Each year I share my thoughts as I celebrate another birthday. This year, 52. I don’t even remember much of 51. Turning 50 was anticlimactic because I really wanted to enter the decade with a bang. Instead, the country shut down and it was so new no one was doing the drive-by celebrations. So, what’s…
“Deck the Soul with Boughs of Forgiveness” by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD, MFA (AUTHOR’S NOTE: I originally wrote this article one Christmas, but I believe it applies throughout the year.) CHRISTMAS! The word evokes many feelings, depending on our experiences. For some, Christmas is a happy time, filled with beautiful memories and joyful expectations. For others,…
God’s Grace in Our Grumbling On January 1, 2013, I started a writing challenge my husband suggested for the new year. He said, “Janetta, Day 1, you’ll write 365 words. Day 2, 364 words. And so on. Then on December thirty-one, you’ll only have to type one word.” He’s my brainstorming buddy, but this idea…
In High Cotton actually began ten years ago. At that time, I wasn’t yet published. One of my critique partners thought maybe if I tried a historical novel, I might get contacted sooner. I have no affinity for prairie novels, but then she suggested the time period of the Great Depression. That’s more modern history,…
Part 1 of an interview with Barb Roose,Author of Surrendered:Letting Go & Living Like JesusIf COVID-19 has taught us anything so far, it’s that we are not in control. When life gets hard, aspects of the future are uncertain, and we’re at the mercy of other’s decisions, we want more power over the situation. However,…
Even though it snowed most of the day, I still felt it. That shift in spirit that whispers we’ve overcome the biggest hurdle and soon we’ll experience the return of life outside our home. Like staying home, it won’t be perfect and adjustment will be slow, but I truly feel we’ve hit rock bottom and…