Favorite Things

With the giving season almost upon us, I have a small gift for you. Below is a list of a few of my favorite things. Some are simply gifts to the environment. Yes, like the heroine in my latest novel, The Bravest Among Us, I too have a passion for all things enviro-friendly. I hope one of these ideas sparks something in you to touch someone with a special gift this holiday season.

Candle Lighter $7.00

Electric, rechargeable, flameless. Replaces plastic butane lighters that inevitably end up in landfills.

Find it on Amazon here.

Berry Bowl $50 - $60

Great for washing fruits and veggies or for serving berries and pretty enough to leave within easy reach.

Find similar items on Etsy here.

French Butter Dish $20 - $50

French-inspired elegance. Holds a whole stick of butter. Keeps it fresh and at smooth-able room temperature.

Coincidentally, also espoused in the popular novel, One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

 Find similar items on Etsy here.

Foxgloves Gardening Gloves $24

Perfect for the gardener in your life. Comfortable, breathable, and machine washable. I have a pair in my front yard basket and two in my backyard basket.

Find them on the manufacturer’s site here. (Also on Amazon here.)

Veggie Keepers $16.80 set of 5

I first found these at my local grocery store where they were sold individually. These reusable plastic containers keep your fruits and veggies fresh, and you never forget what’s inside. Yes, they’re plastic, but for the number of plastic baggies they’ll replace, they’re definitely worth the purchase.

Find the set of five on Amazon here.

Dry Laundry Detergent Sheets $15

Who needs all of those enormous plastic jugs of laundry detergent where the main ingredient is water? Certainly not our landfills or oceans.

Find it on Amazon here.

Dry Shampoo and Conditioner Gift Set $39

Great for the frequent traveler or avid camper, and healthy for both your hair and the environment.

Find it on Amazon here.

 Bag Clips $5 for a bag of 16

The only ones you’ll ever buy. Made of vinyl-coated heavy gauge wire, they never break.

Find them on Amazon here.

AnyList App - FREE wherever you download apps.

The cool thing about this app is that you can share lists with others, so your whole family can post to the grocery list and whoever does the shopping has it all in one place. And it’s organized by categories. I also use it for travel lists (things to pack for certain types of repeat trips), flowers I plant each spring, perennials I’d like to add to my yard someday, gift ideas I think of for others, and myriad other uses. I use the free version, but an upgraded version allows you to add images and do other cool things.

What are some of your favorite things?

I would love to hear about a few. Please reply or comment on my site to share.

Have a blessed holiday, and don’t forget to touch someone!

The Heroes Among Us

As the Covid-19 vaccines begin to ship en masse, I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all of our front-line healthcare workers for their warrior hearts, for their strength, courage, and sacrifice, and for selflessly giving of themselves day after day.

Most especially, I want to thank the nurses who’ve endured long hours, extra shifts, understaffing, and uncomfortable PPEs. Not only have they provided much needed patient care but they’ve also been at patient’s bedsides providing emotional comfort in the absence of visitors. Some were forced to live apart from their families and many probably felt they were a risk to those around them.

You are all angels and your sacrifice and dedication have not gone unnoticed.

I also want to thank. . .

• The doctors and ICU staff who’ve seen unprecedented deaths in the midst of the worst of the pandemic

• The doctors and research scientists who diligently worked to find a cure

• The lab techs who worked long hours to turn around Covid tests quickly

• The restaurants who reinvented their business to provide carry-out, pick-up, and outdoor dining

• Grocers, online retailers, food banks, and transportation and distribution companies who stepped up their business to meet the changing needs of consumers

• Our government leaders who made tough choices with only the safety of their constituents in mind

• Our educators who’ve shown incredible agility in switching back and forth between on-site and online learning and the parents who struggled right alongside them

• The companies who recognized the sacrifices made by frontline workers by giving them discounts and providing free meals

• The companies who switched over their production lines to manufacture much needed PPEs and ventilators

• My company, Gordon Food Service, and others like them who embraced work-from-home to keep us all safe
  

And last but not least, I thank all of you, my friends and family and the rank and file, who followed safety guidelines, wore masks, social distanced, and gave up spending time with family and friends all for the sake of the greater good.

You’re all heroes in my heart.

In closing, I want to share this Chicago salute to healthcare workers. As the mother of a first-year nurse in the Windy City, it brought tears to my eyes to know my daughter was surrounded by so much love and appreciation.

Have you touched anyone lately?

Humbly Great

The heroine in my current work is a woman who often stares at herself in a mirror and sees the weak and frightened little girl she once was, and yet, each time, as she searches the face in the mirror, she finds the woman God made her to be and she dons a public facade of strength and fortitude, an ever-present byproduct of her unwavering faith.

