doesn’t happen. I pick up my husband, instead of…
I assume after this update on Joseph, I will return to my regular blogging (whatever that is) He came home this afternoon. He will have some recovery time, but all in all is doing well considering what he went through the past week. Recap … Saturday January 16, 2010 around…
Yippee!!! If Joesph’s temperature stays down, he can come home tomorrow! All his tubes and lines have been removed. He’s on an oral pain killer and after he took that, he said he only has a little bit of pain. He’s eating and walking – he walks slowly and carefully,…
Joseph will be moving out of ICU today – praise God! He’s eating jello now … which is tough for him because he doesn’t even like jello on a good day. The nurse informed him he has to eat all of it before he gets anything else – so he…
Joseph is more alert and less confused today. He is still on a morphine drip, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting his mind as much. He remembers his fall … telling us that it was just a normal back flip (something he’s been doing for 3 years) and he…
Surgery went great this morning. He was back in his room by 10AM – and I’ve been busy ever since … helping him become human again (his words) Nikki and I have been trying to decipher how his ship crashed and what the little men at his feet and the…
Saw this on the People of The Second Chance site – it goes along with my previous post about the good, bad and ugly, so I had to post it. Good reminder that none of us is alone with our questions and wondering why. Disappointed (With God) from David Tate…
Last week I posted a question and wrote “I plan to post a question every week. Sometimes the question will have more depth than others – depends what stirs my curiosity at the time.” This is an another question post. Most people that believe in God give him credit for…
I’m having a day of rest at home today. Jerry is with Joe. He called with a report after the doctors came by on rounds. Joe continues to be sedated and on the breathing machine, but he is stable and progressing … slowly, but surely. Still has a fever and…
Doctors were very encouraged with his progress … they say he’s doing well considering the severe injury he had. He will recover and be fine! Thanks Dr. S and Dr J – I needed to hear that!! During surgery yesterday a type of wound-vac called the Whittman Patch (don’t google…
Joe is basically the same. they had started a nose feeding tube last night, but it wasn’t working right, so they just removed it and started a mouth feeding tube. hopefully this will work because the boy needs food. I am sure he’s loving the dirty brown formula they are…
Tonight … is hard. I was hoping he would be awake more today, but his temperature rose around noon again. His white cell count hasn’t changed, so they don’t think he has an infection, but they are doing blood and urine cultures to check. They are using ice and Tylenol…
Joe’s surgery this morning was delayed … just spoke with the doc 30 minutes ago, then went to see Joe. The surgery report is a mixture of good and bad news. Doctor said everything in his abdomen looks good and is healing well – but swelling is still too much…
Today has been a calm day for Joe – no major procedures or things happening. The docs wanted his body to have time to catch up on all that its been through. His vital signs have stayed stable. He’s had a temp around 103 most of the day and we’re…
Jerry and I were in with Joe when the doctors came to do rounds aroung 9AM. They are happy with his progress. Heart rate and temp up slightly, but vitals are stable. Protrusion from incision is still the same – it’s covered with gauze but still disgusting. (can you tell…
My 19 yr old son Joseph fell while doing a flip on his snowboard around 12:30 on Saturday. His friend Eric said he had a hard time catching his breathe. He throw up the lunch he had just eaten, but then got up and snowboarded the rest of the way…
I’m disappointed in myself… I’m having a hard time looking at pictures or video of Haiti. For the first day or so, I didn’t. I turned away when images were on the TV or clicked to another site when online to avoid seeing the images. I cared about them. I…
The winner of What Difference Do It Make is Lou Ann Gehman from Adamstown, PA Congratulation Lou Ann! no need to send me your address – I will give it to you on Sunday 🙂
During November, I gave away a copy of the Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent. This was a book I couldn’t put down once I started it,…
I think I was born saying “Why?” As a child, I wanted to know about everything. Then for a time, I stuffed (or tried to) that impulse – because “it’s wrong to question everything.” Thankfully, I realized questions aren’t wrong – not being true to the way my creator made…
On Friday, while adjusting my back, Dr. Tom was in a teaching mood, “Adjusting your back will take time. Your body was used to doing life in a certain pattern and it won’t change overnight. Some of that is because your brain has been telling those muscles to do life…
I found this video about x-rays at Writing Without Paper, a blog by Maureen Doallas this morning. I love it – especially considering I had x-rays of my back recently and that got me thinking about emotional and spiritual x-rays. Enjoy!
