Thoughtful Thursdays

It's a saying pretty much everyone understands, I'd think. "Keep your eyes on the prize." Keep your focus on the thing you're aiming at. The finish line. The trophy. The certificate of achievement. The check-off of your Bucket List. Keep going. Keep reaching. Keep...

I've had a hectic few weeks, and in some ways it's been a real roller coaster ride. I got good news just to have it nullified two days later. I've had to come to grips with a few things, put some things aside for a while--and as someone who always hopes and works for...

With the fires raging in Colorado, this is a topic on a lot of minds this week. As someone who used to have a major phobia of fire, wildfires are a terrifying thing to me, and my prayers go out to all those affected, both residents and the brave men and women fighting...

The other day I was reading Romans 8 . . . and coming to the conclusion that it's one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. I know I've read it many times before, but it just hit me how much is in this one. And how amazing it is that we get to apply it to our lives. I...

 Now hope does not disappoint,because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  ~Romans 5:5 Rejection. In the writing industry it's something we all face, and so it's something that I've written about before....

Ever pause to think about how God goes out of His way for us? It's really kind of baffling--and something I think a lot of us tend to ignore. I've been reading Acts (in two different ways--both in my daily reading and in my daughter's school reading), and that's been...

Yesterday as my best friend Stephanie Morrill and I were chatting about my schedule, I earned a "Whoa! You're making my head spin. Can you believe it wasn't that long ago that you were like, 'I need direction! I have no idea what to work on next!'?" Definitely not a...

Blinders--we all wear them. Those things that keep us from seeing things, or at least from seeing them clearly. With horses, they're used to keep the animals on track, to keep them from getting distracted. But for us? Hmm . . . I often find myself with blinders in...

Last night the semi-finalists of the Genesis Contest (for unpublished authors) were announced. On Monday, the nominees for the Christy (Christian Fiction's most prestigious award) went public. And as award season gets into full swing, I imagine we'll see many more...

We're doing a study of the cross at church, and last week as we discussed how Jesus knew all his life where he was headed, knew that he was to be the Servant talked about in Isaiah 53, the one that would justify the world. He knew, always knew, that he would have to...

In both my personal Bible reading and what I do with Xoe for her home school, I've been immersed in the Gospels lately. And of course, it's no surprise that, being in the Lenten season, our studies at church have centered around Him too. But the more I read, the more...

Allow me to draw your attention to Mark 4:37-41: 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat,  so that it was already filling.  38 But He was in the stern,  asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ...

Dear Lord, Thank you so much for all you are. Thank you for hands big enough to craft a universe and small enough to cradle our hearts. Thank you, Father, for the comfort in your invisible touch and the assurances you've given us because you know we need them. You are...

I tried to think of a blog post for today, I really did. But you see, every time I turned my mind over to pondering, it defaulted to pondering the last three chapters of my work-in-progress. I'm mere days away from finishing it and in a total book haze. So my...

I should probably have saved this topic for two weeks from now, when, if all goes well, I'll reach the end of my manuscript. But I'd probably forget by then, so . . . 😉 I'm an optimist. I can find hope in anything. That's probably why I love stories of romance--you...

Another thoughtful day as a result of our home school reading. =) This week we saw Elisha take over for Elijah, and during his stay with all the young prophets-in-training, we got to a story I remembered from when I was a kid but forgot the context of. So one day,...

Yesterday in our homeschool Bible reading, we got to one of the best-known stories of Elijah--where he challenged the 450 priests of Baal to an alter competition. (Okay, my words, not theirs, LOL.) You remember it, I'm sure. The priests of Baal build their alter, put...

Last year when I prayed for a word from the Lord to encompass my year, I received it in a thunderbolt of realization. A chill up the spine, a near overwhelm of feeling and knowledge. I was waiting for that again this year . . . but since when does the Lord do what we...

This is the last post I'll have up before Christmas . . . and probably the last before I do a look-back-over-the-year on next Thursday. So first and foremost, I hope each and every one of you has a fantastic Christmas and that 2011 wraps up well for you! Excitement is...

We have two cars. The one my hubby was given when he was learning to drive--a '95 Jeep Cherokee--and our Lincoln LS. (These aren't actual pictures of our cars, just online images of the same models--approximately, LOL.) Xander, the Lincoln, is ten years old but still...

Thank you, Lord, for all You do for me. For sending Jesus to save me, for knowing me from eternity, for setting me on this path, surrounding me with friends and family, and holding my hand all through it. Thank you, Lord, for placing me in a loving family, one that...

I'm sitting here with a little boy climbing all over me. Sitting on the arm of my chair. Hanging from my neck. Inching his finger closer and closer to my keyboard. When I send him one of those Mommy looks, he flashes those cute little dimples of his and giggles in...

I've realized something over the last two weeks: I can't do it all. I know, right? SHOCKER. Call the local news! Roseanna White cannot do everything! 😉 But seriously, this was a big deal for me. This realization that I have finally reached my saturation point, that...

I'm going to try to share news in a way that doesn't tell what I'm not at liberty to tell yet. =) Let's see how I do. This much I think I can say: In the last two weeks, I've gotten two offers for book contracts. One for a three-book deal. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm...

We love to torture our kids. And by torture I mean tickle them, "eat" them up, chase them around, pretend our hand is a monster . . . you know. Torture. The sweet kind. I imagine that's a fairly universal love of parents the world over, and it's no great secret why....

Round about five and a half years ago, my family started a church. Why? Because we felt the conviction to worship on the Sabbath, and there were no sabbath-keeping churches around whose doctrines we believed in. So we became a branch church of a Seventh Day Baptist...

Back when I worked in the Admissions Office of my college, I made friends with one of the (non-student) staff who manned the office. Patricia was a total sweetheart, and we had many a laugh together over the four years I worked there. At 6'1" tall, Patricia towered...

Am I the only one out there slightly amazed that the ACFW conference is only a week away? I knew it was coming. I had in fact thought, for a while, it was coming this week rather than  next. But I've been so focused on finishing my Revolutionary War novel that...

First, I want to thank everyone who shared their story yesterday of where they were on 9/11. If you haven't yet, I'd love to hear from you on yesterday's post. Tomorrow I'll be asking for folks to share the tales of heroism and miracles they've heard--from the small...

As I wrote up the posts about the fun time I had in Oregon, picking and choosing what I ought to share and what I ought not, it got me thinking about a few things of the utmost importance to all of us--and how to balance them. The first, as my post's title would...

Though I don't have organizational skills that would wow anyone, I'm a planner. A goal-setter. And someone who doesn't often budge on those goals. When I say I'll have a book to the 75% mark by August 14, for instance, I do whatever it takes to hit that point in the...