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Ah! Sweet September

9/5/2021

September was called "harvest month" in Charlemagne's calenda.

I have looked forward to September for it is the beginning of fall to me. The nights are cooler and the days are shorter. Yet, it also means I will have to say goodby to summer. Even though saying goodby seems sad, there is a tingling of excitement in the air as the door to fall opens up to us.

I am so grateful to have the seasons and I thank God for blessing us with each one's beauty.

It is nice to savor each day we have in life and rejoice in all the beauty God created. It helps us to focus on Him and to remember He did all of this beauty for us.

Enjoy your month and relish each day.

September's scripture is Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)/
"You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you."

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June 05th, 2021

6/5/2021

Happy June to All!

What a fantastic month. I love this month for so many reasons. The flowers are out in radiant colors. Just hard to pin-point which is the prettiest.

It is also a month where seniors will be graduating from high school. They are all so excited to be finished with these chapters of their lives and anticipating wondrous chapters of new as they leave the halls of their school.

Then we all come together to celerate Father's Day. I so look forward to the kids and all coming to laugh, eat and bring to memories stories of old and to make new memories.

We can't forget the beautiful "Brides" that will walk down the aisle this month to say "I Do" to begin a new life together.

One thing let us not forget, to be grateful for our families; grateful for our country; and let us lift us the men and women who are away from their families in harms way to protect our freedoms in this country.

Let us pray too that our country will heal from the hatred in our land and come together to encourage each other and respect each other.

God bless us one and all.

May 15th, 2021

5/15/2021

Hard to believe May will soon be ending. These five months have flown by. May in particular was a special month, we wish Mom's everywhere a Happy Mother's Day.

For those of us whose Mother's have gone home to be with the Lord, we missed celebrating their day with them. Giving and receiving hugs and kisses.

We always gave mom gifts on her day. She enjoyed opening the gifts to see what was under the pretty wrappings. Always, well, almost always, everyone got her clothes. When we were children, she dressed us well and as her children, in her later years, we tried to dress her well. Even though it got where she could not get out and go anywhere, we still made sure she was well dressed, even at home.

Fortunately, I have children so my children doted on me, as I use to dote on my mother. I guess girls are good at this. My day was special, I got to be with my children.

I hope your day was special too. Last year, we all were quarantined so we did not get to be together. But we made up for it this year.

As we get ready to close out May and welcome June, let us make sure we keep God's word in our hearts. ". . .greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world." 1John 4:4 (ASV)

Happy Mother's Day

5/9/2021

I love my Mom and I wish I could give her a big hug, and hold her hand. But she is with God now so I will just ask Him to wish her a Happy Mother's Day from me and wish all the other mothers a Happy Mother's Day.

I was blessed to have my mother for all most 93 years. My sister and brother and I had a vibrant mother full of life who had the most beautiful smile that reached her eyes. A mother that loved us to the moon and back.

Not a day goes by, that my brother and sister and I don't think about her. She was just special. She saw beauty whether it be in flowers, painting, decorating, designing and sewing clothes for us girls or our dolls. She made sure our childhoods were special and we never once doubted her love.

Happy Mother's Day Mom. We love you !

The Month of May

5/1/2021

The month of May is always special to me. Just the word denotes happiness and light heartedness.

May 1 is know as May Day! It is an ancient festival of spring and in some places around the world it is celebrated with music and dancing and let us not forget the delicious cakes. Okay, sugar foods! When I was a kid we celebrated this with other kids in the neighborhood. It was like a birthday party with out the presents.

One thing that makes this month so special is Mother's Day. For those of you who have your mothers still here you are indeed blessed. For those of us whose moms are not here anymore, we will still celebrate with memories.

One thing for sure, May just seems special to me.

I with everyone a Happy Month of May!!!

april showers and flowers

4/22/2021

Flowers are blooming all over our yard. I for one am glad to see the pretty blooms popping out. There has been a lot of rain and it seems it has paid off in causing the flowers to come forth. I am thankful for the flowers, it gives us beauty and brings to our memory, that some things continue to bloom and bring joy into our hearts.

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone. And now that the first quarter of 2021 has come and gone and we are in the second quart, I can't help but be grateful and at the same time prayerful.

Thankful we did not get Covid but sad others did. I do hope and pray that everyone will go forth and get their vaccines for their safety. We don't want to lose anymore people to this Covid virus.

Prayerful for all of those who have lost loved ones to this virus. This virus has stolen much from everyone...not just our loved ones but also so many people have lost their jobs, and their businesses.

I also pray people will come together and work together to get our country back on track. With the vacines we can eliminate the virus, and with the elimination of the virus businesses can open again and people can go back to work and meet their obligations. Which will take stress and anxiety off of each one of them and their families.

I pray you will take the time to look at the flowers around you, how they survived, and came alive and bloomed once more.

