It happens every year. We ease ever so gently from the long winter season into the glory of spring, but then summer seems to land in our laps overnight. Hot, lacking schedule, and waiting like a panting puppy for all the fun to happen. While summer evokes dreamy visions of relaxation and rejuvenation, if we’re not intentional about scheduling SOUL REST into our plans, we could fall into fall exhausted and dried up. So, let’s contemplate the beauty and benefits of a “soul rest summer”…

Where are my fellow fans of WWII fiction? If you’re not with us yet, you might want to try one of the ten terrific WWII novels I’m sharing today. Fair warning: once you dip your toe in this compelling genre, the ocean is both deep and wide! Let’s dive right in…

“Do you eat a lot of sweet stuff?” Was my doctor serious? I’m a chocoholic, sweet-toothed Brit who bakes for kicks. “And have you ever been diagnosed with prediabetes?” Now my breath caught in my throat and my apparent-high-in-sugar blood ran cold. I needed to pivot pronto. This was one of those wake-up calls I’d heard about. And I wasn’t about to hit the snooze button…

This bold, brazen woman barges into a dinner party. Uninvited. She comes right up to the Guest of Honour and does something highly irregular that makes everyone else incredibly uncomfortable. Except for the Guest. His eyes are tender and His words are kind. She is welcomed by Him. She is invited into His family. For Jesus knew her heart…

As a child, where was your hiding place? Perhaps it was a treehouse, a fort, a makeshift tent, a secret den, or a playhouse—somewhere safe to hide out where your world felt secure. An escape of sorts. My hiding place was in books—no great shock there. I could curl up and lose myself for hours within its pages and the very act of holding a book and immersing myself in a story made me feel safe and secure in my very own escapist world. But what about today, as an adult—where is your hiding place? 

Today is the first birthday of my youngest book-baby, The Orphan Beach. It was a tricky delivery, coinciding with the onset of a certain pandemic. If I’m honest, it was rather neglected amidst the unknowns of 2020 with cancellations replacing celebrations. I know you missed out on all manner of occasions, too. We all did. But a year on, perhaps it’s not too late to celebrate. Let’s unwrap how to celebrate always—and I’ll start with a giveaway…

Who doesn’t need a daily dose of encouragement with their morning coffee? Whether you are a deep-dive-give-me-the-Bible-study girl or more of a grab-five-meaningful-minutes-before-the-crazy-begins lady, I have four NEW Bible devotional books for you to peruse. And I think there might just be something fabulous for everyone here…

What is your soul craving today, friend? We’re not even through the first month of the year, yet for many, the low-grade anxiety that followed us into 2021 is reaching fever-pitch. Perhaps it’s time to pause and pray. Right now. Because I don’t know about you, but what my soul is craving more than anything else in this season is PEACE…

A Happy New Year to you, friend! This could well be your hundredth “one word for 2021” post you have read, so I’m going to get right to it… my word to ponder and pray over for the coming year is LIGHT. The opposite to darkness, the antonym to heaviness, a word to illuminate 2021 with hope after the somewhat dark and heavy 2020 experience. Allow me to share…

If you are anything like me, books have been wonderfully kind companions in 2020. I have traveled, been caught up in whirlwind adventures, grown in my faith, felt encouraged, entertained, and enthralled—all without leaving the comfort of home! Perhaps this year I’ve been more grateful than ever for the gift of books. And so, as is my custom, I’ve painstakingly selected six of my favorites from the fifty or so I’ve read this year to share with you, my bookish friends…