Summertime is ...

Be thou my wisdom ...

God Gives His Gifts

Teach us, good Lord ...

Lead Me From That Which Binds (Celtic prayer)

Lead me from that which binds

to that which frees.

Lead me from that which cramps

to that which creates.

Lead me from that which lies

to that which speaks truth.

Lead me from that which blights

to that which ennobles.

Lead me from that which hides

to that which celebrates.

Lead me from that which fades

to that which endures.

by Ray Simpson 

40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with my favorite color on the cover

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

I have a fondness for book covers that use a lot of turquoise to dulled-turquoise. My living room carpet leans toward the dulled turquoise. I have some Fiesta china that tends toward the brighter end, however of my eight Fiesta colors, it's the one I don't like eating on. Oddly, I just don't think food looks good on a turquoise plate. But I love it on book covers!  

A spring blessing

Bless to me, O God, 

Each thing my eye sees; 

Bless to me, O God, 

Each sound my ear hears; 

Bless to me, O God,

Each odor that goes to my nostrils; 

Bless to me, O God, 

Each taste that goes to my lips; 

Each note that goes to my song,

Each ray that guides my way.

--Carmina Gadelica, III, 33

IWSG: Does spring inspire writing?

It's that time of the month again, so, "Welcome!"

I've been M.I.A. on my blog and all social media for the past month. I decided that if I am ever going to finish my revision, I needed to give up a few things. I can't give up helping my husband and son to move farm machinery. I can't give up my babysitting duties of my two-year-old grandson. Something had to give, so it was blogging, and reading and reviewing books for my blog. 

But I didn't want to miss IWSG, so I am back, if only for today. This month's question: It's spring. Does this season inspire me to write more than during other seasons, or not?

I am a gardener. I do end up (joyfully) spending time outdoors on my garden. I also take my grandson outdoors for an hour several days each week, weather permitting. 

Spring inspires me to do this, but not to do more, or less, writing than during any other season. The season where my writing takes the biggest hit is during is the holiday season.

The garden doesn't look like much right now; it's too early in the season. But within a month, it should look fuller, and bloomier.  And I hope to be finished with my revision, and preparing to send it to an editor. 

What about you? Does spring affect your writing output?

The awesome co-hosts for the May 2 posting are:

 E.M.A. Timar, J. Q. Rose, C.Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant!

Hosted by: Insecure Writer's Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

The only one who ...

This hunger ...

Early in the Morning (Celtic Prayer)

Early in the morning

I wait on you, O Lord; 

Day by day I toil for you, O Lord; 

At the bright noon-day

I recollect you, O Lord; 

In talk and recreation

I enjoy you, O Lord;

In study and in prayer

I learn of you, O Lord; 

At nightfall and in sleep

I rest in you, O Lord.

Poem taken from 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

Let nothing disturb you

IWSG: When my writing life is dismal, what do I do to keep on writing?

The optional question this month: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

For me, the only way to get OUT of a writing funk is to figure out a way to get back IN to my writing, and to write. 

Generally, the clouds and the rain rain are about those endless distractions, enormous and tiny, that keep me from writing. However, it's not always the tangible, external goings-on that cause the funk. 

Sometimes it's my inner judgments about the market, my age, my chances of ever having a book published, that stop me cold. It's my cynicism that needs to be dealt with. 

And there is the WIP itself. Sometimes the WIP isn't working and I feel too stupid to be a writer. 

Ultimately, however, it's sitting at my computer and writing that blows the storm clouds away. Writing can always be fixed. It may not feel good to sit down and work it out. It may feel hopeless, and make me sick to my stomach. It may feel like pins and needles are stabbing me, and I can't sit and work at it for long. 

Eventually, as I sink into the words and I examine the scenes, I discover that yes, everything really can be fixed. Unlike the real, external storms of life that can often only be managed or coped with, we are the Gods of our word creations. We are in control of what ends up on the page and the stories we tell.  

Writing is my escape, my refuge, from the thunderstorms of the external world ... those things that I want to be different, but have no power to change. 

If I can but get away from the storms long enough, I am often healed, at least for a while, by the sweet balm of writing. 

The awesome co-hosts for the April 4 posting of the IWSG are Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!

Hosted by: Insecure Writer's Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

Sunday Inspiration: Happy Easter!

Easter

Bless this day

When light returns, 

Love astounds, Life prevails.