The technology of X-rays isn’t new, but it still fascinates me. With the click of a button or two – my doctor has pictures of my bones. Cool – isn’t it? My back and neck x-rays taken last month. Other than some occasional aches, I don’t have major issues going…
How are your resolutions going? It’s harder than you thought it would be – isn’t it? I came across this site recently by the Heath Brothers – authors of “Made to Stick” and “Switch.” Two of their recent posts have helped me already… 1. Willpower as a Muscle 2. Food…
Last winter I spent a few days with a friend on vacation. She ate this almost every morning for breakfast. I like her. She’s in great shape. I want to be just like her. So this is what I eat for breakfast many mornings. 1 – Banana 1 – Activa…
A few months ago, I began reading Elizabeth Esther’s blog. I like her writing – its honest, real and thoughtful. And its comforting to find someone else that asks as many questions at I do. This Sunday Saying is a quote from a post of hers called I don’t know…
Yesterday I posted a youtube video with worldwide events/stories about past decade. That made me think about my past decade and I decided to I wanted to see it on paper. (Actually I would like a video of it, but writing it down is easier) 2000 – Regular running –…
It’s interesting to relive what all happened in the past 10 years.
I love New Years! I love restarts. (doesn’t matter how many times you tried and failed, try again!) I love hope and a new year speaks of hope to me. I love the idea of 365 blank pages. I’ve nailed down my New Year’s Resolution … it’s one that covers…
My mom is an avid quilter, making a few quilts each year. She sews the quilts together on a machine and quilts them by hand. With her help, I made a few quilts while growing up, but somewhere along the way I lost the patience and the skills to make…
The soup has been simmering since noon. I’ve tasted it at least a dozen times – its hard to judge how much seasoning is needed for this large amount. The night is cold – temps hover around freezing. Jerry drives as I figure out the GPS on my new phone.…
I’m thinking about my health goals for 2010, as the soup for tonight’s meal at the Hope Rescue Mission simmers. Check back tomorrow for a report about our evening serving dinner to some people without homes in Reading, PA (pronounced redding) Along with too many holiday meals, I gave myself…
For a few reasons … homelessness is on my mind. First, I’m reading What Difference Do it Make? by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. Moore was homeless for a portion of his life. His writing is priceless and convicting. (come back on the 6th for Winning Wednesday and you could…
How are you … now that Christmas day is over? Was it what you thought it would be? Better? Worse? If it was worse and/or life isn’t what you thought it would be – don’t give up. Never give up! For the majority of the world, the season of…
For Christmas, I decided I wanted to post a picture of my boys, since they rarely (if ever) grace my blog. Apparently I need to pick up my camera more when they are around – because looking back over my pictures from this year, there’s none of us as a…
Earlier this month, I went on a Historical Home Tour around Fairmount Park in the city of Philadephia. Welcome to Christmas … done with simplistic elegrance. I love the decorations and the windows in the dining room at Lemon Hill There are three big ones like this that can…
Once upon a time I decided I wanted to be a part of this … 12 Days of Community = promoting twelve blogs that we appreciate. I wrote two posts promoting fellow bloggers – Billy Coffey and S. Etole and then I didn’t get anything else written. Today I hope…
A snowstorm on Saturday gave me time to finish some books I had started – snug in my warm house with a blanket, tea/coffee, recliner and books looking out my window overlooking the Allegheny Valley. I finished The Noticer: Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective by Andy…
I am thrilled, honored and excited beyond words! In October I went to the STORY Conference in Chicago. The conference motivated and inspired me. Ben Arment directed it, so I began reading Ben’s blog and following him on Twitter. In November, Ben posted about a unique opportunity he was offering…
It’s Carnival time again! Today the word is church and its hosted at One Word at A Time by Bridget Chumbley. I like the thoughts about church (believers coming together) that Jesus talks about and that are in the scriptures. If we believe, we are a part of the church…
Posted this prayer this morning … came back to reread it a few hours later and now I’m not sure I like the line “Disturb us Lord.” I would prefer “Remind us Lord.” I know its just a word … but from a God of love, I’m not sure he’d…
The difference between you now and you in five years will be the books you read and the people you hang out with.” – Charles Tremendous Jones Do you think that is accurate … that books and people can change us?
