Thoughtful Thursdays

I'm in the midst of reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis . . . something I can't believe I've never read before. And something I've already been nodding along with so much it's a wonder my head hasn't come loose. 😉 Given that the release of The Number of Love has...

Over the weekend, a summer storm raged. The wind blew, the rain lashed down, lightning pierced the sky. Monday morning, I went for my usual morning jog, and I saw something that made me pause. Two birds' nests, blown out of the trees and deposited on different parts...

Pride. It's something I've struggled with a lot over the years. Something I'm continually learning to keep in check. Something I've needed to learn to master so that it's not master of me. Something I've therefore given a lot of thought to and explored in my writing...

Do you ever stop to wonder how different our lives might look if, instead of searching for the most expedient way, we looked for the most meaningful? The word shortcut has existed in English since the 1500s...and I'm sure the idea of it has been around long before...

Last week I talked a bit about how God often speaks to me through what I call "themes"--ideas that keep coming at me over and over, from different directions. The one I focused on last week was "Being Complete." But another topic has been popping up all around me too....

God speaks to us in a lot of ways. For me, He often speaks in what I call themes. Ideas that keep popping up over and over, in a variety of places, coming from all sorts of people. When I notice these recurring themes, I know it's time to pay attention--and to dig a...

I have always believed in the Truth--the kind with a capital T. I reject the idea that it's relative, that there is no Right and Wrong, just "right for me" and "right for you." I believe that this ultimate Truth is part of God. He's the one who determines it, who...

I'm never sure how to explain how thoughts coalesce in my brain. Usually, it's topics that keep coming at me from different angles. In this case, those angles are various discussions we've had lately at church, with fellow authors about topics in books, and also about...

The sunrise down my driveway We live in the mountains. Specifically, the Appalachians in West Virginia. Our home is nestled up against the side of one of these mountains, in a little bit of a valley. It's wooded--the sort of area where it's more remarkable to see open...

This past week, my church's Wednesday night Bible study just began Philippians. Well, we didn't really get much into the book itself; we read the intro from someone's Bible, which said that the book was all about JOY, which is only to be found in Christ, as opposed to...

After two weekends in a row away from home (which is when I'd usually have prepped blog posts), I'm still playing catch-up on the blog. So today, rather than just sharing my thoughts, I want to share some other people's. =) First is my husband, David. As I'm sure...

Well, I'm back from my writing retreat. My manuscript is complete. A weight has been lifted from my shoulders. And as it eased off, I couldn't help but contemplate about this strange thing that is a creative's mind. The doubts that always plague us. This was the sixth...

What does it mean when we call the Bible the infallible Word of God? This is something my husband and I have been talking about from different angles lately. Something that will probably get some vehement reactions, LOL. But something I really think bears thinking...

Given that today is Mardi Gras and tomorrow begins Lent with Ash Wednesday, I decided to bump my usual Thursday post up a few days to talk about something relevant to the season. Fasting. I find the modern take on fasting very curious. There are those who do it...

Have you ever noticed how often children appear in the Gospels? Have you ever wondered why? Time and again, Jesus not only encourages children to come to Him, He holds them up as the examples of true faith. In Matthew 21, after He's just cleared the temple, the...

When I looked down and realized that my normal Thoughtful post this week would be on Valentine's Day...well, it didn't take a genius to realize what my topic ought to be. 😉 But deciding what particular slant I wanted to take on a very general topic proved much more of...

The events of the last couple weeks, as NY passed the bill legalizing late-term abortion, have resulted in some high emotions. I don't watch much news, but even I have seen reactions everywhere. I was horrified when I heard the VA governor, in talking about how "late"...

When God created the earth, what did He say? That it was good. What do we yearn for at the end of our lives? That He'll say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Not only in the Bible, but in pretty much every piece of literature, ancient and modern, we can find...

This past week in our church Bible study, we were on the well-known parable of the workers in the vineyard. You know the one--where the landowner hired people at the start of the day for an agreed-upon amount. Then throughout the day, he goes back to the marketplace...

We serve a gracious God, don't we? Not only has He given us His Son, His Word, but He continues to speak and minister to us today. As a creative, I can tell you in all honesty that there are many days when I just have to squeeze my eyes shut and say, "Give me the...

Merry Christmas! Everything on the blog this week has been Christmas-themed, as I'm sure you've noticed. 😉 And as a final post before the holidays, I thought I'd just tell you about our little adventure... See, in my family, we get a live tree. If possible, a blue...

Many times through the years, I've joked about being a "delicate flower." Generally, this is what I say when there's heavy lifting to be done that I don't want to do, LOL, or when my husband is teasing me and I'm trying to convince him (sort of) to stop. I say it...

I believe in Good. I believe in Evil. I believe in absolute truth. I believe that sometimes we land firmly on one side or another of this virtually-eternal war...but only sometimes. I believe that more often than not, we are still in the position of Adam and Eve,...