Bless the grieving, 

The lonely, 

The hungry. 

Hope is reborn.

Bless the young ones

And the old.

Bless the enemies

And those despised.

Bless this wrold,

Gripped by violence. 

Peace returns. 

God makes a way

Where there was no way. 

Christ has risen. 

Allelulia

--Beth Richardson, Christ Beside Me, Christ Within Me

A Trip and a Story

It's been a month of travel. Firstly, we drove to Sacramento and were gone for six days. Then we flew to Chicago and were gone three days. Most recently, we flew to New Orleans and were gone another six days. Hubby was invited to speak at a religious convention each time. The third convention was actually in Gulfport, Mississippi, so we rented a car and drove the 80 miles to Gulfport after spending some time in New Orleans.

We hadn't been to New Orleans since the mid-90's. The French Quarter and the French Market hadn't changed much at all--maybe a little older and in need of some tidying up--fresh paint, cleaning.

Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, 24-miles long. The lake is only 10' deep.

We didn't want to spend too much time retracing our steps, so we decided to drive over the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain and then tour around the Louisiana bayou.

Mike and Cathy in Gulfport, Mississippi

Water! How I love to see water ...

When in Gulfport, we spent some time with a friend who lost everything during Katrina. He was telling us that the water near his home, which was only a couple blocks from the Gulf, was 25' deep after the storm.

After the floodwaters receded, they discovered their neighborhood was still intact ... except for their house, which was nowhere to be found.

Apparently, besides the hurricane, a tornado had swept through and demolished their house. Our friend found only a few of his belongings, including the tie he'd worn at his wedding.

The natural response: "God, why me?"
The Christian's response (and our friend's): "God, why not me?"

It was a horribly traumatic event, and our friend and his family suffered enormously. But God is good. Our friend's family all survived. Since Katrina, God has amply recompensed them for all that they lost.

So I'm celebrating our opportunity to see New Orleans again and to visit Gulfport for the first time, and especially to hear about this story of faith.


What are you celebrating today?

Lord, You are My Island (Celtic prayer)

Lord, you are my island. 

In your bosom I rest. 

You are the calm of the sea. 

In that peace I lie. 

You are the deep waves of the ocean.

In their depths I stay. 

You are the silence of the spheres. 

In that space I live. 

You are the smooth white strand of the shore.

In its swell I sing. 

You are the ocean of life that laps my being. 

You are the Lord of my life. 

In you is my eternal joy.

Poem taken from 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity

Mailbox Monday

Hosted by: Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

St. Patrick's blessing

Did you know that this blessing, which you may be familiar with, is attributed to St. Patrick?

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
--St. Patrick

I Welcome the Created Light of this New Day (Celtic Poem)

I welcome the created light of this new day,

So that I may enter more fully

Into the uncreated light of eternity;

I welcome the wind

That blows away all that is not rooted, 

So that I may enter unencumbered,

Into the Source of all;

I welcome the dark storm clouds, 

So that I may never make light

Of the mysterious Presence; 

I welcome the cold,

so that I may always search

for the warming fire of God's love.

Poem taken from 40 Prayers from Celtic Christianity. 

IWSG: How I celebrate after completing an important writing goal

Hi! 

It's hard to reconcile that another month's rolled by, but February is short and we took two trips--one to Sacramento and the other to Chicago. 

Regarding this month's question, which asks how we celebrate after completing an important writing goal. I ran across this nice article, The Best Rewards to keep you Motivated, which talks about small and large rewards after completing small and large goals. 

I've done many of the suggestions over the years, such as going out to dinner, watching a movie or a favorite TV show, doing some retail therapy, doing something relaxing, taking a day off, reconnecting with friends. 

I haven't taken a class or a trip as a result, and I've never bought flowers, but I'm pretty sure I've spent time working in my flower garden and gotten all kinds of pleasure out of it. 

I'm currently completing a revision of a YA romance, with plans to send it to a targeted publisher. 

So just reaching that goal will be an incredible reward, in and of itself. Nope, I will need no other reward than to upload the manuscript and then to hit the send button. 

What about you? How do you reward yourself after completing an important writing goal?

Hosted by: Insecure Writer's Support Group

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Be sure to link to this page and display the badge in your post. And please be sure your avatar links back to your blog! If it links to Google+, be sure your blog is listed there. Otherwise, when you leave a comment, people can't find you to comment back.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!