Words from the Heart

Over a year ago, I had an epiphany that led me to write an eBook, Returning to the Circle: Inspirational Wisdom from Women for Women. This is a work of love created in collaboration with several of my dear Sisters of the Soul, who contributed words of wisdom of their own.  The idea of the book is to reach out, especially to young women and girls, who may not be able to share in the wisdom that was once available to women as they gathered around the kitchen table or at the sewing bee or as they ground corn, prepared food or tended the fire. Within the pages of this book, women will find thirty days of affirmations along with the writings of my "sisters" and I.  Our hope is that it will help them to feel stronger, to have more confidence and to know their value.  One of the saddest things I have encountered in my middle years is the number of women who don't see their own self-worth. If you know of a young woman, girl or even a young-thinking woman, who might benefi...

  Photo Credit: Nicole S   Many of us in the US are preparing for tomorrow's feast, for the gathering of friends and family and for the traditional events that surround this day we call, Thanksgiving. However, I have taken time out of my preparations to write about something I read that simply makes me crazy.  According to a Time's article , Macy's and other stores are getting a jump on Black Friday by being open all day Thursday.   I am all for free enterprise, but please!  Keeping people from their families, from the ability to have one - yes, ONE - day off to give thanks in whatever form that takes for them, is simply wrong.  I refuse to shop on Thanksgiving. There is nothing I need that I can't wait 24 hours for it. Several years ago, I researched the Thanksgiving holiday for a class I was teaching, I discovered an interesting fact.  Giving thanks for the harvest was NOT a pilgrim tradition.  Giving thanks was an Native Am...

Today, I have as my guest blogger, Shiela Deeth who describes herself as an, "author(and sometimes illustrator)--Mongrel Christian--Anglo-American--mathematician who can't add up and writer who can't spell." Her latest book, Bethlehem's Baby is out. In Bethlehem’s Baby, we meet the Emperor Augustus’s advisors, the quiet research student helping wise men study stars, the shepherd whose granddad keeps complaining, an Egyptian fisherboy, a Roman soldier, and more. Bethlehem's Baby is a set of forty 5-minute read-aloud stories based around the events of the Christ Child’s birth in Bethlehem.   Read on as Shiela tells us a bit about how she came to write her Five-Minute Bible Stories for children. One day my eight-year-old, he with the boxes of dinosaur toys, dinosaur games, dinosaur cards, books and more, suddenly announced, “I don’t believe in dinosaurs anymore.” Not having realized they were a matter of faith, I asked him why. “Because my teache...

 The Look of Brotherly Love After twelve hours in surgery, Barry got a new liver.  His best friend, Rob, came to visit in less than 24 hours after giving Barry the gift of Life! Both are doing very well.  The road to recovery will be long, but the prognosis is good. Thanks to all who have sent words of encouragement and support.   Thanks to the medical teams who have cared/are caring for Barry and Rob.  Each of you is a precious gift to us all! Thanks to Rob and his family for giving my brother a new life.  Words will never be enough to show our gratitude. May the blessings of this gift of Love ripple out touching all for many years to come.

  The word " brother " is found in many languages. (Just to name a few - Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar ( cf. Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, German Bruder, Gothic bróþar), from PIE root *bhrater (cf. Sanskrit bhrátár-, Old Persian brata, Greek phratér, Latin frater, Old Irish brathir, Welsh brawd, Lithuanian broterelis, Old Prussian brati, Old Church Slavonic bratru, Czech bratr "brother" )  I have been blessed with brothers, in fact, I was the only girl in our family of four children.  My brother, Barry, and I are what some call "Irish Twins," because our birthdays are just over a year apart. We have, as often happens, been close since childhood. Barry will turn 59 on Monday.  This is big day for him, not because of his birthday, but because he is entering the hospital for the life-giving gift of a new kidney.  The new kidney comes by way of his best buddy, Rob, who it turns out is the perfec...