No new posts for the next two weeks. We all are taking a short break for the holidays.
Back in the saddle starting January 10!
Blog
Christmas Eve – 2021
Be blessed by today’s video created for the Christmas season by CV Outreach. Merry Christmas! (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)
A Nativity Meditation for Writers
Writing is hard. Maybe you knew that already. And writing for publication is hard. That’s probably not news to you either. For the Christian writer, in particular, the writing-for-publication and building-a-platform and waiting-and-hoping-for-your-first (or next)-book-contract journey often seems even harder. There are so many twists and turns to navigate. So much change happening. And always, …
God’s Timing vs. Ours
With Christmas coming soon, we pause to remember what happened a couple thousand years ago. Of course, we know the whole story. The King of heaven was born, lived and died, resurrected and returned to the Father where he came from, all over a period of about 33 years. We can read a lot about his life, family, teachings, friends, followers, and foes in the pages of Scripture. But if we had a …
Fun Fridays – December 17, 2021
I particularly found this video of interest, having gone to high school in Honolulu. The Hawaiian language is fascinating. For example, the vowels a, e, i, o, and u are pronounced ah, aye, ee, oh, and ooh. And each vowel is always sounded out, no silent vowels. I lived on Halekoa Drive which was just off the Kalaniana’ole Highway. Enjoy your Hawaiian Christmas language lesson today! (If you …
Christmas Blessings to All Our Readers
The Christmas season is a lovely time to bless and remember our blog community, to let you know how much your thoughtful comments have brought insight and pleasure over the years. Thank you for being part of our community. I pray that this next week of Advent is blessed as we all await in glorious anticipation to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray …
A Writer’s Favorite Things
It’s always struck me as a bit odd that the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from The Sound of Music, “My Favorite Things,” is considered by many to be a Christmas song. I suppose it’s related to the reference to “brown paper packages tied up with string.” Or maybe the sleighbells or snowflakes the song mentions. Sure, okay. But as Christmas approaches this year, I thought I’d list a few of “my …
Fun Fridays – December 10, 2021
Today’s video is a wonderful seven-minute discussion of “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and why it has become so iconic during the Christmas season. The last minute of the video is a commercial for its sponsor. Be forewarned! (If you cannot see the embedded video in your newsletter email, please click the headline and go directly to our site to view it.)
Publishing in the Dark
The story of the elephant and the blind man is told in many religious traditions. Even business seminars have found value using it to make a point. As the story goes, depending on what part of an elephant a person touches without seeing the whole, that forms their opinion of what the entire animal looks like. This same process could be applied to many things. A customer’s one-time experience with …
New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions already? But we’ve only just finished the last of the turkey noodle soup, turkey tetrazzini, and flaming turkey wings from Thanksgiving! And we’re in the midst of deciding whether or not we need to make a run out to the Hallmark store to buy more gift wrapping paper and greeting cards. Stop the madness! Yet we are less than a month from January 1, when many people resolve …