Today I am celebrating the birthday of one of the books I wrote and published in 2017, The Communicator’s Companion: Devotions for Speakers and Writers. Usually, I shy away from promoting my own books but today I thought I would share this book just in case you might know someone who is a speaker or writer and could use a littler encouragement. Maybe this book could help them. Here is the description of the book: “Writers and speakers love words. Words are their tools. Communicators recognize the power of one word to be able to inspire, comfort, teach, and literally and through literal means, change lives. The Communicator’s Companion contains 40 devotions based on various communication roles and words. These reflections will nourish Christian speakers and writers' faith. This new and expanded edition of devotionals for Christian communicators offers encouragement, insight, and grace for the creative work of spreading God’s message of love to others. Discover the numerous ways … [Read more...]
Creating A Rule of Life – A New Book is Born
Creating a Rule of Life is one of the most popular downloads and posts on this blog. I can see when people download a pdf of a resource from one of the past pages on a post on a topic and journaling and rule of life continue to be two main interests of people seeking more information. I wrote a first draft of a book about writing a rule of life during the pandemic – a very rough first draft and took that awful outline out of hiding from its dark closet last January, dusted it off, reworked its words, gently sent it to an editor to rework and shine and polish and get it ready for the world and guess what? Creating a Rule of Life, A Manual for Dancing to Divine Rhythms is ready to be released next Tuesday July 29 on Amazon. Here is its summary: Are you curious about the spiritual practice called a “rule of life” and how can we build order and disciplines into our daily lives? Creating a personal rule of life helps us abide closer to God and live in sync with God’s rhythms … [Read more...]
Book Birthday – Spiritual Retreats: A Guide to Slowing Down to be with God
Spiritual Retreats: A Guide to Slowing Down to be with God by yours truly was first published in May 2016. I have never celebrated a book birthday before and thought it would be fun to revisit this book, its message and its birth. Happy Birthday, Spiritual Retreat little book! Spiritual Retreats: A Guide to Slowing Down to be with God came about through a conversation with a friend who was fascinated by my annual attending retreats compounded by my enthusiasm for the practice of going on retreat. She hesitated to go, not knowing what to expect and if this practice was worth her time. I did explain many of the details to her, but then realized others may also feel that way. I recalled my first time on retreat: how anxious I was about the locations, the agenda, what to do with all that silence. So I outlined a book. Spiritual Retreats: A Guide to Slowing Down to be with God is small, only 54 pages, easy to read, and divided into three parts:*Before the retreat*During the … [Read more...]
Ruthless Trust
The book, Ruthless Trust by Brennan Manning, begins with this story and quote from his spiritual director: “Brennan, you don’t need any more insight into the faith, you’ve got enough insights to last you three hundred years. The most urgent need in your life is to trust what you have received.” Recently I revisited my bookshelves and this book, Ruthless Trust, called to me. Don’t you love to slowly reread an old favorite and savor its wisdom once again in your life? I needed this book at this time in my life; I am sure God knew that. I needed to dig deep and ponder trust in my spiritual journey just as Brennan Manning did in this book. Here is some of his wisdom: “Trust is our gift back to God and he finds it so enchanting that Jesus died for love of it.” “Childlike surrender in trust is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship.” “Trust was not some feature out at the edges of Jesus’ teaching; it was its heart and center.” “The biggest obstacle on my … [Read more...]
Practical Discernment Tools from a New Book by Emily P Freeman
One of my favorite authors, Emily P Freeman, just released a new book, How to Walk into a Room. The host of a wonderful weekly podcast too, Emily accompanies us as we discern the decisions we face in life. As a spiritual director, discernment is often the doorway that directees seek an appointment with me - they are at the crossroad. Do I stay? Or do I leave? And how will I know? Emily’s new book is a practical tool for discernment, full of helpful clarifying questions. Here is her description of the contents: “If life were a house, then every room holds a story. What do we do when a room we’re in is no longer a room where we belong? What do you do when you start to feel a shift and must decide if it’s time to make a change? When it comes to navigating big decisions about when to stay and go, how can we know for sure when the time is right? Though we enter and exit many rooms over the course of our life—jobs, relationships, communities, life stages—knowing how and … [Read more...]
Sacred Surroundings, Finding Grace in Every Place – The Birth of a New Book
Sacred Surroundings, Finding Grace in Every Place is born! Sacred Surroundings is my latest book and man oh man, has this work been through ups and downs, and twists and turns but wouldn’t let go and die. Sometimes as a writer a book takes on its own life – demanding to be released at its own time and in its own way. This book is my stubborn, resilient baby – insisting to live. Celebrate with me today if you will. Here is some basic info about this book now available on Amazon both as an e-book and print editions. What is Sacred Surroundings about? We go through life so blind to God’s presence all around us and experiencing God’s love and peace is hard to find. Sacred Surroundings is about how our places teach us. Our surroundings shape us. Our outer and inner geographies become key teachers and guides, inviting us to learn new lessons and open our eyes to see God in all places. Recognizing God’s presence around us is even more difficult in times of transition, change, … [Read more...]
Revisiting my Bookshelf – My Final Reread Surprised Me!
This month I have been revisiting my bookshelf, spending time with “old friends” and seeping in their wisdom. On the August 8 blog post, I shared this wonderful quote about the value of this practice: “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” – Robertson Davies Today I will finish with a book that I didn’t originally consider, but leaped into my heart for rereading after revisiting my bookshelf. My own journals! Harvesting my Journals Harvesting my journals is my practice of rereading past entries, highlighting thoughts, and noticing patterns and lessons. Asking questions is another powerful tool to harvesting a journal. What lessons did God teach me this year? Does a single word or phrase jump out? Is there a recurring theme, such as discouragement or anger and is there any insight to this repeating affliction? Has something been left … [Read more...]
Meeting God in Scripture – Revisiting My Bookshelf – Part Four
“Meeting God in Scripture” by Jan Johnson is the next book to reread, to immerse myself into its wise words over this summer. What fun I have had perusing my shelves, listening to their invitations. To be honest, sometimes many of the books shout, “Pick me!” so I pause and listen quietly to which voice resonates within my heart. I have been revisiting my bookshelf this summer and decided to make this a series in the month of August. Each week I will rediscover an old friend, reread its wisdom and share a title, its theme, a few quotes, and a small reflection/application. Meeting God in Scripture This book offers 40 guided meditations in the style of Lectio Divina. Lectio Divina is sacred reading grouped by reading a passage four times, once to read, next to reflect, then to respond, and last to rest, contemplate and listen to God. The unique gift of this book is its set up for easy to find, read, study, and even use in a small group. Most readings are 2-3 pages with … [Read more...]