Braggin' on God

A very special welcome to Twila Belk, our guest blogger for today!  Twila is the founder of the Quad-Cities Christian Writers Conference, where we bloggers connected.  She is also an author, speaker and personal assistant to Cecil Murphey.  Welcome Twila!

Hi, I'm Twila Belk, otherwise known as the Gotta Tell Somebody Gal. As you get to know me, you'll discover that one of my favorite things to do is brag on God. In fact, I've coined a new phrase - Braggin' on God. I'd like to invite you to brag on God with me.

Are you aware that there are benefits to braggin' on God? Let me tell you about them –

1. Braggin' on God helps us remember. And we need lots of help remembering, because we can tend to be forgetful - especially when facing unpleasant circumstances. The more we talk about God and brag on God, the more we remember who He is and how big He is. If we can remember what God has done for us in the past, we can trust Him for today and tomorrow. We need to revisit His goodness often.
   
   
2. Braggin' on God encourages others and gives them hope. If others hear us talk about God's faithfulness and goodness and provision and care and healing and love and all the wonderful things He does, they should be encouraged. They should be filled with hope by realizing that God is a big God and that He is fully able to do the same thing in their lives.
   
   
3. The best benefit of braggin' on God is that it glorifies Him. And that's why we were created in the first place! When we brag on God, we shine the light on Him. When we brag on God, He smiles. Big time.
   

I personally believe we should have braggin' on God parties instead of Tupperware parties. What do you think? It's a great thing to do.

Would you like to join the braggin' on God party?  I invite you, as the psalmist did in Psalm 105:2, to "Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts." Let's hear your story.

Twila Belk, also known as the Gotta Tell Somebody Gal, is a popular speaker, writer, radio personality, and conference director who works full time with veteran author Cecil Murphey. She is the co-author of Because You Care with Cecil Murphey (Harvest House, January 2012) and author of Gotta Get 'em Fixed!. Her work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Spirit of Christmas (St. Martin's Press, October 2011),  Christmas Miracles, and Disciplines 2009. She hosts the Cec and Me radio show, which airs live on Tuesday nights at www.toginet.com. Twila is a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Booksellers Association, The Writers View, and Christian Humor Writers.

You can contact Twila at http://www.gottatellsomebody.com

Instant Pudding/Parenting

By Brenda Lysak

Sunday morning dawned with deep freeze temperatures. Azure and Zane, 5 and 2 year old grandkids had spent the night. They were coming to church with me. My church is a parking lot away from my front door. We got our breakfasts and pulled on our clothes and were soon ready for the short hike to church. As we stepped out the door the snow plow went by piling the snow into a meter and a half high mound all along the curb. The trail was not yet trampled down by school kids so we were going to have an adventure walking to church.


I had just joined a little neighborhood church. One sweet old lady introduced herself to Azure. She kindly explained that she knew her mom and dad and grandpa and to tell them hi for her. Her friendliness was met with cold rejection as only a child would dare.

When we came home after church my daughter made hot chocolate with miniature marshmallows for the children. I asked Azure why she hadn’t been nice to the kind lady at church. She said, “well, sometimes I’m shy.” I responded to this teachable moment with gusto.

“No Azure, you were not shy. You were snotty. When someone is talking to you need to smile and say hello and be nice.” I ended this teachable moment with the expectation that she would do better next time. I knew that my coaching had reached her heart when I overheard her teaching her marshmallows to be friendly.

I frequently babysit preschool kids and use these opportunities to build character. My heart is burdened by all the instant parenting I observe. Looking back on my childhood, I wish my parents and relatives would have loved me enough to invest in my character. My impression is that teachers and parents don’t want to be bothered with that level of involvement.

I do not know of another adult who enjoys small children like I do. I believe the difference is that kids are lovely to have around because I teach them how to behave. For example, when I decided to change Zane who is two, he protested as he often does for his parents. When I made the announcement that I was going to change his diaper and clothes for church he started a fit. I continued regardless expecting him to become compliant when he realized that his fit would not stop me. But his carrying on continued so I said sternly, “Stop it” and he did.

I have had a few such moments with his sister now five. That behavior has become extinct with me because she only receives the needed attention if she asks properly. Instead of rescuing her from her bad attitude, I coach her. For example; she gets frustrated if I don’t do everything for her. I coach her with soothing phrases like; sit down, use both hands, you are doing good, keep trying, be patient, and we have lots of time.

I learned from Kevin Lehman when my daughter was little that children know if they can push you and just how far. In his book, How to Make Kids Mind Without Losing Yours, he instructs parents to allow children to experience the consequences of their choices. The result is very little fuss when I address misbehavior.

With some common sense and wisdom children really are pure joy just as the Bible says. Interestingly kids are happiest in an environment where they must contribute in attitude as well as behavior. Building character makes parents, teachers, grandparents, and especially the child content. A child whose elders have invested in building character will be honored by the child.

Instant pudding or parenting seems easy but in reality grows more complex and discouraging each year. The world says the child will grow out of their selfish ways on their own. God says that discipline equals love and that we must do it awhile they are young.

