September Newsletter
The Energy of Togetherness
Let me start this newsletter with a reminder of my life message - “the energy of togetherness.” Every day, we see some of the consequences of the isolation caused by COVID. Let’s battle it and come back together. As our 60’s and 70s parents used to say as they locked the door behind us, “Get outside, go find friends, and play something.”
Pillow Progress
Update on writing progress: A picture is worth a thousand words. A recent work crisis in my outside CFO job has held my life hostage for about 45 days, and you can guess how many words I’ve written. My coauthor, Janette Johnson Melson, helped me give myself grace by saying, “Sometimes our writing just has to take a back seat for a while.” The crisis has calmed, and the words I am now writing on this blank whiteboard are a prayer: “Lord, HELP me get my writing going, once again. With you, nothing is impossible.”
Encouraging Words
I was recently thinking of my dear friend who inspired this new role in my life as an author as I write a novel inspired by her life story. I remembered a deeply stressful time in my life when she came over. She took one look at me, no words needed, wrapped me in a bear hug, and whispered a powerful prayer over me. My load lifted immediately, and I had the courage I desperately needed to leave for a mission trip. It’s out of that “heart” that I WILL finish this book.
A Short Break
Have you taken the time to leave your work, go outside, sit and be, and see a thousand gifts surrounding us? Yeah, me neither. But it’s on my to-do list, lol. Let’s test our productivity with a creative break, as this cool elephant has mastered.
Favorite Fiction Fanfare
My most recent book treasure is a little story or parable, Go-Giver, which teaches powerful lessons for business and life. It’s not a Christian book, but if I were a betting woman, I would wager that I could find a Bible verse for each of the five principles it shares. I believe it is guaranteed to bring us lavish success through becoming mighty givers in life. It’s a paradox, but it’s a life changer I plan to put to the test after finishing it in one sitting.
Where did the time go?
Does anyone else feel like a clock is their constant enemy, always plotting how to trip up humans created for eternity but stuck in temporal time? Author Frank Peretti is best known for his novels, “This Present Darkness” and “Piercing the Darkness.” In his touching, less-known novella, “Tilly,” he wrote sensitively about the abortion issue. A dream transports the main character and her home into heaven. She looked up at her mantel for the clock to check the time, AND IT WASN’T THERE. I read that book twenty years ago; that is my favorite concept, maybe of all time. Heaven is coming, y’all! No clocks! Get your admission ticket! His name is Jesus.
Marilyn’s Sense of Humor
“What’s the difference between cats and a comma? Cats have claws at the end of their paws, and commas are pauses at the end of a clause.”
First thought: Am I the only one who laughs at our crazy English language that could even construct a sentence like that? How does anyone learn it, including those of us whose first language is English and have mastered no second?
Second thought: Am I the only one who looks at this picture and WANTS A KITTEN?!
