Photo from PinterestI am excited. I leave today to travel about three hours south of my home in northwest Ohio to attend the Erma Bombeck Writers Conference in Dayton. This wonderful workshop is offered every two years and focuses on Erma’s legacy of great writing, especially as a columnist and a humorist.The Bombeck Workshop is the only one in the country devoted to both humor and human-interest writing and is sold out each time it is offered. It features more than two dozen professional humor and human-interest writers on its faculty, offering sessions on the craft of writing, turning an interest into a profession, marketing, publishing and more. And you’re guaranteed to laugh. A lot. Did I mention laughing? Lots of laughter.What is it about Erma’s writing that still brings smiles to our hearts?I want to be a writer like her. Maybe I can bring back a few of her secrets to share next week, but I thought in honor of Erma we all could sit back and enjoy some of her words today:· … [Read more...]
Ten Quotes about Optimism
Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. This fun meme has now progressed to the letter OO = Optimist I haven’t always been an optimist. In fact I think I am wired quite the opposite.But as an adult I decided optimism as a trait appealed to me; thus began my search to develop this characteristic. Uphill battle, let me tell ya!I collect optimism – quotes, stories and even have given a few presentations about the value of being positive. Being a nurse, I have seen the difference in the healing and recovery of people with optimism as compared to the pessimist state of mind. With today’s letter of the alphabet being O, I thought I would share a few fun things I have read … [Read more...]
I Do Believe, Help My Unbelief – Lectio Divina
But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, "We saw the Master."But he said, "Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it."Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you."Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe."Thomas said, "My Master! My God!"John 20: 24-28Eight days laterDon't be unbelieving. Believe.You know Lord, I have always felt a little sorry for Thomas.He takes a lot of grief for his doubts. But he was certainly honest.But as I read this today, Lord, what jumps out to me is You made him wait eight full days before You reappeared. Eight days?I wondered what he was thinking during that time. … [Read more...]
Prayer by Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt (Photo credit: onecle)Our Father, who has set a restlessness in our hearts and made us all seekers after that which we can never fully find, forbid us to be satisfied with what we make of life. Draw us from base content and set our eyes on far off goals. Keep us at tasks too hard for us that we may be driven to Thee for strength. Deliver us from the fretfulness and self-pitying; make us sure of the good we cannot see and of the hidden good in the world. Open our eyes to simple beauty all around us and our hearts to the loveliness men hide from us because we do not try to understand them. Save us from ourselves and show us a vision of the world made new.Eleanor Roosevelt … [Read more...]
What’s on Your Nightstand?
I am a reader. I love books and am a firm believer in “there is no such thing as too many books.”I am one of those readers with several books going at the same time. We are called “poly-readers.” I think it is easier to do that with non-fiction, my usual fare.My husband laughs at me: I have books on the living room end table, the nightstand, on my desk and in my car. And yes I have a Kindle with several books in progress there too.I heard on NPR the Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller say:“I mean, I like the idea of books, not just this thing off to the side of our lives, but they're right in the midst of our lives. We're, in effect, living our fiction and our nonfiction. And you can do that when you're reading multiple books. You do kind of just get this idea that you're moving through this forest of words and stories and characters. It's not just this block of paper or a Kindle or an iPad sitting at your elbow. It's a part of your life. It's something you're moving through, … [Read more...]
A Golf Lesson for a Non-golfer
Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet. Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate. This fun meme has now progressed to the letter NN = Never Give Up!I don’t golf.I don’t like golf.I don’t watch golf.I am not even good at miniature golf.So what captivating me about Sunday’s climatic finish to the Masters Tournament?To be honest I turned on the television to watch 60 Minutes. Where was my familiar tick-tick of the beginning of the show? Oh no! Stupid golf, the big tournament called the Masters, was still being broadcast.They went into extra innings. Overtime. Ok, that isn’t what it is called, but again I don’t like golf. I laughed because when there is a tie, golfers are in sudden death. Couldn’t come soon enough for … [Read more...]
Easter Morning: Jesus Knows Our Names
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”Jesus said to her, “Mary.”She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).John 20:11-16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”Oh Lord, how I would have loved to be there – that morning of Your resurrection.To be by the tomb watching You smile at Mary, saying her name.What was it like for Mary? I can only imagine: “Was it only three days … [Read more...]
Praying our Uncertainties – a Holy Saturday Quote
Take time to pray your uncertainties, lifting them up to God for comfort and guidance, knowing God is with us in the wilderness.Life is often a time of Holy Saturdays with no resurrection in sight. Like the "valley of the shadow" of Psalm 23, we can train our senses and heart and mind to experience God's Spirit in the darkest valleys. We can gain sympathy for those persons who are struggling as we face our own Holy Saturday struggles. While our resurrections are uncertain—our successes still in suspense—we can listen for God's voice of companionship, care, and counsel as we live the uncertainty of Holy Saturday.Bruce Epperly … [Read more...]