Archives for March 2021

Choosing to Still Be a Student

After sixty-plus years of speaking the English language (I’ll leave the plus part to your imagination), I’m still looking up words in the dictionary. As a writer, I need to be a reader also so I run across new-to-me words on a fairly regular basis. It’s not that I have a poor vocabulary, there are just a lot of unfamiliar words out there, especially when I get into areas outside my realm of experience.

One time I read a novel that featured a main character with a form of autism. Since I don’t have close personal experience with autism, I had to hit the dictionary a couple of times over terminology I’d heard before but didn’t really understand. Not long ago, I read some historical fiction that put me in a time and place that also stretched the limits of my vocabulary.

Of course, other times I’m foggy on meanings of words that I’ve seen before and should know. Maybe my brain has only so much room and has started deleting past info to make room for new? Say it ain’t so!

Whether encountering brand new words or words I simply need to review, I have a choice to make. I can skip over them completely, try to guess their meaning from the context, or take time to look them up. I can choose to still be a student or just coast through and miss the full message intended.

Many times I choose to coast, allowing time factors or lack of convenience to dictate my decision, but other times I choose to investigate. I choose to learn, to still be a student. I may not remember the new word a day later, but the process still helped me grasp that particular passage more fully.

What about when I—or you—read the Word of God? We may be familiar with much of the language, but what do we do when we run across words and phrases or names and places that are unfamiliar to us? What about when we know the actual meaning of certain words, but we’re puzzled by the deeper meaning of the passage? Do we take time to read the footnotes or look up words in our concordance or do some cross-referencing? Do we dig deep to discover what words meant in the original Greek or Hebrew language?

Are we still students of the Word of God or do we just coast through in our reading? Do we sometimes miss the full message intended? I don’t know about you, but I don’t dig deep often enough.

The Word of God is too important to miss, isn’t it? Let’s choose to learn. Let’s choose to investigate. Let’s still be students.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV

*What do you do to dig deeper into the Word of God?

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is FREE and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Flickr photo by crdotxCreative Commons License

Cute Idea—Bride’s Shoes to Match Her Bouquet

Mother of the Bride, here’s a great idea for the bride’s attire that will not only look stunning and fun on the big day but will provide a super cute photo op as well.

If your daughter has decided she wants a colorful bridal bouquet, why not suggest that she match her bridal shoes to one of the colors in the bouquet? Just think of the color possibilities and the sweet sizzle colorful shoes will create when they peek out from time to time. Or when the bride boldly flashes them just for fun—and for the cute photos that will be captured!

And yes, it’s okay to make wedding decisions based on the dynamite photos that may result. After all, you’ll have the photos forever. Might as well make them shine, right?

So, MOB, see if your daughter would like to color it up on her wedding day. If so, matching the shoes to the bouquet is a spectacular way to do it. Can’t you just see it now? Fun stuff, huh?

*You might also like to read Wedding Shoes Trend: Color Is In!, Rustic Wedding Bridal Shoes: Boots—What Else?Bridal Shoes: The Cute Factor, and Wedding Shoes: Sneakers for the Party!

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is free and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*Photos by Lanty on Unsplash

Hairstyles For the Mother of the Bride or Groom

Mother of the Bride (or Mother of the Groom,) is it time to start thinking about your hair for the big day? I know you’ve got tons of other things to do too, but take a few minutes soon and consider how you might like your hair styled. You’ll be glad to check that off your list as well!

Let me direct you today to some sure-to-please hairstyles for the MOB (or MOG) featured on Martha Stewart’s website. It has an area devoted to all things wedding so you might want to check it out for other topics you’re interested in too, but for today, why not head over and take a look at 26 examples of hairstyles for mothers of the bride.

Enjoy browsing these beautiful mother-of-the-bride hairstyles, MOB! I hope one will work for you!

*You might also like to read Mother of the Bride Face Prep: Face Yoga Exercises, Mother of the Bride: 9 Easy Ways to Pamper Yourself, Most Important Part of the MOB’s Wedding Day Attire, and Mother of the Bride: Spruce Up Your Smile

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*The new issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is free and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*Flickr photo by KissåCreative Commons License

Radical Faith Prepares for Answered Prayer

“And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.” Philemon 1:22 NIV

Radical faith. The apostle Paul demonstrated it on numerous occasions, didn’t he? When he wrote the words above to fellow believer Philemon, he wrote them from prison—a place he frequented because of his bold displays of faith.

Being imprisoned didn’t dampen Paul’s faith as we might imagine. In fact, he made plans to visit Philemon based on his hopes of answered prayers. He encouraged Philemon to act in faith as well. Paul exhorted him to prepare a room for him—to behave as if the answer to prayer had already been granted.

And when Paul told the Corinthians to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7), he not only doled out instruction, he lived it himself. His instruction to Philemon shines as just one example.

What kind of faith are you and I demonstrating in our lives today? Could someone point to us and say, “Look at how she lives by faith. Look at how she trusts God.”

Are we like Paul? Are we living in the hope of answered prayer? Let’s think about what we can do right now to live in expectation and to prepare for the answers that God will send. Let’s show some radical faith.

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 NET

*The next issue of Life Notes, my quarterly inspirational newsletter with a giveaway in every regularly scheduled issue, will come out in early May. Sign-up is FREE and to the right! (If you’re on a mobile device, scroll to the bottom of the screen and click View Full Site to find it.)

*For info about my book Mother of the Bride and also my Wedding Inspiration cards, check out my Books/My Work page.

*Flickr photo by familymwrCreative Commons License