My Dream

I have a dream.

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t start by stealing such a famous line, but I really do have a dream.

I envision an online writing community for our teenagers, where they post their essays, stories, poems and opinions in a caring and supportive environment. I want a place where our young people can think and then write about those thoughts.

The written word possesses the element of eternity. If you think I exaggerate, remember the Bible, which stands the test of time. Let’s encourage our young people to write with passion, purpose and power, seeking to touch our contemporary world with spiritual and social significance.

With this in mind, I created a web site for our home schooled teens to express themselves. Yes, I understand about online ‘security’, or perhaps I should say lack of security.

Therefore, our web site has some rules that may put everyone at ease.

--Only my older daughter and I can post to the site. Everyone is invited to send their writing to us and we will post it promptly.
--The individual writers will have their work posted with only their first names or a screen name of their choice.


Okay, this makes our teenagers ‘anonymous’ but I also want to allow interaction between them.


--Everyone can view the site and leave comments.
--Those comments will be monitored daily.

How does that sound? We have a place for our young people to write and a safe atmosphere where they can ‘talk’ to each other.


And to make things even more interesting, I will provide writing prompts, information about contests, and a whole lot of writing-related thoughts.


Would you like your teens to be part of this dream?

What a Mug!

Love has no logic.

I never thought I could love a pug. Throughout my life, I have owned large hairy dogs, like Farrah the Collie and Holly the Samoyed. I hesitate to confess this, but I never thought small dogs were ‘real’ dogs. Hey, they’re even called ‘toy’ dogs! What does that tell you?

So, when my older daughter announced she was saving for a pug, I tried to discourage her. Why not save for an Irish Wolfhound, I asked her.

Every so often she would update us on how much was in her pug fund, making me come to the startling realization that she was actually going to buy a dog someday. Okay, I thought. Let’s see where this leads.

Over two years later, she shows me a chunk of bills (she’s not too keen on stashing her cash in a bank) and asks me to find a pug breeder. The moment of truth was upon us.

I found a breeder about an hour from us, my daughter picked out a male puppy and we headed home. All I know is that somewhere along the way, I lost my heart to this adorable little guy.

His name is Pershey and on July 17th he celebrated his first birthday. He is cute and funny and is the ideal companion dog. He is always near one of us; he hates to be alone, although if we need to put him in his crate for a while he patiently waits for our return.

I recently asked my daughter if I could buy him from her. What happens if she gets married and moves far away, taking Pershey with her? I guess I better start my own pug fund.

As for my daughter, she’s now saving for an alpaca. Don't ask.

Yeah, there is no logic in love. That reminds me of the verse that says:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

God showed His love for us even when we were dead in sins. We weren’t ‘pretty’ or ‘cute’ and there was no earthly reason why He should love us.

But He did.

And then He gave everything to make us one of His children.

I guess it’s a good thing love isn’t logical.

Happy Birthday, Pershey! You’re a lovely dog!

Author Interviews

Anyone who has ever been in my house knows I love books! I have several carefully balanced stacks, which are patiently, although precariously, waiting for bookshelves.

My passion for reading led me to the wonderful world of book reviewing where I've been for the past four years. During that time I've been associated with several different sites, but my favorite one is In the Library Reviews. This site reviews a variety of genres, which fits my style perfectly.

Since I review Christian books for that site, I no longer feel that I am ‘preaching to the choir’. A wider audience reads my reviews and hopefully, my enthusiasm and endorsement of inspirational books will encourage people to meet authors that may draw them closer to the Lord.

For about a year now, I have been privileged to conduct author interviews. At the risk of shamelessly dropping names, here’s a list of some of the wonderful authors I recently ‘met’ online. All of my interviews with them are archived at In the Library Reviews. Also be sure to check out each author’s web site using the links I provided at the right of this page.

 Colleen Coble
 Tom Sullivan
 Deborah Raney
 Diann Mills
 Lisa Samson
 Dr. Richard Land
 Wanda Brunstetter
 Cyndy Salzmann

Yikes! A Yard Sale!

If you’ve ever had a weekend-long yard sale, you probably know how I feel this Monday morning. A lot of thoughts are going around in my head like, “Was it worth it?” and “Would we do it again?”

As for the first question, my answer is: Yes, it was worth it but not for the financial aspect. As a homeschooling mom, I see learning opportunities in seemingly ordinary experiences and our yard sale certainly qualified.

My older daughter learned that she is a skilled organizer and planner, while also realizing that she doesn’t like to wake up before noon on Saturdays!

Our younger daughter has the gift of gab and could probably be a snake oil salesperson if anyone is still selling the stuff. I was amazed at her ‘best buys’ offers, rapidly calculating sales prices and throwing in a few extras to clinch the deal.

As for me, I enjoyed talking to many of the people who came to the sale, although sitting in the driveway for two days was way below my normal activity level.

However, the big question is “Would we do it again?” Perhaps. There is something exciting about feeding the entrepeneurial spirit. The marketing psychology was an interesting aspect, as my daughters and I discussed strategies and compared the buying techniques of our customers.

In fact, the photo shows one of our advertising ideas. It’s been a pet peeve of mine to rummage through buckets or barrels of ‘stuff’ at other people’s yard sales, so we decided to eliminate that. We set up a clothesline across the front of the house and hung stuffed animals on it. It made the yard very colorful, as well as created a browsing-friendly atmosphere.

Yes, a yard sale brings forth a lot of ‘treasures’ that may be hidden in closets or attics. But for my family, it also spotlighted some skills that I plan to nurture in our daughters.

Oh, I bet you’re all waiting to hear how much we made. Well….let’s just say we didn’t jump into a higher tax bracket. Sorry, any more specific information can’t be disclosed in case the IRS reads my blog!