I love the Fourth of July because I am privileged and honored to be an American. We are not a perfect country, but for generations we have been the country to whom the world looks for an example of freedom. When I was eighteen, I spent a year traveling with a singing group called "The Re'Generation." We traveled throughout the United States doing unabashedly God-and-country programs at civic … [Read more...]

Do you watch TV with the subtitles (closed captions) on? I recently read an article in THE ATLANTIC that was very interesting! My hubby and I watch TV with subtitles when they're available. It started with foreign films, of course, because if you don't speak Korean, you're not going to understand the language being spoken in a Korean movie. Then we used it when we watched streaming movies from … [Read more...]

Hi friends and Happy Wednesday!   I hope you’re having a good week and a good start to your summer. Like me, you have  probably heard of the “lazy days of summer.” I love the saying, but I don’t think most summers are lazy. At least not around here now, and in retrospect, not when I was a kid either. As kids, how many of you spent your summer with your friends running through the … [Read more...]

While creating a novel, a writer (and eventually her editors) go through many stages. From early brainstorming on plot and characters, to research, to proposing the premise, to writing a first draft, to gaining feedback from trusted early readers, to revisions, and then onward to the editorial process. I admit I enjoy certain phases more than others. I like dreaming up situations to put my … [Read more...]

Our family recently returned from a two-week-long road trip to Europe in celebration of our oldest daughter's graduation from college and our 30th wedding anniversary. Here are my favorites from the trip, in the order in which we experienced them... 1. Nostalgic Frankfurt, Germany We began our trip in Frankfurt, Germany where I lived with my family when I was 9-13 years old. I'd never … [Read more...]