It’s Monday and I turn 44 today!

Yeah I know, most women don’t reveal their age, but I’m just happy to have another birthday every year. It’s crazy that I’m over 40. Me! I don’t feel 44. Most people say I don’t act 44 either. Well, last week while I had sickness, I felt over 40, but now after all the antibiotics and steroids I’m back to feeling young again.

Age to me is a frame of mind. If you constantly act your age, you will end up feeling your age. I try to enjoy every aspect of life. I try not to let everything get to me. My friends are constantly saying how do you stay so calm all the time. Well, letting things drag me down and keep me in depression doesn’t accomplish anything but developing an ulcer. Don’t get me wrong, I have regrets in my life. I have those moments of what if… I put a lot of those what if’s in my writing and go on with my life.

So, if you are in the dumps because you’re over 40, well get up off the ground you have threw yourself on and dust yourself off. Start living life to the fullest. You’re not promised tomorrow and the Good Lord gave you this time to live as He would have you live. Enjoy your family, play with your kids, decorate a tree, hug a friend, kiss your lover, tell someone you love them and live, by goodness live. Start today, right now. It will change your life.

That’s why I finally decided to publish my books and continue writing. It gives me immense pleasure. I get to live the life of my characters and enjoy what they enjoy. If only for a moment.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

Do you believe?

Sorry that I haven’t posted anything for a couple of days, but the bug that’s going around struck me down on Tuesday and knocked me out of the living for a couple of days. Two shots later (OUCH!) and two meds I’m on the mend.

My blog today is the magic of believing. You may be saying to yourself, believing in what? Well here’s what I’m talking about. During Christmas I’m transformed into a big kid. Well I’m always a big kid, but during Christmas my inner kid comes alive.

Do you believe in Santa? Well, I do. Or at least the spirit of Santa. I mean St. Nick was a real man that lived a long time ago, but his legacy lives on today. I’m talking about the legacy of giving. It’s sad that most people only have the giving spirit at this time of year, but it’s true. As for me, I gaze at my tree all decorated in red and gold balls, snowmen, my sons handmade ornaments and snowflakes, oh, yeah, and don’t forget the angel on top, it makes my heart a little giddy. I smile and the spirit of the season washes over me. I close my eyes and remember the feeling of knowing Santa would come soon and it always made everything alright. I love to watch the magic of Christmas shine in a child’s eyes as they look at decorations or talk to Santa. It’s awesome. The magic is that they don’t have to see Santa put the presents under the tree to believe he put them there.

As with Jesus. As you know if you’ve seen my profile, I’m a children’s minister and I take that responsibility seriously. I often have to explain to the children that even if you can’t see something it doesn’t mean it’s not real. As with Santa, they can sit on his lap (Well the one the mall hired) and it’s makes it more real. With Jesus they feel it. Sometimes they just look at me, but when the Spirit hits them, they usually come up to me and say, now I know what you meant. It warms my heart when I see that look come over them. When they start to truly believe. The way a child believes is so surreal. They haven’t had all the worldly wrongs touch them and shade their eyes. They believe with all their hearts, which is what you should do.

Now on the love. So many people say love doesn’t exist. They say it’s just temporary lust or the need for someone to spend time with. Not! True love does exist. It’s not something you can see as a physical thing. It’s the look in a persons eyes and the feeling in your heart. That’s one reason I love to write about romance and love. It’s one of those feelings that can totally take you to another realm of feeling. Love can also take you to your lowest point in your life. I know some of you are shaking you head and saying is she for real. Well, open your heart and let love in. That’s the problem today, people don’t slow down and just let it take over. Sometimes they overlook love for practicality. I mean people, you only live once and you should experience the phenomenal feeling of true love. It’s awesome and magical.

Well, that’s just a few things that I believe in. I believe in the magic that can be inspired inside the heart. Just open up and let your guard down. You might be surprised at what happens.

As always, good writing and May God bless and keep you!

Christmas in the eyes of a child!

I did something yesterday I didn’t really want to do. I let my mom talk me into going to a couple of home improvement stores. At least half of Georgia was not at those stores. We were looking for a new Christmas tree for her.

As we walked through the Christmas decoration a small boy came running up to the counter and grabbed a stuffed Rudolph that was bigger than him. His eyes lit up with joy and he started singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I couldn’t help but smile. Before that I wasn’t in the smiling mood.

The little boy had so much joy in his heart that Christmas was near, you couldn’t help but get the Christmas spirit. He went from one decoration to the other smiling and eyes twinkling. When he got to the section with items for Christmas villages I thought he would literally explode his smile got so large. There was Santa’s toy shop with dancing elves, a pond with moving ice skaters, a Church with ringing bells, a windmill with a spinning mill, and a carnival carousel turning with bright blinking lights.

It was something to watch. I remember when I was that way. It was a wonderful time. I have to admit I still have those feelings in my heart at Christmas time. My son is 13 and he still loves Christmas time. He has mentioned putting up the tree several times in the last two days. My husband is not a fan. If it was left up to him we would put the tree up two days before Christmas. Bah Humbug… That’s what I tell him.

So, get into the spirit of Christmas and think as a child with innocence and wonder. It will make your Christmas a lot more enjoyable.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you.

Just a Christmas reminder, my Christmas novel is coming out this week. Finally!!!

