Lessons Learned from a Wire Fox Terrier

By Krisi Paxton



1. Do everything with passion, whether it is licking a hole in an old railroad tie or eating a friend’s last bite of pancake.
2. Eat when you are hungry. Bounce when you are happy. Sleep when you are tired. Get dirty.
3. Cuddle with your loved ones. Read their moods. Sneak a kiss whenever possible.
4. Take long and frequent walks with your two-legged friends. Stop to smell the flowers or rub your face in the snow. Detour from the plan once in a while.
5. Be patient with small children.
6. Ask for nothing more than simple food, water and an occasional last slurp from a cereal bowl.
7. Be content to hang out with those you love. Travel with them every chance you get. Make friends in strange lands.
8. Explore the woods. Mingle with other species. Be afraid of nothing.
9. Expect little.
10. Appreciate everything.

Ziggy, a loyal companion, passed away May 9. She was only eight years old, but she crammed 100 years of pleasure into each moment. People smiled and chuckled when Ziggy entered a room. She lived her last spring day at home, lying in cool grass, basking in soft breezes and warm sunshine. Her loved ones sat with her, touched her, laughed at her quirks and admired her fine qualities.

I want to be just like Ziggy.

Forming Great Teams

by Michael Elmore

Many people who read this blog are interested in writing. I know I am. Writing takes talent, practice, learning and encouragement. Perhaps you are not an accomplished author yet. But God has this in mind for you because he has put the desire in your heart. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Recognize that the dream to become an author is not just your aspiration but it is a desire that God has purposely placed within you to glorify His name and fulfill your destiny.

Regardless of the genre you are interested in, God can use your gift to touch countless lives. I don’t know if you realize this or not but the Bible includes a variety of writing genres. For example, you may not be aware of this but about 60% of Scripture is written as poetry. Poetry touches the inner life like few genres can. God also used prose, history, accounting and record keeping, prophecy and storytelling to communicate to humanity. So be encouraged, regardless of the genre you are interested in God can use you!

The question remains for most of us, “How can I hone my skills, connect with literary agents, market a product and sell it successfully?” That’s where learning how to form a great team comes in. Zechariah 4:10 states, ”Do not despise the day of small beginnings.” You probably know someone who has an interest in writing like yourself. You may belong to a writers association, perhaps you’ve attended a conference or workshop or two. Great! That’s how you begin to form a team.

When forming a team pray for divine connections. If you are serious about writing God will put you in touch with just the people you need to serve on your team. One way to help you form a team is to remember that serving others is an excellent way to form a team. Volunteer to help an experienced author. Learn from them, let them mentor you, assist them with their projects and you will be surprised at how rapidly a network of possible team members will soon cross your path. This is called the Law of Association. If we want to be successful then we need to spend time with people that we want to be like. Jesus said, “I came to serve not to be served.”( Mk. 10:45) If serving was good enough for Jesus, then it should be good enough for us.

Finally, be selective who you allow to be part of your team. Look for quality not for quantity. Learn from the best people you are able to connect with. One way to do this is to build networks through conferences, workshops, and seminars. These types of places are chock-full of published authors, promoters, marketing people and literary agents. But when you network with other people I use one word of guidance: listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and let His Voice guide you to the right people. Be aware of the agendas that others may have. What are their motives, character, lifestyle and spiritual life? Do they honor God through their work? I have found a good rule of thumb for hearing from God is stopping long enough to hear the Shepherds Voice. Jesus said in John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Welcome to the concept of forming a writing team. I believe as you work in this direction and in the way God leads you, you will find good success! (Joshua 1:8).

Making a L.I.F.E.

By Kathryn C. Lang

I have been caught up in living. Between the doing for the family, doing for the church and squeezing in some doing for my own career, I have lived so fast that I have almost missed out on life. Stopping to smell the roses is not about going through this world in a slow pace. It is a reminder that as we go through this world we are to remember that life should be more important than living.

L.I.F.E

Love – first and foremost, we are designed to love. Love God and love others and everything else will fall in to place. I keep seeing the need for relationships in every part of my day and from every direction. I was not designed to be a solitary animal. Relationships are important and love must be the foundation of them all.