This week’s Winning Wednesday Winner is Andi Colmery of Elverson, PA. I’m not going to be posting a lot until the beginning of the year – I want to enjoy and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas without stressing. I might be posting sayings or meaningful/funny videos if the mood…
It’s Wednesday and you can be a winner! Actually, you already are a winner, because everyone’s a winner all the time! Don’t you feel better about yourself now? Okay – enough of pop psychology for today, now back to real life. Do something that makes you a winner today! “What…
Peace – Beauty At first, I found it odd, but now it makes sense to me. I’ve found that if I’m missing either peace or beauty in my life, I’m probably missing both. And if I look for one, I usually find both. They seem to live close together. View…
The love we have for God and the joy we feel for His blessings isn’t best expressed in song or prayer, but in deeds. -Billy Coffey Thanks to Twitter, I found a blog called “What I Learned Today” written by Billy Coffey. He started writing the blog after one of…
Six years ago today we left PA to begin a once-in-a-lifetime roadtrip. Some Saturdays, I post a segment of the stories from the six months we spent on the road in 03 and 04. I want to be back there! Back on Gulf Islands National Seashore – a barrier island…
The winner of this week’s Winning Wednesday’s book Can You Drink the Cup? by Henri J. M. Nouwen is S. Etole from Just … a moment She combines her writings and beautiful pictures at her blog. Congratulations S. Etole!! (Please send me your address – [email protected])
You can shine, yes, it’s possible. It might not be easy, especially if there’s tough obstacles in your way. But step by step – you can shine! Yes, this is a commercial. I tend to be leary of commercials and rarely trust the message in them. This proves that even…
Yesterday I took part in a Blog Carnival hosted by Peter Pollock and the theme was Grief. My post was about time spent with my mentor Audrey and how she taught me the importance of grieving losses in my life. Audrey gave me a few books to read during this…
Grief – a word I used to associate with death. In my mind, grief had one place – following the loss of a loved one. Over the past few years, I learned grief is needed in other areas of life also. A nasty accident – life-threatening injuries – severe lifestyle…
My prayer today … “Do the things you know, and you shall learn the truth you need to know.” – Louisa May Alcott It reminds me of this saying … “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Before you read this poem, please know that I know that I am not a poet – but I do like to string words together in a poem every now and then. I wrote this about 3 years ago and found it again recently. Quiet Time I’m one of those…
This week’s Winning Wednesday winner is Janet Nolt from PA She will receive a copy of “Same Kind of Different as Me” To enter a Wednesday giveaway, you leave your name in the comments of the Winning Wednesday blog post or on the link to the post on my Facebook…
Thanksgiving I’m not a holiday person (I’ve tried, but I’m just not) Most times, holidays annoy me There’s often too much hoopla surrounding them And I don’t like the stress they can create. But I realize I’m a creature of habit That does best with a pause in the rhythm…
Winning Wednesday is back! Today you could win a hardcover copy of Same Kind as Different as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Morre with Lynn Vincent The book’s website describes it like this … and also has a short video about it. A dangerous homeless drifter – who…
Us humans are funny … when we go ‘home’ (especially for the holidays) we can easily revert to the roles we’ve filled for years. And if our roles stay the same, the story is basically the same, or close to the same every year. Sometimes that is okay, other times…
Need something fast, easy and healthy for breakfast? I just finished making four of these for our Monday morning breakfast. I got this recipe years ago from a group I joined as I was trying to lose weight after having three boys in five years. I’ve used it off and…
We learn and grow by taking time to reflect on our days. In ten years, when you look back on this day – what memory do you want to have of today? Step back – take a look at your life and see if you like what you see now…
