MY BLOG POSTS

I saw a mouse today.

It was awful.

I was minding my own business, carrying a bolt of cloth from a  dusty corner of the school (hmmm, that should have been my first clue) to where I would use it on stage in our upcoming production of “Willy Wonka, Jr.” I turned a corner and the nasty rodent crawled up out of the top hole of the bolt. So I did what any normal person would do…

I screamed, threw the mouse as far from me as possible (amazing how athletic I can become when provoked by vermin!), and screamed some more.

Don’t even think about telling me they are cute. You have one crawl out of what you assume is a critter-free bolt of cloth and tell me its cute. I don’t think so. Mice are only cute when they are cartoons.

Moral of the story: If you need a bolt of cloth to use for your middle school musical, ask an exterminator to bring it out for you.

I am a logophile: A word lover. (from the Greek “logo” meaning “word” and the Latin “phile” meaning “lover of.” :))

I love writing words, speaking them, singing them, listening to them. I love learning new words and uncovering old ones. I even like reading the history of words.

A few years ago, I took my AP Language class to the University of South Florida library so we could peruse the Oxford English Dictionary – a whole, beautiful, dusty row of books filled with words and their meanings throughout the centuries. We learned so much! Did you know, for example, the word “awful” used to mean the same thing as “awesome”? Or that “nice” used to mean “stupid”? But “mean” has meant the same thing for almost a millennium?

These are facts I find fascinating. I like learning the history of cliches, too. For example, the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” (meaning wanting to have everything your neighbors have) originated in a 1920s comic strip. Interesting, huh? William Shakespeare, though, is the king of cliches. He is believed to have invented over 130 phrases that have become a regular part of our vernacular. Things like “A sorry sight,” “It’s Greek to me,” “I haven’t slept a wink,” “Wear my heart on my sleeve.” And he invented well over one thousand words! Invented them – meaning these words did not exist in the English language until Shakespeare penned them! Just look at a few of these: bedroom, discontent, critic, gossip, laughable, rant, premeditated, eyeball, lonely, hint, generous…

Do you see why I love words? Every word has a story, and I will never even come close to knowing them all.

And this is just the English language. Every language has its own unique sets of words with  their unique histories, invented by their own “Shakespeares.”

The Bible tells us God reveals himself through nature – when we see a sunset or explore a mountain, we recognize that only an incredibly creative, powerful God could have created such beauty. But I believe words do the same thing. I see God in words – in the variety, the complexity, the beauty of a well-turned phrase. It is through words that we learn about God and it is through The Word that the world was created (through, by the way, “The Word made flesh”).

Words are more than just tools, more than rhetoric. They are a gift.

So let me leave you with this gift from The Word: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditatation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” ~Ps. 19:14

Attention Moms/Grandmothers/Mentors of girls ages 7-12 in the Tampa area: the Pure in Heart Conference is coming on November 10!

The focus of this conference is for tween “princesses” to talk about how to live as pure, special, beloved daughters of the King. Over 900 girls have already signed up. But there is still room for more!

Check out this video for more information!

And if when you go — check out the beautiful Queen in the drama: that’s my  oldest daughter, Emma :).

“Let writing become another way to worship the Lord. Give all of yourself to God as a thank offering.” ~Francine Rivers

That is exactly how I feel about the writing process. It is a means to worship God, to experience His creative powers, to feel His grace in my weakness. When I was writing First Date, not knowing if it would ever be read, ever be published, I found myself not really caring. The process of writing was so fulfilling that I was content if it were to remain just between me and God. I am grateful that He allowed me to be published, but being published isn’t where the joy came from.

Eric Liddell, about whom the movie “Chariots of Fire” was based, said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

I love that quote, too. We feel God’s pleasure when we are doing what He has made us to do. I feel God’s pleasure when I teach. I feel it when I write. I feel it when I talk with my kids and kiss my husband.

Worship is so much more than a few songs before a sermon or a prayer before bed. Worship, for believers, should be a lifestyle where we honor God for who he is, for what he has done. It should ooze out of our pores as we live our daily, sometimes mundane, lives. So whether you were made to be a writer, a teacher, a mom, a wife, a student, a businesswoman, a nurse, a lawyer….whatever…feel God’s pleasure as you do what you were made to do. Worship while you work.