Invest – growing anything takes time. Growing strong relationships requires an investment of time, energy, and self. Until I get to the place where I am willing to invest, I will always be missing that something more that makes the living worth it.

Forgive – a heart fostering hurt only hurts itself. Forgiveness is not for the benefit of others, but for the blessing of my own heart. I can learn to live when I first begin to forgive.

Encourage – a happy heart is good medicine for self and for all those it encounters. Share a smile. Share some hope. Through sharing, you will find that encouragement grows best in your own life when it is released freely and without concern to others. It comes back and makes the day full of the Son.

Make the most of your life. Love, invest, forgive and encourage and see that the roses have a new scent, the laughter dances on the wind and hope springs eternal.

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Kathryn C. Lang shares words of hope and inspiration as a full-time wordsmith. Come on over to her website, www.kathrynclang.com and visit with her. She would love to hear from you.

Finding Hope in Relationships

By Kathryn Lang


The dark place captured me and threatened to drag me down into a deep pit. I clung to the edges of hope, but my grip weakened with each moment. I looked around for something, anything. I was alone.

I had followed the rules. I had marched along in stride down the well-trodden path. I had listened to the steps that they provided. And yet, the more I tried and the more I did and the more I followed, the darker it became. My hope slipped more with each passing day.

Words from another writing friend managed to re-kindle my flame. “You can.” The words were not prophetic. They offered no magic beans. They were not even that fancy – especially for a writer. They had the spark of inspiration simply because they were sent from someone that genuinely cared about me.

We had a relationship.

I thought long and hard about how those words managed to give me the light that nothing else could provide. I looked through my notes and ideas. I even reviewed something that my hubby had said to me just a few months back. I discovered that the place from where she had offered the words was the common thread to all that I had accumulated.

It is all about relationships.

I dove into connections in a way I had never attempted before. I am a naked writer (and I do not mean that I have to keep my shades shut to keep the neighbors from getting nosey). I write without much of a filter, and I hope that my raw words will be an inspiration or revelation to others. But, I never expected anyone to write back.

Now, I am attempting to engage my readers and make them companions in the journey. So, “Won’t you be my . . . companion?” Tell me how you engage your readers – on your website or even through your books or other writings. Share with me how you felt about the words I shared. Visit my website and link to my articles from your website. Connect with me.

Because all of it – writing, business, and especially life – is about relationships.

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Kathryn C. Lang lives and works as a wordsmith – sharing inspiration and encouragement through words that are written, spoken and drawn. Visit her website, www.kathrynlang.com, to learn more about her and to join her in her journey.

Press On to Victory

By Kathryn Lang

“Press on: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Calvin Coolidge

Press on because the only thing standing in the path of your success is your own mind.
Press on because there is nothing that is as bad as you make it out to be in your mind.
Press on because the mind can barely comprehend the amazing blessings that the Father bestows.
Press on because you may not know in your mind the what, but you know in your heart and spirit the Who and that makes all the difference.

I dove competitively when I was in high school. Every year I went up against the same girl. Every year she beat me. The last year I competed, I spent the night before terrified about getting beat again. I HATE to lose. I called up a friend and he told me if it was stressing me out that bad then I should just go home. My coach pushed me to dive despite my fears. She beat me again. But my fears did not. That was my first lesson in pressing on.

A college professor told me that my writing would never be worth pursuing. My grandmother told me that writing was not something you did for a living because they called them starving artists for a reason. I still wrote. And eventually the internet began to open up avenues for me to pursue my writing with boldness. I am still in this lesson of pressing on and discovering more and more that it is not the talent, but the pursuit that will get me there.

My son started gymnastics last year. He struggled for a while to master the balance beam. He worried about falling off. He worried about messing up. “Keep trying” was the encouragement I offered, until I saw him one day on a log out in the back yard. “Pretend the balance beam is a log.” It made a difference. Sometimes pressing on means seeing things differently (and with a little imagination). I hope that this is the beginning of teaching my own children the value of pressing on.

Press on. Never let the world tell you what you can do. Never let circumstances define you. Never let problems dictate the path. Press on.

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Kathryn C. Lang shares words that she hopes will encourage and inspire others. She desires to see others discover their unique purpose and to pursue that purpose with boldness. You can learn more about Kathryn at her website www.kathrynlang.com. Her books are available through her website and also most online bookstores.

