When I first met Chris Morris at a convention, he struck me as a kind, funny guy with a passion for people. The more I've gotten to know him online, the greater this passion has shown. So, when I learned that he struggles with mental illness, as so many Christians do, I was shocked. You'd never Continue Reading
Book Reviews
Why You’ll Get All Wrapped Up in This Book
I'd made it a few pages into the book, and had obviously made several exasperated sounds because she suddenly said, "Why do you keep signing up to review Bible studies. You never like them." It wasn't an unfair statement, but it irritated me nonetheless. After all, I want to like them, and I Continue Reading
3 Simple Things You Should Know about Synapse
"So what's it about?" "Artificial intelligence and what existence really means." The eyebrows quirked. "Just a little light reading then?" I shrugged. "Sure. Let's go with that." "Where'd you hear of it?" That was an easier question to answer. "I'm part of a blog tour for it. We are Continue Reading
When You Can’t Finish a Great Book
No Turning Back was great--fabulous, actually. I couldn't put it down. Until I had to. The author is a phenomenal writer, and I hope to try something else of hers again in the future. It's a personal issue that I just can't handle. So I closed the book and chose to withdraw from the tour. I'm Continue Reading
Now is the time to ACT… for Bible Study
My favorite thing in the world is a good Bible study, but as my daughter and I demonstrated in the video below, sometimes when we do "Bible Study" we tend to forget to include that one little book otherwise known as "The Bible." So... when I find a Bible study that pretty much is Continue Reading
Do You Know the Benefits of Complaining?
"Pack the pictures, bowls, and quilts. Oh, and the books. Then finish Wrong about Mr. Wright. Oh, and 12 Dates of Christmas and Christmas on Breakers Point. What else...?" My email answered. A friendly reminder that a book I didn't know I'd signed up for needed to be reviewed. By Continue Reading
What Kinds of Dreams Are Key?
The plane took off for Springfield at 8:00 sharp. Seated behind two families with babies and toddlers, the screeching began before we’d made it off the tarmac. I’ve got nine kids. I get it. Still, with that kind of noise, I couldn’t write. I was also headed to my mom’s house for an Continue Reading
What Is The Truth About This Book?
The words played out on the page in vivid hues. Each word, each turn of phrase. I felt… lived them, even, rather than read them. It was ages ago… a decade. More. Beyond a Doubt, I think was the title. I remember hearing a soundtrack playing in my mind as I read—just as if the book had transformed Continue Reading
What Will Waiting for God Do for You?
I don’t know who pointed her out to me, but I will never forget the moment she turned and I could see her. Xochitl Dixon. I’d heard amazing things about this woman, and couldn’t wait to meet her. You know, technically, I never did. Oh, sure. I was introduced. We said hi. I’m pretty sure that at Continue Reading
Simple Living Is Anything but Easy!
Christmas. 1985. While most of my classmates were off doing normal Christmas stuff, once again, my family was moving. No, this wasn’t the first time we’d moved during Christmas break—on Christmas Eve, but that’s a story for another day. In Mojave, California, in an undeveloped area of land Continue Reading
What I Like & Don’t Like about These Books
When you’re ten, eleven, and twelve, and an indiscriminate reader, you read a lot of junk. My book selection methods were pretty simple in those days. I’d go to the library, find a turnstile, and flip through every book on it. If I hadn’t read it already, it came off the turnstile and into my arms. Continue Reading
Why I Recommend a Book That Wasn’t a Favorite
People know that I love the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. They know reading one particular scene in it was what made me want to write way back in 1982. What people don’t always know is that I rarely recommend it. While Betty Smith wrote a powerful story of a girl’s life in Continue Reading
