Has someone ever said to you when you are going through hardship and suffering… "Just be thankful?" No empathy. No, I'm sorry you are going through this. Just the words, be thankful. I had this happen to me recently. I shared just a tidbit of the financial stress are business is under due to our changing world—and how we could lose everything, our home included. Her words felt cold and distant, and truthfully, it rankled. However, they were not wrong. Sometimes, in the frailty of humanity, we do not receive the compassionate response we need. Especially from someone sitting in their large home, who can easily pay every bill, go on trips, reti...

I was all of the above until ... Wow! Isn't it wonderful when the Scripture pops off the page and God directly speaks? This does not happen every time I pick up the Bible but I sure appreciate how so often my reading is divinely appointed. I've been particularly stressed at the learning curve needed to launch a book. Writing was the easy part. What is expected of authors these days is next thing to ludicrous and I was having a meltdown. I literally had a list of 52 things that authors do to launch a book and most of which I would have to learn by taking tutorials. From making book trailers, to monthly newsletters, to videos, to learning Canva...