Introductions

I'd like to introduce myself to new readers and invite them to join my story. It is actually His Story, told through my life.

I am an artist and a writer. My favorite mediums are words, followed by oils and acrylics. When I am overwhelmed by life, my first response has always been to write about it, to paint it with words.

One day my writing took off in earnest.

On April 22, 2002, I grabbed my journal from my carry-on bag to calm myself after boarding a jet bound for Russia.  I didn't know my frantic scribbling would grow into a real book. My notes grew as life happened. I told so many people about my transformational experience with God, I thought it would be easier if I organized my notes into a little story. I would rather write than talk. 

So, my story made the rounds as a few printed-out manuscripts bound together with binder clamps and transported in manila clasp envelopes. Kind friends and family members would read it, leave me notes of encouragement, and pass it on to others. I was always eager to get them returned filled with the affirming notes, often with a sentiment, "This story must be told!" 

Finally, in 2012, I had the courage to published But the Greatest of These is Love. My editor returned my marked-up manuscript, writing on the last page, "The end--and the beginning." No more appropriate words could have hinted at the stories to come.

And come they did. My blog is mostly the sharing of these continuing stories. Some are funny, many are hair-raisingly beautiful, some, heartbreaking. Stories of real life. Recently I suspected there was another book to be mined from all these stories.

Find and like us on Facebook. 

Here is the Amazon link to my book. Read a few reviews. I'd love to have more.

One of the best reviews and summaries I've read was written by a Michigan blogger who I will likely never know in person. But she understood the spirit of this book.

Two popular series are

TheHound of Heaven Winks. God is always present. I simply record the events as they happen, and He makes Himself visible.

And Hope of Restoration. Readers have said this 11 part series could be a short book on its own. (Warning--Robert Frost wrote, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." Conversely, if that is true, you might want to grab a tissue, or a towel!)  

Links at the bottom of each will take you easily to the next parts. 

You can even read the introduction and first chapter. All profits have always gone to orphan care. Presently, The Harbor of Saint Petersburgh, is the recipient, to help Russian orphans who have aged out of the system. 

The single most viewed post is It is Finished, with over 2,000 pages views the first day. I'll provide a link to that one, if you read the others first.

My three year old blog has always paralleled my life. When one jarring event transformed my life just over a year ago, I received a private message from a reader, who knew my family only through my writing. She mentioned us by name, as if she knew us, then she wrote, "Just then when I typed Roma's name, God said 'spell it backwards.' Amor. Love. You will write another book, and it will touch more people than the first."

Alright then.

God keeps giving me stories. His Stories. I'll keep writing them down. I couldn't stop writing if I wanted to. It is like taking dictation from an internal Voice that never stops talking to me.

I am thankful! 

Betty White is Golden

Yesterday was Betty White's 95th birthday. Everyone loves Golden Girl, Betty White, for her grace, charm, energy, wit, and beauty. I love her more than ever because of her positive attitude. Betty's old school approach to life and optimism resonates with me. We have little control of outcomes, so we might as well offer hope in our own little corners of the world, and leave the bigger outcomes to God. With so much division and egos flaring fueling hate in all directions, I am joining Betty in declining the hate bait.

Remember the conventional wisdom from years ago: If a child, or adult, had anger problems, experts suggested getting them a punching bag to release their anger so it doesn't build up. But in fact they discovered the opposite happened. The more anger and aggression are indulged, the more anger and aggression grow.  This, like many other educational and psychological experiments that have been proven mistaken, it must be abandoned. We have witnessed when vile hatred is unleashed by everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, with no regard to others who may disagree, it infects everything and everyone around it. It is like a narcotic.

I am going to continued to be a "cockeyed optimist," like my hero Betty. Watch her wisdom shine in the interview with Katie Couric, who tries her darnedest to bait Betty, but Betty wouldn't budge. Hatred destroys the vessel that holds it. Like Betty, I'm not partaking.

Yes, there is deep divid and mammoth problems this country. But I am hanging on to my assurance that God is in control of the mess. He tells me not to allow the bad thoughts to enter my mind. 

Paul, an apostle of Christ, reminds us in Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think on such things." He probably knew if we humans didn't heed that admonition, we would fill the void with poisonous vitriol. 

I have to have hope! I agree with Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." 

Don't take the hate bait. We have scared the children. 

Betty is positive, Betty is gentle and kind. Betty is beautiful and healthy at 95! Probably because she is a cockeyed optimist. 

Be like Betty. 

Watch Betty rock her interview with Katie Couric here.