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Celebrate Marriage
In case you missed these marriage articles, they’re making the rounds on Faithit.com. Come on over and visit me. 10 THINGS EVERY HUSBAND SHOULD DO FOR HIS WIFE https://faithit.com/10-things-every-husband-should-do-love-your-wife-lori-freeland/ 10 THINGS EVERY WIFE SHOULD DO FOR HER HUSBAND https://faithit.com/10-things-every-wife-should-be-doing-for-her-husband/ 5 WAYS TO KNOW YOU’RE A GOOD SPOUSE https://faithit.com/5-ways-to-know-youre-a-good-spouse-lori-freeland/ 3 Words That Will Change Your Marriage Want more like this? Click Here: FAMILY, PARENTING and MARRIAGE
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God Can Save Your Marriage. Here’s How He Saved Mine.
“When are we going to give up?” I sank to the couch and leaned over my knees. “We make each other miserable.” “Everything’s fine.” The scratchy depth in my husband’s tone reflected just how far from fine we were. “Wouldn’t you rather be with someone who makes you happy?” “I am happy.” He retreated to the kitchen. “I made dinner. Call the kids.” Divorce averted—for now. Click Here to Read the Rest on Crosswalk.Com
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A Beautiful Prayer for God’s Mercy
Mercy and Grace—huge concepts for Christians and a foundational part of who God is. “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11). Before we focus on mercy, let’s take a second to talk about the difference between them. It’s important to realize mercy and grace aren’t interchangeable because they’re not the same. Think of mercy as not being punished when we do deserve it—God delivering us from judgment. Think of grace as being rewarded when we don’t deserve it—God blessing the unworthy. I can be the best person, the most devoted Christ follower, and a consistent church attender. But without Jesus I’m always going to be unworthy. We can thank sin for that . . Click Here…
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A Prayer to Encourage and Strengthen Nurses
I’m not a nurse. I can’t even claim to play one on TV. But I’ve spent a significant part of the last 15 years hanging out with nurses. They’re some of my favorite people, and they’ve stepped in more times than I can count to save my son—figuratively and literally. Kyle was diagnosed with leukemia at age 10, relapsed at 19, and is still dealing with the collateral damage of years of aggressive treatment at 25. Without our nurses, we would be lost. They’re a crucial part of our medical team. They get us information when we’re confused, hold our hands when we cry, give us hope when we’re hopeless,…
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7 Prayers that Changed My Heart for My Husband
I’ve known my husband thirty-three years. We dated on and off four of those years, starting my sophomore year of high school and going into college. We were engaged less than a year. We’ve been married for over twenty-eight. Add in three kids, a zoo of pets, a few major moves, and a son who’s battled cancer twice, we’ve been navigating life together for what feels like a very long time. And most of it’s been rough. During those early sporadic dating years, we always at least remained close friends. When we got back together the final time, my husband told me he’d compared everyone he’d ever dated to me,…
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Down with the Rules?
Avoid unlikeable main characters. Show don’t tell. Lock your character into character. Tell your story forward. Pass on passive verbs. Say bye-bye to backstory. Nix the omniscient narrator and dodge the dreaded head hop. Always remember adjectives are lazy, exclamation points are evil, and adverbs are from the devil. And for goodness sake, don’t forget to cover the mirror—main characters can’t ever describe themselves. Those are just a few of the writing rules we’re taught to follow. Sometimes writing a story feels like stumbling through Dante’s Inferno. A lot of don’ts punctuated with a stern warning that you’ll be tossed into writer’s hell—an editor’s circular file—if you do. So . . . why the…
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Places Are Important Too: Bring Your Book to Life (Part 2)
You might’ve heard that setting can be a character in your story. But did you know that setting can be as crucial to your story as your character? Location matters. Imagine if The Shining took place in a quaint bed and breakfast with an uplifting soundtrack? Or if the house Noah lovingly built for Allie in The Notebook turned out to be haunted like the mansion in The Haunting of Hill House? The way you stage the setting in your story deepens the experience for both the character and the reader. Whether you’re being blatant or subtle, dropping heavy detail or sprinkling light clues, how you present a place tells readers how to feel about it. Jump over to…
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12 Ways to Love Your Husband All Year Long (Not Just In February)
Valentine’s Day. When you’re single, you dread it. When you’re dating, you look forward to it. When you’re married, you may not even celebrate it. My 17-year-old daughter and her boyfriend were talking the other day, and he had a strong opinion about Valentine’s Day. He told her, “If you care about someone, you should show that person how you feel every day not just on one specific day.” Sometimes teenagers are wise. But please don’t tell them I said that. READ THE REST ON CROSSWALK: 12 WAYS TO LOVE YOUR HUSBAND . . .
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The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue
When is internal dialogue too much, too little, or just enough? Come visit me over at Writers in the Storm to find out! Last time I visited Writers in the Storm, we talked about dialogue—what characters say out loud to themselves or to other characters. If you missed that blog, you can find it here at Dive Deep into Dialogue. This time, I want to shift to internal dialogue—what your characters don’t say out loud to themselves or to other characters. There are two things to remember before we start. The first is Point of View (POV). When I wrote the sentence above, I should’ve added what your Point of View (POV) characters…
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Dive Deep into Dialogue
There are lots of different ways to start sketching in the empty page of a new scene. Dialogue. Setting. Action. Internal thought. But for me, the easiest way to get words on the page is to use dialogue—what I want my characters to say to each other—as the blueprint of my scene. Visit me over at Writers in the Storm today and learn the do’s and don’ts of dialogue. You might also be interested in Frame Your Scene with Essay Structure.
