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How Can You Hear God’s Voice? Lessons from the Lake
How many of you want to hear God’s voice? That’s not a trick question. Any believer would give a wholehearted yes! By “hear,” I’m not referring to an audible voice but perhaps peace or clarity in a situation where we feel unsure or fearful. Maybe we’re struggling to see God’s hand or wanting to simply find the reassurance of His presence. However, before we can hear God’s voice, we must first be prepared to listen. This first step is one we often forget and maybe why we often fail or become frustrated in our conversations with God. We’re too busy doing all the talking or perhaps just plain too busy…
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Your Heritage Can Start Today
This summer has been special for my brother and me, because for the first time, we were able to introduce our spouses to our family camp in New Hampshire. This place of our childhood holds so many memories and history we wanted to share with them. It’s also the same place that inspired the setting for Secrets Beyond Lake Winona’s Shore. Going to camp always feels like stepping backward into time. There’s the small wooden cottage my great-grandfather built, the generations of chipmunks my grandfather taught to eat out of his shirt pocket, the memories of family reunions from years past, and the collection of family pictures on the walls. My heritage.…
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You Don’t Have to Be Great to Start
New Years is typically the time of year people set health and fitness resolutions, but according to Forbes, the follow-through is pretty slim (under 25%). We’re approaching the half-way mark of 2019, and if you’ve already failed at a goal, I want to challenge you to start fresh. Maybe my personal story will help you feel less intimidated by the idea of joining a gym or tackling whatever goal you have yet to reach. Although I have been a runner for about a decade now, I’ve never joined a gym. Personally, I prefer running outdoors over using a treadmill and have always enjoyed home workouts. These sometimes include an over-the-door…
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Wedding Day Joy: Stories Behind the Photos
Our wedding photographer recently shared our photographs, and I currently feel like a little kid who is about to overdose on Christmas cookies. It’s the feeling of, “Please, please, someone share this goodness with me because if I eat any more by myself, I’m going to burst!” So this week, I’m sharing this happiest of snapshots into my personal life. Maybe saying so is cliche, but James’ and my wedding truly was the best day of my life, next to my choice to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Some Humor Joy overshadowed the entire day, and I’m also grateful for the humor dosed throughout. For starters, my now-husband…
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Flat Tire in a Foreign Country? Drive on Faith.
Our honeymoon in St. Lucia was epic on many levels. In some ways, that also included risks that many newlyweds probably wouldn’t attempt on their first vacation together out of the country. But James and I are the adventurous type, and perhaps this tendency only encourages a more healthy prayer life. For starters, he decided to rent a car. That choice seems innocent enough until you consider that St. Lucians drive on the wrong side of the road. Well, to them it’s the correct side, but to us Americans, it’s wrong. My heart did a little flip flop when we pulled away from the airport and started driving. Perhaps not…
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My Top Ten Engagement Superlatives
Hey, friends! This is a big transition month for me, because my wedding is less than a month away. Today, I want to share a lighthearted post about my engagement experience. Enjoy my top ten superlative moments. #1: Favorite moment of engagement: The North Carolina temperatures were dropping, and I was getting cold, so I suggested we leave the mountain vista we had been enjoying. James said he wanted “just one more picture over there,” and I complied. When we reached the outlook, he started saying all sorts of sweet things and got down on one knee. You can read the full story here. #2: Most hilarious moment of engagement:…
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The Reactionary: Gratitude Moments
Coming to the end of a trilogy is a little like crossing the finish line of a half marathon. The only reason I felt amazing at that time is that I’d prepared and trained with friends. Others cheered me on, even though they may have secretly thought I was crazy. This Tuesday, The Reactionary publishes, and I want to start the week with gratitude by saying thank-you to everyone who made crossing this finish line not only possible, but truly unforgettable. My family has been my constant support, and some new faces have joined those ranks throughout this journey, including my sister-in-law Brooke. I also want to say a special…
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Come Explore Orvieto with Me
The Reactionary, the final book in The Rogues trilogy, releases in 4 days! As I anticipate launch day and entrusting the last part of Portia’s story to you, I want to share some more snippets from my own journey to the Italian settings she encounters. Portia’s mission to secure communications with a possible international ally takes her to Orvieto, a cliff-top Italian city with more charm and beauty than one visit can capture. My friend Maria and I decided we could live in our Air B&B indefinitely and never soak in everything this city has to offer. However, because I didn’t want my novel to be the length of War…
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The Beautiful Doors of Civita di Bagnoregio
A few weeks back, I had a little heart-to-heart with you about closed doors and open doors in my life. As we count down to book release day for The Reactionary, it seems only fitting to have a little fun with doors today! When I traveled to Italy to do book research, one of my favorite places to visit was Civita di Bagnoregio. Aside from the pizza there, which was amazing, I also fell in love with all the architecture, namely, doors. In fact, my friend Maria snapped my back cover author picture in front of a vine-framed door I wouldn’t stop raving about. (For more of her Italian stories…
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Skiing Life Lesson: Enjoy Going Downhill
Well, friends, I wish I could say my second time skiing began flawlessly, but it actually started with me falling as soon as I left the lift chair. The good news is that after half a day of practice, skiing started to click. I transitioned from mental pep-talk that involved telling myself not to die to actually breathing and whispering, “Enjoy it.” Yes, I’m all about self pep-talks, and I’ve discovered something: When we focus on enjoyment instead of failure, we relish the experience more. In other words, when we focus on fear, it steals our joy. When we focus on simply enjoying the moment, we do just that. True,…