Beyond Imagination

By Kathryn Lang

Today, someone posted on Facebook (on a page where my debut novel, RUN, was mentioned) that he had a copy of my book and I would soon be a literary star.

Yesterday, I spoke before a group of writers at various stages of their careers and challenged them to take the steps into the dreams.

At this moment, I still find myself struggling between doing what I know I need to do to reach my own dreams and taking a break because I want to take a break.

Fortunately, I need to write a guest post and that is the little extra push I need to get me moving back in the direction that will land me at the “literary star” mentioned earlier.

Top Tips for Getting Your Push Beyond Imagination

- Find some accountability. I find there are two ways to best hold my feet to the fire. One is to ask someone to check up on me regularly. Two is to announce a release time for something. Today I announced that my second novel would be ready for release by early fall. Laying out a deadline like that makes it tough to wiggle around.

- Find some encouragement. Having other people – that are not related to me and have not known me all  my life – that are yelling out my praises on Facebook provides enough inspiration to bring tears to my eyes. Knowing that others believe in your pursuits and your possibilities can pour fuel on an ember and light your world on fire.

- Find some time. Getting anywhere requires an investment and time will always be a component of that investment. I have to choose to release some things in my life in order to carve out a slot for my writing. And then I have to choose to utilize that time to write.

Dreams can come true. Becoming a literary star sits within my grasp . . . but I have to reach out, get moving, make that dream a reality in my life.

What do you dare to do to be more than you can think or imagine?

Autumn's Abundance

By Jeannette Doran

 While every season has its own unique beauty, this time of year

 overwhelms one with splendor. Surrounded by fall's harvest of rich

 color, the taste of pumpkin pie and fresh apples, the gentle warmth of

 wind rustling the orange and red leaves, our lives are enriched with

 the fruit of the seed.

 In beholding the beauty of the tiny seed brought to fruition, we are invited to look at its journey.

Perhaps as tulip and daffodil bulbs are fall-planted in the rich soil, soon to bear the depth of winter's cold, or, as the spring seeds are folded into the earth after the last spring frost awaiting their growth, we develop a longing for God. There is a period of darkness amidst cold dampness before the

 tiny green sprout emerges one morning. This is like our own lives.

 Living in Iowa close to corn fields, this reality is clarified.

 Since this year's floods delayed the spring planting for many farmers,

 once the furrowed fields were neatly sown in long rows, we watched and

 waited for the first sign of green. This did come about after more

 periods of threatening rain storms, hot, humid days and warm sunlight.

 While the corn this year was not as "high as the sky on the fourth of

 July," still a few weeks later we watched vast fields sway in the wind

 like waves of the ocean. Now the tall stalks have turned rusty beige,

 a drying out time before the harvest begins. Some years the farmer

 works day and night to beat the coming frost.

 Our garden has nurtured us these last two months with juicy

 tomatoes, green beans, butternut squash and a wealth of broccoli that

 came from a packet of little seeds. This year, a profusion of colorful

 flowers graced our land; it seemed every corner one turned, we

 delighted in a petite blue cornflower or a bright red rose. Such is

 the beauty of creation. We need only to open our eyes to behold God's

 gifts everyday.

 As we remember the seed's journey, we are reminded of our soul's

 path to deeper delights. We believe in the indwelling of the Blessed

 Trinity. Through God's gifts of gentle awareness of this holy presence

 we desire more. We experience long periods of darkness and emptiness.

 Gradually, we find deep in our being a tiny light and warmth that

 begins to emerge after much waiting. As the psalmist teaches, the Lord

 delights in our waiting in love. Our hunger for God grows in the

 dark, and we come to understand that, after long spaces of solitude

 with quiet prayer, we will come to delight in God's holy presence and

 will learn to carry this with us into our daily lives. As the earthly

 seed comes to fruition in the soil's depth, so our spiritual growth is

 nurtured in the night. St. John of the Cross writes to us of our

 spiritual fruition, with this attentive waiting, in this stanza of his poem, The Dark Night:

                          

"O guiding night!

O night more lovely than the dawn!

O night that has united

The Lover with His beloved,

Transforming the beloved in her Lover."