As we give THANKS!

Well, today is Thanksgiving. It’s a day to remember all that we’re thankful for. Even if you are not American you can be thankful for something. Let’s breakdown the word Thanksgiving. First you have Thanks, which is what most people do on Thanksgiving, unfortunately that is the only day some people are thankful. The second part is giving. So today give thanks and be giving in nature. Help those that are less fortunate or those that just need a hug or kind word.

I always try to watch the Macy’s parade in bits and pieces. I sneak peaks in between cooking. I made my cream pumpkin pies last night. Today I am responsible for peas, broccoli casserole, and deviled eggs to take to my mother in laws fora traditional Thanksgiving feast and my mom is having homemade brunswich stew and barbeque (Yum), so all I had to do for this is pie, buns, and chips. I miss my Dad dearly. This is our 6th Thanksgiving without him.

As I cook the dishes I will take to lunch with my in laws and dinner with my mom I am thankful to have the food to cook. So many today are hungry and cold. As we sit down to eat way too much food be thankful for the bounty before you. Look around the table and thank each one for something. Even that weird family member that annoys you, thank them for something.

So to all my wonderful cyber friends, thanks for the many posts, likes and comments. It has been such a wild and fun ride. I look forward to many more posts.

As always, good writing and May God bless and keep you…

Children in need for Christmas…

Children in need for Christmas….

Children in need for Christmas…

This post is about something near and dear to my heart. Children. Our Church adopts a needy family every year for Christmas. We all donate gifts and money to make sure the family has a nice Christmas. Even food is donated for their Christmas meal.

Well, I called yesterday to the local Family and Children service and spoke with the wonderful lady that helps us make this possible every year. She informed me that this year the biggest need was for foster children. She said a record number of children have gone into foster care this year. My heart heaved a sigh and tears pricked at my eyes.

She went on to ask how many we could help. I was sorry to say only three since we are a small Church. We always try to do our best to do more, but we have our limits. She was more that excited that we were taking three small children. She sent me their ages, first names and wish lists. As I read the wish lists I started to cry. They were so simple and sweet. It broke my heart to know these precious children would be without family for Christmas.

So my wish is to help these three have a wonderful Christmas so they won’t lose the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is so special in the eyes of children. I remember the feeling of going to bed on Christmas Eve and knowing when I woke presents would cover the floor. I was lucky. It breaks my heart to know so many children around the world will go to sleep on Christmas Eve hoping they at least have something to wake up to. Presents are not what Christmas is all about, but to a child it is.

So if you get a chance, please help someone in need for Christmas.

As always good writing and May God bless you.

Week of Thanks…

It’s Thanksgiving week if you haven’t looked at your calendar. This year has flown by. I was sitting in Church yesterday which is an oddity for me because normally I’m downstairs with the children. It was a special Thanksgiving service, so I brought the older children upstairs for the sermon.

The band started singing a song called “Thank You”. It really hit me that as a whole we are not thankful enough for what we have. I was humbled at the thought. So many of us, me included, are so busy that we don’t take time to be thankful for what we take for granted. Here is my list of things I’m thankful for.

1: First and foremost I’m thankful for a forgiving Savior, because I need forgiveness.

2: My wonderful family. I am biased, but I have the most special family. I have a great husband who supports me in all I do and a wonderful son who helps me with anything I need and he’s a great kid.

3: My business. I own a accounting business and it is right beside my house. How many can just walk out the door and be at work in 30 seconds.

4: My writing. I am thankful for the fact that I can publish my writing and people will buy it. It has been a wild ride.

5: Definitely my friends. I have some great friends and that includes my blog friends, my twitter friends and as I call them my cyber friends. I treasure the conversations we have.

Take some time this week to be thankful for what you have. As always, good writing and May God bless you.

The birth of a novel.

Have you ever read a novel and wondered what the author was thinking about when they wrote the first word? Like what was Charlotte Bronte thinking when she started Jane Eyre or J.K. Rowling when she started Harry Potter? Did they know at the moment of the first word that it would be a success?

As I started my last novel I was thinking, will someone want to read this. Will it make the New Your Best Sellers list? I typed the first word and suddenly the words were flowing from my fingers. It was as though the story had to be written and I’d been chosen to write it. I knew what had to be said and what the characters had to go through to get to the words The End.

As the story evolved I became immersed in the lives of the characters. It was as though I was watching the story from a distance. I could see the house, the people, the horses, and feel the pain, love or just happiness. I even cried at one point which is so in character with myself.

To make the great novel what do you do? You put everything inside you on paper. You leave nothing unsaid and no feeling unfelt. I’m not saying my novel is the great novel by any stretch of the mind, but instead I’m saying it could be to me or maybe a fan of my writing. I can dream of the day it soars to life in someone else’s heart.

The one thing I hope to achieve from my writing, other than making a little extra money, I hope to take the reader to another world, another time and help them to experience love through my characters. My Christian series was created to help others cope with something in their life. My romance novels were created to inspire romance. Everyone needs it.

So as I close this post, I glance out my window and watch the sun shine on the golden leaves as they fall from the trees. My mind is working on the novel at my fingertips and I smile. Maybe one day after I’m gone, someone will read my books and say, “I wonder what she was thinking as she wrote these words.”

As always good writing and May God bless you.