Encouragement
Dare to Dream in 2013
Before you make a list of resolutions you’ll fail to keep this year, why not focus on a forgotten dream. But here’s the key to making your dream become a reality. Don’t just think about it. Do it! I’ve been dreaming about dancing since I was a little girl. And just now, in my 40’s am…
Abide in Christ
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me…
My First Sale Story: All Things Work Together for Good
There’s a few things in life that a girl really dreams of. Her wedding. Her first child. And her first book contract! We spend years dreaming, planning just how these things will turn out. And while my wedding was pretty much spot on except for the awkward first dance (we attempted to Fox Trot) and…
Jennifer Fromke on Living the Writing Dream
Jennifer Fromke won the 2010 ACFW Genesis Award for Women’s Fiction. That novel, A Familiar Shore, released in March 2012 from Write Integrity Press. When forced to separate from the laptop, Jennifer can be found with her nose in a book, one hand around a latte, and the other hand sometimes stirring something on the stove.…
God’s Not Interested in Your Happiness
From the Archives: January 5, 2010 with an update That’s the word I got in church on Sunday. Now before I start a heated theological debate on prosperity and God’s blessings, stay with me and think about it. God may not be interested in our happiness because he’s more interested in our growth. (Ouch! Yes,…
What it Means to Follow
If God has been teaching me one thing this year, it’s been what it means to follow. Dance has been one giant metaphor for my relationship with God and His leading in my writing career and personal life. While in the past I’ve always tried to follow God’s will for my life, the process in…
Marji Laine on Writing
I’m so flattered that Gina asked me to share my story with you. I started my first novel (a murder mystery) on the flight home from my honeymoon. What can I say? I wasn’t into scrapbooking back then. I never finished that novel, though I got five chapters and two murders into it. Planned most…
Interrupted by…Doubt
How many times was I interrupted as I sat down to write this post? Ten, twenty, fifty? Interruptions mount up in the form of time stealers and myriad tasks that love to divert your attention. You’re familiar with the same ones I am, like sick kids, phone calls and laundry, and if we’re really…
It’s Not About Me
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 I fell to my knees at the foot of the hotel room bed, weeping. Lord, why did you bring me here? Why did I…