By Guest Blogger Cynthia Toney I learn a lot about human behavior from my dogs. Recently, one of my female dogs lay in the sun enjoying…
2 CommentsRelevant Fiction for Body & Soul
By Guest Blogger Cynthia Toney I learn a lot about human behavior from my dogs. Recently, one of my female dogs lay in the sun enjoying…
2 CommentsWhat do those words mean to you?
Do you consider the Word of God as useful in your own daily life? Does it seems strange that an ordinary book on your shelf could be so important to every day decision-making, behavior-choosing, life-happenings?
If I were asked this in 2005, I would have answered with a resounding, “no way, it is just an old book with old guys’ opinions in it.” That was of course before I actually read it;
2 CommentsThe beginning of another school year approached, and I was scared. Even with the slowed-down summer schedule, I was not making any headway with my next book. There was virtually no time in which to really write, and when I did get a moment to steal, nothing I wrote worked, because I hadn’t had any time to let the story form in my head so it could flow onto the page. Where on earth was I going to get the time to have a chance at success?
I went to my writing network’s Facebook page and asked for advice.
“Wake up one hour earlier than your kids do.”
Silly me, already waking up two hours before they did.
“Make family creative time a habitual part of your day! Everyone is working on something.”
When the youngest family member’s idea of “creative” is either decorating her walls with nail polish or asking busy people incessant questions?
“Just do whatever works!”
I didn’t type the words, but I wanted to reply, “BUT NOTHING WORKS!”
14 CommentsWhen I was a child, the saying “slow as Christmas” actually meant something to me. For someone with a single digit age, the twelve months passing from Christmas to Christmas might as well be twelve years. I remember how slowly each day passed as I mentally counted down to the blessed holiday from New Year’s Day, spring break, summer vacation, and Thanksgiving.
Even during the month of December, I found it difficult not to squirm. Moving our little stuffed mouse from one day to the next on the cloth Advent calendar hanging on the door was physically agonizing. I couldn’t wait for Christmas and all the joy that day symbolizes, which in that season of my life meant lots of baked goodies, family get-togethers, and more gifts than I knew what to do with.
As I age, “slow as Christmas” means less and less to me. My life is so busy and filled with activity that by the time I pause to check the date, I am astounded by how much time has passed me by. I’m more likely to say, “Christmas again, already?”
4 CommentsOver my life, which at this point has spanned nearly half a century, I have taken on many roles. I grew up the baby of a large, blended family. At a young age, I knew I wanted to be a nurse and fulfilled that dream when I graduated from college and landed my dream job as a critical care nurse. Then the role as wife and mother took over my full-time gig as a nurse. My hubby is a Major League Baseball coach, so for 29 seasons I have been a baseball wife. However, no role ever confused me as much as the role I find myself entering in my empty nest. A writer.
2 CommentsMy oldest daughter, Felicity, is newly fascinated with how babies grow in their mother’s wombs. Shortly after she turned five, she would muse aloud, “Tell me about when I was in your tummy, Mommy.” Without thinking, I shared the story of when my husband and I first saw her on the early ultrasound, when she was about eight weeks old. I was considered “high risk” for pregnancy, so my husband and I were relieved when we saw our “little bean” and heard her heartbeat on the Doppler.
Felicity’s eyes widened as I demonstrated how small she was at the time – “about the size of my thumb nail,” I told her. “Is that how small I was to begin with?” she inquired. “No, sweetheart,” I lovingly replied, “you were so small when you began that we wouldn’t be able to see you, almost like a period at the end of a sentence.”
1 CommentI am a lover of virtue! There I’ve said it! I know that I am in a minority, because most people do not even think about virtue as they traverse throughout their day. I, on the other hand, live for virtue, because it is virtue that draws me near to Christ. I can’t think of a better place to be than near Christ. Maybe that is because I am also a lover of Christ: I want to be like Christ! I look up to Him; He is my role model.
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