Yesterday I wrote … tomorrow will be better than today – right?? I didn’t have a crisis yesterday or have anything major go wrong. It was just a combination of waking up in a funk, a house that needed organizing, being in pain, too many scattered tasks that needed completing,…
Most days, I’m in a good state of mind – today is not one of those days. I’m annoyed – annoyed at my body, both the way it feels and the way it looks. I need a dress for my nephew’s wedding in VA next weekend and I don’t even…
Ugh … I hate even writing this, because I don’t like making excuses, but I do like setting some boundaries on my time. Life has been busy and I can’t seem to get more than 24 hours in a day (actually, won’t really want to!) so what this rambling really…
It’s Carnival time again and this week the word is Community. I love this topic and there was at least ten different directions I’ve thought of going in with my post – it was hard to settle on one. On Sunday, we had an exceptionally nice fall day – sunny…
I’m not a real scheduled person – I like to go through life living spontaneously, but I’ve learned there are certain routine things I need to do for my mind, body and spirit to be their best. And all three are connected, so it affects all areas when one area…
In our family, we’ve been doing too much of this … Argument is the worst sort of conversation. – Jonathan Swift or this lately … There is no reply so sharp as silent contempt. – Montaigne So, now I’m trying to do more of this … To listen well…
Recently, my husband and I left the comfort of our house with it’s solid, steady floor to live in a room only slightly larger than our bathroom with a rolling, swaying floor for five days. And to top it off – we paid money to do this. Yes, it was…
I live in the house I live in for about 2 years and 7 months and its only in the past 6 months that our living room is finished, as far as furniture goes. When we first moved here, I had a old set of wicker furniture in our living…
The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns And the winner of this book for this week’s Winning Wednesday is #9! Which is … Melissa Nesdahl
While reading a post on Flowerdust by Anne Jackson about not feeling good enough and insecurities, I was reminded of a day when I took a risk to overcome a major insecurity. A year or two ago, my husband Jerry and I, along with our friends, Ty and Loretta, took…
Today I’m giving away a book I was given at STORY – the conference I was at last week. When I walked into a workshop there taught by Michael Hyatt, CEO for Thomas Nelson Publishing, there was a hardcover book on each chair. I love receiving books, even if it’s…
Remembering … And missing being. A few years ago, I spent hours outside in silence and stillness. I remember feeling like I could reach out and touch the creator of it all. I remember listening to my breath and being in awe of it … Realizing how close I came…
I continue to process all I heard at STORY. As I look back at my notes, think about them and share with my husband, I thank God that I was able to be there! Love all the thoughts and wisdom that I heard. The idea of telling our stories was…
Sayings from Cultivate and STORY this week … The best stories restore our faith in God and remind us that we are not alone. -Nancy Beach Get inspired, encouraged and excited by other people’s stories – but don’t tell them. Tell your own story. -Jon Acuff Too often, we don’t…
I’ve spent the past two days at STORY 09. The place, the music, the speakers = WOW! I love new info and questions to think about and process. It was a meeting of great minds and thinkers. Some of the thoughts were new, even edgy – a few raised questions…
Wow, time flies when you are having fun. I don’t know how people that travel keep up with a blog. Even if I have extra time while traveling, I don’t think of writing a post- don’t know why. Guess I need to retrain my brain. I had a great weekend …
The winner of “Bloom Where You Are Planted” is … Helen from Chicago, IL Congratulations Helen! I’m headed to the 2009 Women of Hope Retreat this weekend. The women from my church and I will be smelling sand and salt water at Harvey Cedars Bible Conference on Long Beach Island,…
Bloom Where You Are Planted This book is compiled of writings from my sister Rosene, along with some information about her life – it contains her writings I posted earlier this week, along with many more. Rosene lived on earth for 39 years with too many limitations and too much…