As I'm sure is no secret to you, we live in what's being called an "Outrage Society." People seem to love to get their dander up. To point fingers. To be offended. To declare each other unreasonable, stupid, and declare for all of social media to see that if you think...

The last few weeks, my dad (who happens to be my pastor) has been preaching through the Ten Commandments. He recently covered number five--the first commandment to contain a promise. Now, he had plenty of material to get through with the focus he chose, and he said up...

I'm by no means the first person to tackle this subject, and no doubt others have done it better than me. But last week when I wrote about "Actions, Reactions, and Being Better," I had an anonymous comment accusing me of "woman shaming/blaming." Another of those...

One of the reasons I love writing historicals is to show that the heart of humanity has never changed. No matter whether you're talking about ancient Egyptians or modern Americans or anything in between, there are a few things that we will always seek--our dreams, our...

In a move strange to fiction-loving me, much of my recent reading (or listening, as the case may be) has been of non-fiction. I've already written about my thoughts on the importance of having heroes in our lives, inspired by The Closing of the American Mind by Allen...

I've written about literary heroes before. I've written about what we're remembered for and what I feel is so critical about preserving the legacies even of those with whom we don't agree. Amazon But in listening to a book called The Closing of the American Mind and...

We've been reading through Matthew lately, and really digging deep, as we tend to do in our Bible studies. This weekend, we were in Matthew 14--quite a chapter! We learn about the beheading of John, and how Jesus sought some solitude after getting the news, He tried...

For my daily study each morning, I've been reading through a chronological Bible called So That's Why Bible. I love the history and context this Bible gives me--I've never been a huge fan of the "application" style notes in a study Bible, but I've always loved the...

Over the weekend, my husband and I took a drive to meet up with some good friends for a dinner, halfway between where we live. We've been trying to do this somewhat regularly, and it's inevitably a wonderful evening. This time, we realized that it's been 18 years...

We set goals. We work hard. We sweat. We cry. We bleed. We tumble down exhausted. We stretch out our hands, willing our fingers to reach that last . . . single . . . inch. Did we get there? There. The end goal. The place we want to be. There. The thing always just out...

There's a passage in Matthew. We all know it. But I admit it always baffled me a little. It's from chapter 9, verses 14-17. 14 Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And...

Tuesday afternoon, I pulled back into my driveway after a lovely retreat with Stephanie Morrill, best friend and critique partner extraordinaire. Arriving at our rental house, energetic and ready to go! If you've been hanging around my blog any length of time, you'll...

When it comes to how we spend our time, there are good ways and bad ways, right? There are things that we deem worthwhile uses of our time . . . and things we deem not worthwhile. Over the last couple weeks, I've had a couple conversations with my best friend about...

I'm busy. This is indisputable fact. I'm writing 6 books in 18 months, I homeschool my kids, I do much of the day-to-day running of WhiteFire Publishing, I design book covers and interior layouts, I cook, I (occasionally) clean, I knit, I'm pianist at my church, I'm a...

This past weekend I just began my rotation teaching the kids at my church (being a small church, we alternate who's in with them so that the same person doesn't have the responsibility all the time). I decided to start a 36-week course aimed at tweens and teens (our...

In my church's Wednesday night Bible study, we've been reading through Romans, taking it just a few verses at a time and really digging deep, beneath the easy and accepted answers to try to grasp the subtleties of what Paul is saying. Most recently, we've been in...

A year and a half ago, I wrote a post about how, in our churches, we needed to take a stand--not for what we're against, but for what we're for. But as my husband and I were talking a few weeks ago about how to really change the culture, he hit on this again. And I...

For the past few weeks...or perhaps months...I've had this realization swirling through my mind. One that explains why I like some historical fiction better than others. One that most of the world (or at least the mainstream world) doesn't seem to share. My thoughts...

Last Thursday, my family used some Christmas money to attend a hockey game in Pittsburgh--something we've been wanting to do for years. Six years ago, hubby and Xoe went to one while I stayed with Rowyn in the hotel room (because he wasn't quite 4 and had a hard time...

I totally stole the title inspiration for this blog...from the other person embarking on this adventure with me. 😉 I think she'll forgive me. (Check out her post here)  So, a few weeks ago my husband said, as he has said many a time before, "You need an...

Whenever I have a new book release, there's always that anxiety about how readers will connect with my characters. Oh, I've had some input by this time. Critique partners, beta readers, editors. And they all have their unique opinions. Their perspectives. As I've been...

I've had several ideas lately for Thoughtful posts. But it seems like every week, I run out of time, and blogging slips down my to-do list until it falls off the edge. =/ So when I pulled up a new post today, I'm not sure why I typed into that title line "Who We Get...

There's an old-world definition of "living water"--it means water that moves. Dead waters are stagnant--you don't want to drink from them, and sometimes things can't even live in them. For instance, the Dead Sea. Now, this place is pretty amazing in a lot of ways. The...