Peace at Christmas Free Devotional Week Three

Here is week three of my Peace at Christmas devotional. Leave a comment and let me know how you are surviving the holiday.

Peace at Christmas Devotional Week Two

Here is week two of my Christmas Devotional. Enjoy and Share.

Peace at Christmas Free Devotional Week One

Here is week one of my free Christmas Devotional. Enjoy and share.

Discovering Writer Me

Self-discovery is the unexpected benefit to writing. Being creative on demand requires you to know how you work and what gets the words flowing. Over the years, I’ve discovered a few things about my writing process. I can’t work with writing software. I’ve several different ones but for a reason I haven’t discovered, they don’t work for me. My suspension of why leads me to the next thing I’ve discovered about myself: I am a global writer. I need to see the whole picture of my novel.

I’ve discovered that although I consider myself a tech girl, my writing life is better with as little tech as possible. Give me a poster board, a spiral notebook, some Post-it notes, a mechanical pencil and a black ballpoint pen. The only tech I need is my Mac so I can actually write the novel and do research.

This year, I made a new discovery, although I feel a little silly calling it a discovery. I’ve known it all along, but I never really acknowledged the truth.

I am an autumn writer.

Something about turning leaves, cooler temperatures, and pumpkin flavored everything inspires me. I feel cozy and invigorated. No other season does that for me. I feel more alive in the fall than in any other time of year. And my words flow freer during this time, whether it’s blogs, journaling or novels.

In contrast, I cannot write in the summer. Something about that season makes me want to go outside and play. I guess the adult me hasn’t relinquished the carefree laziness summer. I don’t want to create, I want to watch storm clouds roll in and breezes rustling green-leafed trees.

Now that I know this about myself, I will pay more attention to how the seasons impact my life. Winter and spring are up next. Wonder what words will flow out of them…

My Life in Stitches: Floor Full of Blocking

My knitting has fallen victim to my new job. Not that I have one of those exhausting jobs, but that my 9-5 is occupied and I can’t knit as much as I would like to. Before I had dedicated times of knitting. Now, I knit on 15-miniute breaks, while I’m stuck in traffic or any other moment I can steal.

The problem with this is over the summer I started a number of projects to wear once the weather changed. I had a sweater, a shawl and a poncho on my needles at the same time. I thought I had enough time to finish them all before now. I did manage to finish knitting two of them but I didn’t block them, and according to my husband, they’re not finished until they’re blocked.

This past Sunday was my wake-up call. When we left for church, it was barely sixty degrees outside. And the building we meet in is county-owned, so the thermostat is set until someone comes and turns the heat on later this year. I nearly got hypothermia during the church service. I needed the things I knitted but they weren’t blocked.

I realized the error of my ways and blocked all three garments, in addition to an item I knit for a swap partner and a scarf my husband knit. Right now, they are keeping my living room floor warm but soon, they’ll keep me warm.

I Think I Might Make It

Every year I do the Bible in a Year reading plan. As a pastor, and more than that, as Christian, it is important to know the Bible I live by. That’s one of the reasons I do it every year. My other reason is not so honorable.

I do a Bible in a Year plan every year because I can’t ever make it past the book of Isaiah.

I’m not sure why it happens, but I often bail on the reading around this book. It’s not the longest book. It’s not even my favorite book and I’m tempted to linger. That distinction belongs to Ephesians. Although it’s not my favorite, it has great passages in it. Chapter 7, a virgin shall bear a son and His name shall be called Immanuel.  Chapter 9, the root of Jesse shall spring forth and the government shall be on His shoulders and Chapter 53, the portrait of the Suffering Servant.

And I’ve tried reading it in different translations. I’ve tried listening to the audio of it. Neither help. I can even read the rest of the Bible after Isaiah, of course not in order. Isaiah gets me every time.

Except this year. This year, I think I’m going to make it. I am on chapter 45. Only 21 more chapters to go!  I can make it through 21 chapters if I’ve already made it through 44.

Could this year be the year I make it past Isaiah?

Captured Preview

You've read the blurb. You've seen the trailer. Ready for a little more?

Here is a preview of Captured, releasing on Tuesday, September 22. Captured is available for pre-buy at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Click here to read a preview of Captured

Monday Meditations: One Head, Many Hats

I always have been a multi-multitasker. At my best, I can do four things at once, at worse, two. I have for years fought that part of my personality, determining to fit into this unrealistic idea of normal that I had. I would look at people who were specialist in what they did and long to be like them. To know the one thing I would do with my life. I didn’t want to be a general practitioner.

The older I got, the more I realized I’m not that kind of normal. When I tried to do one thing at a time, I got bored quickly and moved onto something else. After much trial and error, it dawned on me that multitasking is my normal. It took me a little more time to accept this.

The revelation came primarily from my life. Yes, multitasking was my habit, but my life explained to me why I did. I wear many hats. I’m a wife, mom, and pastor. I have a budding writing career. I work full time and go to school part time. I knit and I love to read. All of these things are me.

In order to keep these caps on my head, I have to multitask. Many days I feel like the peddler from the book, Caps for Sale. All of them precariously piled high on my head. And as in the book, it only takes one monkey to send it all tumbling.

But the one head/many caps life works for me. That’s they way God made me. And when I stopped fighting that truth, my multitasking became easier. I realized that it was okay to got to bed exhausted after I gave my life all I had. I had to let go of being specialist and life the general practitioner life God called me to.

And I learned something in all that. A multitasking life is a full life. Full of love, laughter, good times and joy. I wouldn’t change that for the world.

My Life In Stitches: Cold Office Knitting

I recently got a promotion from bookseller to the Community Business Development Manager at Barnes & Noble. I loved my old job and I equally love my new one. It allows me to still sell book, but on a different platform.

It also means that I got an office…a very cold office.

I am one of those people who stay cold no matter what season it is. I keep a heavy comforter on my bed all year round, much to the distain of my husband and wear long sleeve shirts all year round. My fingers and toenails are always blue and I dress in layers even when I’m inside. Needless to say, I spent the first day in my new office training shivering.

As I sat, watching training videos, I found it hard to focus. Not because they were boring or that I was cold. I kept daydreaming about all the sweaters I was going to knit to wear in my very cold office.

Some knitters find it hard to knit sweaters in the summer cause it’s so hot. But when you have your own personal winter all year round, it’s not so hard. I actually sat outside in the sun on my breaks from my very cold office and worked on a worsted weight poncho.

So here are my cold office projects I have lined up.

Vodka Lemonade. I loved this project when I first saw it and now seems to be the perfect time for it. I’m almost done it, but I think I’m going to have to reknit the first sleeve cause I don’t like they way it looks. I’ll probably keep this hanging on the back of my door in cause of a freezing emergency.

I Want That Wrap. This is my current mindless knitting project. It is also the first poncho I’ve ever knitting. I love the color and can’t wait to wear it in the fall. It’s also warm!

Pucker. My husband and I made these socks for a KAL for this last year. The goal was make a pair of matching socks. I didn’t like the pair I made but he loved them. Since he got my pair, I promptly bought the yarn to make another pair. I’m not a big sock girl. The cold office has changed that.

I hope to get this all done before it really gets cold. In the meantime, I have a heater.