Southern Living Yankee

PRAYER REQUESTS: Today (Monday) my husband has a job interview. His current job, the reason we moved here, is not good. One lesson he learned when his first wife died is that he wants a life outside of work, he wants to spend time with his wife and family. But his job is eating away at that. He works at least 10 hours a day, 6, often 7, days a week. He worked the entire month of July without a single day off. It's time to look elsewhere. Also, today is a crucial day for Brad to get his housing in Seattle nailed down. He's to start school next Monday. But, I say, why start school if you have no place to live? So he's in a hard place. I appreciate your prayers, and I appreciate YOU! Thanks for checking in on me. :)

AUTUMN GARDEN Dry, brittle leaves crumble in my fingers Like pages from a diary a hundred years ago They smell like spent sunshine Others fold golden curls Over slugs and molds They'll work decay through winter Unseen, unheard, unhindered Yellow jackets buzz Summoned by sticky sap Unaware of days to come --fbh I wrote this several years ago after raking maple leaves out of a weedy flowerbed down by the brook and old barn foundation on our old property. I post it here today because it's close enough to autumn. And because there are some yellow jackets in my life. Please pray about them for me. Thanks.

BEAUTIFUL NOTE FROM MY SIS-IN-LAW "I'm sure you know that my mom passed away yesterday (Sept. 10). I wanted to let you know how God was glorified in her death. After I broke down sobbing over her and left the hospital to call everyone, a joy came over me like it was Christmas morning. I was giggly and couldn't contain myself. I called my old neighbor who was like a second mom to me growing up because her daughter and I were inseparable. I had such joy and told her that I could just see Mom up in Heaven praising God. Standing up straight, sight in both eyes, gazing at the wonders of Heaven and praising Him. She couldn't believe how I was handling her death. Not shocked, but I felt that she was in awe of the peace and joy that I was feeling. I couldn't track down my brother Tom because he was at a dog show. I remembered on my way home (probably a whisper from God) that a lady at Mom's church also did dog shows. I stopped in and got there right in between services...

GREAT WEEKEND It was so good to re-connect with dear friends from Riverview and Chesterland over the weekend. I sensed many relationships will now continue for a lifetime. How good to have such a circle of friendships, to know we can mutually count on each other in the coming years! Anne DiFranco brought me a special souvenier from her trip to El Salvador. It was a wood cross, handmade by an artist there, and at the base of the cross he painted women of all races. My heart leapt when I saw it because one goal in writing about Ruth & Naomi will be international printing. I believe their story can speak to women in all countries. Their suffering is our common bond, and our Redeemer meets each one of us in the same way--personally and plentifully. He is full of grace and is pleased to call us "daughter," just as Boaz called Ruth, even though she was a Moabite. Read Ruth 2, and then imagine how nervous Ruth must have been as she waited for the answer to her outrageous request...

Since "blog" is short for "web-log" and a weblog is an on-line journal, I thought that today it would be fun for my readers to see a diary entry--much more secretive and private than a journal. Who can resist a peek at a "diary?" Here goes. . . Dear Diary, I received great encouragement from friends in Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, New York and even the Phillipines! Patti and Melissa were able to post their comments right in this blog and I will treasure them forever. But I also want to record the emails I received. I have such great friends! "Brava! How many years ago did I suggest that you write? Good for you, woman! -Toni "What fun! Maybe dinosaur's mother will jump on the blogwagon." -Mom "How exciting! I will certainly be in prayer with you over it, and if you want any comments or proofreaders, I would be happy to get a first glimpse!" -Sue (How cool is that? A Proofer! Sue, you don't know what you're i...

PRAYER REQUEST: MOVING MOUNTAINS The purpose of this blog is to gather pray-ers around me for God's leading me in this writing ministry. God has me exactly where He wants me: fully dependent on Him. I went to a writers conference in July, just wondering if I might get a little direction to do something, or how to do something with the Ruth Bible study I wrote a couple years ago. I got more than a "little" direction. Three editors asked for a book proposal! This is NOT NORMAL! "Normal" is fortunate to get to see an editor, "blessed" is to be asked for a proposal by anyone! But then, (such life-altering words in scripture-"but then") last night I was asked for ANOTHER book proposal! Now I have not just one, but TWO books to write! Again, very unusual. In publishing, writing a book proposal is not a guarantee that your book will be published. It is only the first step in a journey that could be aborted at any time, for any whim. But . . . it is ...

DINOSAUR CREATES OWN BLOG! At 8:39 this morning a 50 year old female techno dinosaur, known to be timid and skittish in all computer skills beyond email, was seen hunched over a laptop. The binoculared observer watched this abberation in horror. What could be going on? Head banging? A feeding frenzy? A near fatal computer crash? Did she discover how to use a credit card on Amazon? Ebay? No screaming or crying were observed. The subject was relatively calm, only brief flashes of confusion crossed her face, quickly followed by "aha" moments. The entire encounter seemed new to the dinosaur, but relatively painless. The observer was able to relax. Blogging. The subject would be fine. It's so easy, you could set up a blog, too! Here's how I did it: 1) Decide which blog service to use. To alleviate my "analysis paralysis" which results from too many choices, I used the "good nuff" method: blogspot.com was good enough for the 3 people I know who have a bl...