Get a life!

ByDeborah Raney
9 Comments

I’m in a season of writing, writing, writing, but when I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about this week, it seemed like I’ve shared SO much about my writing life here on the blog. What I maybe haven’t shared as much is my ordinary, everyday life. So here are a few pictures from my phone’s camera that tell the everyday stories pretty well.

We ended last year celebrating my wonderful husband’s birthday at our favorite Japanese restaurant. We took home three boxes from our two plates of food and ate for three days on the leftovers from this feast! It felt like MY birthday since I didn’t have to cook for days! 🙂
I’ve been smiling every time I pass the refrigerator and see this sweet collaboration between two of our little granddaughters. I’m thrilled that they’re “so glad” we’re their grandparents, but I’m even more thrilled that they picture us so young and skinny and stylish! 🙂
We have two Missouri grandsons playing basketball this year so we’ve been burning up the road going to games. #5 is our senior sinking a shot. Both grandsons are having great seasons, and it’s so much fun watching them play!
On the way to a basketball game last week, we left a little early so we could take a turnoff we’ve driven by a hundred times but never had time to stop. The sign points to a lake conservation area, and we timed it perfectly to see a gorgeous sunset over the water. It almost felt like we were on vacation.
I’m a mentor mom for our church’s Mom2Mom group and I absolutely love it! It’s a joy to spend time with these young mamas raising their children for the Lord, but my favorite part is the babies! Holding babies: it’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it! 😉
On the home front, January is when I do my “spring cleaning.” It’s a time for organizing, rearranging, and cleaning for me. (And it’s good thinking time when I’m writing.) I took everything off the open shelving in our kitchen, dusted, and had a blast putting things back to look pretty and colorful. I know some people aren’t fond of open shelving, but it works so well in our kitchen!
Along with that spring cleaning, we picked out new carpet for our stairway and it will be installed in the next couple of weeks. It’s a small but much-needed change. I’m not looking forward to the mess of installation, but I’m excited to have fresh, new carpet on this well-used area of our house.

What is everyday life looking like in your part of the world? I hope you are enjoying the little ordinary, everyday things. They are truly what makes up most of life, and the ordinary is a gift from God every bit as much as the grand, glorious, important things that happen in our lives.

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DEBORAH RANEY's first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title and launched Deb’s writing career. Forty books later, she's still creating stories that touch hearts and lives. Her novels have won RWA's RITA Award, the ACFW Carol Award, the National Readers Choice Award, and the HOLT Medallion. She is also a four-time Christy Award finalist. Deb is on faculty for several national writers’ conferences and served on the executive board of the 2,500-member American Christian Fiction Writers organization for 18 years before retiring in 2022. She is a recent transplant to Missouri, having moved with her husband, Ken Raney, from their native Kansas to be closer to kids and grandkids. They love road trips, e-biking, Friday garage sale dates, and breakfast on the screened porch overlooking their wooded backyard.

9 Comments

  1. Love the pictures. I have just been relaxing after all of the hubbub of preparing and getting ready for Christmas. I had two wonderful days of family celebration and then a birthday celebration for my daughter-in-law December 31st. My granddaughter was home for three weeks after finishing her first semester of college. She just returned Saturday. So now I guess it’s time for me to get focused more on the new year.

    You inspire me. I think I’ll try to do some re-organizing of my kitchen. It’s also good to get back to regular activities at church. We have a Bible study beginning tomorrow. So I think I’ll say one more time, Happy New Year!

  2. Hi Deb, I feel like we just had a nice visit! It was fun to see what you’ve been up to recently. Blessings and Happy New Year!

  4. Well, Deb, those open kitchen shelves look lovely but I’m exhausted just thinking about cleaning them…better you than me. That said, putting away all the Christmas stuff causes me to clean, reorganize, etc. as I put it all away. Really, after the never ending busyness of the holidays, I love the slower pace of January. More reading time and our Women’s Bible Study starts a new adventure/book in January…those little ordinary things are quite a blessing about now. Oh, and your husband’s birthday feast looks positively divine!

    1. Lynne, I always laugh when people worry about how hard those open shelves must be to clean, but except for the top shelves (where you can’t SEE any dust that gathers 🙂 ), with a couple of exceptions, we use the dishes from all the other shelves regularly, so while the dishes are in the dishwasher, I dust the empty shelves, and that way when the dishes are clean, I put them back on clean shelves.

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