If you found your way here while strolling through the carnival, Welcome – glad to have you! Today I’m joining a Blog Carnival for the first time. A blog carnival is when a group of bloggers all write about the same word – today its trust. One blogger is the…
Rosene was a grateful person, often saying Thank You to her family and friends. She knew, in a real way, how much humans need the love and support of others – many times even making a card on her computer to express how much she appreciated someone and what they…
This is Post 3, writings from my sister Rosene Post 1 is here and Post 2 is here My Prayer Oh how I want to be guided by your holy wisdom and led by your steady hand. So that I can bloom where I’m planted, for you, Lord! I want…
This is post 2 about My Sister Rosene – Post 1 is here What is Normal You may say I’m not normal But really what is normal? Man’s idea of normal is an Able-bodied and sound-minded person. But Jesus measures you by your heart. Jesus gave all humans one thing…
I have a vague memory of when I was almost four. Not many memories, just one day. A day when I was trying to understand what my older sisters were so excited about. There’s going to be another one of us – what did they mean? “That’s why Mom has…
The Winner for Winning Wednesday is Amy Neff Amy wins a copy of Scouting the Divine by Maragret Feinberg
UPDATE – Winning Wednesday will be kept open for entries until midnight tonight (Thursday) Yesterday I commented on the author Margaret Feinberg Facebook Fan page – last night she commented back and said that she will put a link on her page for any of her readers to see it and…
Hope. Hope? My hope is in the creator – the creator of the world and of you and me. There’s many mysteries I don’t have answers to (and to my surprise the list of mysteries and questions is increasing instead of decreasing) but I still have hope. Without hope, it’s…
Rest. Rest. Rest in God’s love. The only work you are required to do is to give your most intense attention to His still, small voice within. – Madame Jeanne Guyon This quote brought comfort to me during the second year of recovery after receiving nasty injuries. My early…
On Saturdays, I post a portion of my stories from the once-in-a-lifetime roadtrip we took in 2003 and 2004. I’m working towards writing/publishing a book in the future that would include these stories, plus more. Saturday’s Story – Roadtrip #1 I’m not sure we would ever have left Heaven on…
The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 goes to President Barack Obama “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” Most of us were surprised to wake up to this news today. I stand fairly alone in my family and circle of friends (actually even in my…
And the winner of “A Thousand Splendid Suns is” …. Deborah from Tennessee! *Need an address Deborah
Book Club was about food as much as it was about reading this month. As I said in yesterday’s post, we read Julie & Julia this month, which it a memoir about Julie Powell (the author) cooking her way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” (MtAoFC) cookbook.…
“A good book should leave you with many experiences and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it.” ~William Styron This week, Winning Wednesday is a book I read last year that I want to share with someone – “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini…
I’ve had a bookclub that meets at my house off and on over the past few years. Some of the readers stayed the same, some have changed – one thing that has never changed is that it’s always been fun and interesting. This month we read … Julie and Julia:…
I received sad news yesterday. Ruth Jackins, a woman that is from a local community group I was a part of during the time I taught the boys at home was hit by a car. Ruth and her friend were out for an evening walk around 7:20, when Ruth was…
In “Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently” Marcus Buckingham attempts to teach women how to have content and strong lives. He does this by interviewing a number of women, some are successful and happy, others are not. He then tries to determine what…
“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”~ Anna Quindlen
Yesterday was a busy day, so I waited until this morning to pick thewinner for my first Winning Wednesday! The Book:A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller Twelve names were written on pieces of paper and put in a dish.My…