Releasing New Book Brings Joy

3/29/2021

For an author, there is great joy in birthing a new book and seeing it released.

During 2020, the year of the pandemic, it was difficult to get a handle on what I should be doing. I could not get out and go anywhere or visit anyone nor could anyone visit me, including children. So my husband and I made the most of it, and worked inside the house doing our chores, and when finished we spent time together. Getting reacquainted so to speak, as I am sure most families did.

But also, during this time, I decided to get back to writing. I finished two manuscripts and almost a third one. This was the first time I had the kind of time to do this. It was wonderful.

I love writing and especially love writing the words God gives me to write. During this period of time I come closer to Him and learn so much.

In my new book that just released, Between Me and You God opened doors of more understanding for me. Showing how we could have peace and calm even in the storms of the pandemic.

He showed me how to walk closer with Him gaining a deeper understanding of casing my cares on Him.

This is my prayer for all who read the new book, that you will come into a peace and calmness that passes all understanding and be able to cast your cares over on Him.

Prayer Teams

1/17/2021

Sharilynn Hunt, another friend of mine, just released her newest book, Together We Pray. She challenges readers in this interactive eight-week study to build effective prayer teams. Each lesson includes teachings, testimonies, tips, reflective questions, and a suggested activity. She has personally learned when we magnify God, pray in one accord, and declare His promises, our corporate prayers make a difference! This is a wonderful book to add to your study of God.

Throughout my growning and learning of Christ, He has shown me the importance of using His words in scripture and praying them, for power His in His words. He has also shown me when two or more are gathered together and pray there is great power released because we are praying His word, in one accord, as Sharilynn says, God will move.

The year 2020 was a difficult year to say the least, yet in all of it, there were good things too. Families came together at home. Why? They could not go anywhere. They became acquainted with each other again, and were reminded how much they loved each other and that family is a priority.

I pray as the year 2021 goes forward families will remember, not to allow anything to steal their time together. To take ownership of their family time and guard it and create a balance in their lives. Teaching our children about priorities is extremely important.

May God bless all of us this year as we find our way to normalcy.

gENTLENESS AND sTRENGTH

11/3/2020

One of my dear author friends, Sandra Mansfeild Wright, just released two new books. One is titled Strength and the other is titled Gentleness.

What a perfect time to release these books. We all need words of strength and we need to practice gentleness, not just with ourselves but also with others.

Many times through the days I need extra strength, not just for physical duties but I need emotional and spiritual strength.

We all get hard on ourselves, expecting things of us we would not expect of others. Maybe, we could be a little more gentle with ourselves.

Let us remember, God is with us all throughout the day and will see us through.

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV) Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

This book will help rekindle our conviction, revive our faith, and encourage us to stand strong in Christ. Remember - God is in control, so believe and stand strong!

How can we be gentle and at the same time stand strong in our Christian faith? This book gives us keys as to how to live in this turbulent world without losing our gentleness.

Being Vulnerable

6/26/2020

Through the years I have used journals to write my thoughts, words, and ideas. I have written scriptures that meant something special to me and prayers to help me. Perhaps you do to. I have kept these journals through the years.

Writers seem to always have ideas, thoughts and words follow them around.

I especially like to write things down, not just to remember good things that happen, but also write things that were not pleasant. In all honesty, we learn a great deal more from things that were not pleasant or things we were concerned about.

When reading my Bible, many times a scripture would pop up and I would write it down. More times than not, the scripture would speak to what I was experiencing.

Through different times in my life, I would use the scriptures and write the prayers that would speak to my heart while going through different situations.

I have about three boxes of these journals. When I retired as Editor-in-Chief of Southern Writers Magazine, I felt the Lord leading me to share some of these prayers with others.

To be honest, it took some convincing for me to let others read my prayers.

I pulled out my journals, and prayerfully considered the ones to share. I sent these to several of my friends and from their responses, I knew it was time to publish some of the prayers, hoping they would benefit others.

My book, God’s Prayer Power was born!

My dilemma was how many prayers? There are many. But I felt fifty-two was the right number. This way each prayer, scripture, and exercise would be something people could use to delve deeper into their prayer life.

The exercise in the book is the one I used to find out what God was saying to me through the scriptures which led me to be able to write the prayers.

It has been my experience, when writing devotions or prayers that you can tell when God is supplying the words.

There have been some great devotional books written through the years, and when you read them, they touch your heart, and many of them give you comfort––or perhaps wisdom to see the answers you seek.

Some of those devotions are Embraced: 100 Devotions to Know God is Holding You Close by Lysa Terkeurst; Worry Less, Pray More by Donna K. Maltese; Grace Overcomes Today by Sharilynn Hunt; Growing in Hope by Sandra Mansfield Wright; and of course Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, to name a few. There are hundreds of others and thank God more will be written.

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