Sound familiar?

Are any of us really as confident as we try to appear?

At one point in my story, as my heroine falters, my hero tells her he admires her confidence and strong moral compass and his words lift her up, empower her, and help her to believe in herself.

Then her father-in-law compares her to the old violin in the poem The Master’s Hand and for the first time, she sees herself through the eyes of these two men, an instrument of God, a woman of courage and fortitude, a force to be reckoned with. This new perspective gives her courage. She dares to do something great, not just good—everyone can achieve “good”—but truly great. She steps out, beyond her fear, beyond her self-doubt, beyond her grief, to grasp a future bright with hope and faith and love, the things that make a life.

I hope you have people like this in your life, friends or family who bring forth your music and help you to discover your true worth. And I hope too, that you are a force in the lives of those around you.

You could be. We all should be.

Have you touched anyone lately?

For Such a Time as This

Every now and then we find ourselves at a moment in time that might be considered a turning point in our own life story. I’m at that crossroads. Do I continue to write inspirational fiction for the Christian market or do I try to reach a broader audience, one that includes many who live in darkness, starved for messages of hope, faith, and goodness in a troubled world?

The thing is, Christian readers know the love of God. They already have faith and hope. They’ve found trust and healing. So if I want to reach the broken—which I do—perhaps I shouldn’t be looking among the healed.

I once cut a bouquet of flowers from my garden to give to a neighbor who was struggling with cancer. She’s a lovely woman, inside and out, one of the most live-by-faith people I’ve ever known. I asked her, “Why would God give this [sickness] to you, of all people?”

“Maybe so someone like you would bring me flowers and pray for me,” she said.

Thankfully, my neighbor recovered and as far as I know, she’s still in remission. She has since moved away, but I think of her often, pray for her nightly and remember her words. She touched my life. I’ve gotten much better over the years at reaching out to those in need.

Everything God gives us, the good and the bad, has a purpose.

I come from a broken home. I had a lonely childhood and I was a troubled teen. But maybe all of the challenges I’ve overcome, all of the blessings I’ve enjoyed, all of the personal connections I’ve made, have all led me to this one moment, where I’m called to step beyond my comfort zone, to embark on a more challenging path.

Like Esther, who found herself beloved of a king but afraid to seek his help until her cousin, Mordecai, asked, “And who knows but that you have come to your position for such a time as this?”

Or like Moses, who resisted God’s calling, citing his lack of eloquence. “Who am I to appear before the pharaoh?” he asked. But God encouraged him, gave him a staff to perform miracles and bid him take Aaron to hold him up.

A visiting missionary once said, “Think big! Because you’re worth it. God’s love is worth it.”

Who knows what we might accomplish if we simply believe in ourselves, in who God made us to be?

Are you a Moses or someone’s Aaron? Are you an Esther or someone’s Mordecai? You could be. I could be.

Have you touched anyone lately?

Love Does

Have you heard the story of Two Bunk John? It’s a story in Bob Goff’s beautifully written short-story collection called Love Does. Each chapter details an event that shaped Bob’s life, and what a life!

The book has been out for a few years so maybe I'm late to the game but on the off chance you’ve not read it yet, this post is for you.

Love Does is a definite must-read.

The author, Bob Goff, sees the world from a uniquely wholesome perspective, as though God is in every moment, shaping Bob’s world, his decisions and the people around him. Sure, Bob makes choices that align with his Christ-centered philosophy but what’s awe-inspiring is how he applies his faith to every situation, even events that shaped his childhood.

It’s a norm we all could live by.

Through what he thought was a friendly joke, Bob wound up as the Counsel to the Republic of Uganda. And that was just a start. God had much more in store for Bob and Bob heeded the call. He went on to found Restore International, a non-profit now known as Love Does, to “find daring, productive, and effective ways to fight the injustices committed against children” in Africa, Iraq, Nepal, Somalia, and India.

In fact, Bob said, “Yes,” often, even when he wasn’t sure, because he trusted the ask was from God.

An accomplished attorney, author, professor, and international speaker, Bob lives his faith. Last year he launched the Dream Big Framework, a workshop designed to motivate people to accomplish their biggest dreams and ambitions. “There’s nothing ordinary about Bob’s dynamic approach to life” and he’s sharing his years of experience in transforming big dreams into reality through this latest endeavor.

Oh, and Two Bunk John was a college kid whose plans were to go "off-road" with his life, to follow a path led by faith, not by expectations and predictability.

Yeah, I want to live like that!

Thanks, Bob Goff, for inspiring us with your stories of faith, daring, and trust and your example of what it means to lead a Christ-centered life.