Yesterday I received a phone call – no writers, it wasn’t that call – this one was even better! This phone call helped my breathing and made me feel a zillion pounds lighter! Omg – I still think I will take off floating any minute now, I feel so light.…
Too many books … too little time. I love books and want to share some with my readers –so each Wednesday you will have a chance to win a book.Sometimes it will be one I review for Thomas Nelson –other times it will be one I love and want to…
Wow! Excellent. Great read, I want to keep using words like that to describe this book, but that’s boring, so here’s some details. We have one life to live and Donald Miller does a superb job in “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” helping the reader understand that life…
“Julia (Child) taught me what it takes to find your way in the world. It’s not what I thought it was. I thought it was all about – I don’t know, confidence or will or luck. Those are all some good things to have, no question. But there’s something else,…
Every Saturday, I plan to post a portion of my stories from the once-in-a-lifetime roadtrip we took in 03/04. I’m working towards writing/publishing a book in the future that would include these stories, plus many more. December 4, 2003 was a cold, snowy night in southeast Pennsylvania – temps dipped…
I’ve liked this quote by Theodore Roosevelt for a long time … “Do what you can with what you have where you are.” That thought helped carry me through many seasons – Finding a spiritual identity outside the boxes of my past Begin walk/running at age 28 (never exercised before)…
“Writer’s write.” This is one of the pieces of advice Donald Miller gave today. He gave a speech, followed with a question/answer time at the Abilene Christian University Summit. It was streamed live online and I watched most of it. During the Q&A time, one question was, “What advice do…
Ever have uncertainty in your life? Generally uncertainty is seen as a negative – what would happen if we saw it as a positive instead? “Uncertainty and mystery are energies of life. Don’t let them scare you unduly, for they keep boredom at bay and spark creativity.” ~ R.I. Fitzhenry…
God gave us… God gave us the sun and the stars and the winds, and people worshiped the sun and the stars and the winds, instead of the God who made them. Then God gave us the Law (in the Bible) and people worshiped the Law instead of the God who…
Do you ever interrupt someone in a conversation? Please say yes, because I don’t want to be alone. If you’ve ever had a conversation with me, you might know that I interrupt at times, especially if it’s something I feel passionate about – can be either positive or negative. Sometimes…
I like to reserve Sunday as a day of rest, so my Sunday posts will be sayings or quotes that I’ve read that make me laugh and/or think. “We are created in the image of God, and he modeled for us a way of life that makes sense for how…
When a tragedy happens, the popular saying “Time heals” is heard many times. I used to say it myself. But I’ve come to the conclusion that saying is incomplete. Time alone does not always heal. My expanded version is – “Time heals, along with proper care to yourself and love…
I ignore the vibrating phone in my pocket as I chat with two friends. Thirty seconds later, I feel it again. I don’t want to interrupt the conversation, so I multi-task and pull it out while staying focused on what my friend is saying. A quick glance tells me its…
I groan as I head to physical therapy – again. Following surgery on my foot, I’m only two weeks into a two-month process and the exercises are already tedious. Forty times left, forty times right, up and down, around in circles – I won’t bore you with all the details…
A few weeks ago, I signed up to review books for Thomas Nelson – the website describes the company like this … “From humble beginnings in a village in Scotland 200 years ago to a modern-day publishing enterprise employing over 600 people, Thomas Nelson’s goal has been to Honor God…
Tonight I was reminded (again) that words alone aren’t always enough. Most times, they need to be accompanied by actions! Just saying I’m sorry can be easy – backing it up with actions, that’s harder. I had a time (words/actions – it was ugly) with a loved one that I…
The average life expectancy worldwide is 67 Macau (in China) is 84 United States is 78 The lowest, Swaziland, is 39 There’s an enormous gap of 45 years between the highest and lowest countries. Wow, people in Macau live over twice as long as people in Swaziland. Interesting – but…