Correct your children and they will give you comfort; they will also delight your soul. Proverbs 29:17

 

Help! I'm Stuck!

By Lisa J. Lickel

We've all been there – lost either because we didn't follow directions through poor sense of direction or miscommunicated instructions. Either works for when you get lost in the maze of your writing. You need to write material that makes the reader care to keep with you, to find out what will happen next, to absorb every word until the last one.

But…at this moment you're either staring at albino cows lost in a snowstorm, or the Gordian knot your heroine or topic managed to get in to when they wandered away from you. How do you get from Crisis to Aha!?


a. Call the cows

b. Go for a walk

c. Kill someone


Less messy is Brainstorming.


Good brainstorming starts with "What If."


Pacing, vacuuming, mowing lawn, or sweeping the garage are acceptable multi-tasking jobs that can help you while you begin this process; however, at some point you'll want to record your thoughts.


Conflicts – or problems – usually fall into two categories: plot or character for fiction; content or teach-ability for nonfiction; and consist of being unsolvable or solvable. A writer builds tension by using these conflicts; to create tension, a writer adds elements to the storyline or takes them away.

Some of these methods include adding new surprise characters which do not always have to be human – pets with a quirk (think Charlotte's Web); a natural element like weather or earthquake; a favor element – friend or stranger asks something (think fairy tales); something needs to be learned.

For taking away elements, consider what can be lost – freedom, choice, things both or either loved or hated. What if the character recovered or received the goal without working for it? Loss through death; loss through carelessness (guilt); theft, natural or unnatural means. Think loss of mentor: now the student has to figure out how to carry on.

These and other ideas are some of the things we'll expand upon at the Late Night Chat on April 8 at the Quad-Cities Christian Writer's Conference. We'll brainstorm together on your individual works in progress, whether fiction or non, adult, historical or children's. We might do some role-playing or take a field trip through the lobby; we'll definitely make charts. There will be chocolate. I hope you’ll join me.

What If Your Husband Didn't Come Home?

This year Cynthia Ruchti will once again be Assistant Director for the Quad-Cities Christian Writers Conference, held April 8-9 in Eldridge, Iowa.  For more information about the conference or to register please visit http://www.qccwc.com.  She would love to meet you there and so would we! 

Last year, Cynthia's first novel was released to great success.  What follows is my review for:
They Almost Always Come Home
Cynthia Ruchti's debut novel.

Move over Ted Dekker. “They Almost Always Come Home” is one of those books that grabs your attention on the first page and holds your heart all the way till the last. By the time the first chapter ended, I was hooked on this story of a real woman facing real problems the best way she knows how.

Libby’s husband, Greg, is late coming home from a wilderness/camping-fishing trip. But Libby is not sure if she’s mad or glad about that. The loss of their young daughter has put so much stress on Libby and the marriage that some days she isn't sure if their life together can survive or if she even cares any more.  Despite Libby's conflicting emotions, Greg's mysterious absence is all she can think about.

After taking the waiting as long as she can, Libby enlists her best friend, Jenika, and Greg's wilderness-savvy father to join her in a trip attempting to retrace her husband’s steps to find out what really happened.  Libby & her friend are as far from campers as you can get and she has never really gotten beneath the hard exterior of Greg’s father. She leaves half-expecting to find Greg has left her for another woman. Her journey and what she finds cause her to reach to the very depths of her faith in God.  At this point the story really kicked into high gear for me and became as suspenseful as any John Grissom or Stephen King I’ve read.

The book had me reading late into the night. The gripping story took twists and turns I never saw coming and kept me turning pages, on edge and nervous for the characters. As I read this story I felt I was reading behind the scenes of a real life mystery as it unfolded.

Author Cynthia Ruchti’s writing is REAL. You can feel Libby’s frustration and fear, her anger and grief; her humor and sentimental moments all ring true. Libby, Jenika (her sister in Christ and best friend in faith) and Frank (Greg’s father) seemed like friends I might run into at the corner store or Wal-Mart. The faith and commitment they exhibit is never overdone, but always just people doing what people who really care for each other do faced with a crisis.

It was one of the things that made this book so satisfying to read.

I hope if you’re a mystery or suspense fan you won’t be disappointed in “They Almost Always Come Home."  And come join Cynthia and all the other professional faculty at the QCCWC.  Maybe your book will be the "blest-seller" I review next year!

Valentine’s Day: Trivial and Not So Trivial

By Robin J. Steinweg

*15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.

*3% of pet owners give their pets valentines. (awww)

*Do you wear your heart on your sleeve? The expression started in the Middle Ages; young men and women drew names from a bowl to discover who would be their valentine. They wore these names on their sleeves for one week.

*I add a little red food coloring to the batter for pink heart-shaped pancakes on Valentine’s Day. For supper. With crispy bacon, sausages, and real Wisconsin maple syrup, candles, and my choice of music (just this once, please). And no boy-type body noises at the table.

*64% of men in the U. S. don’t make advance plans for a Valentine’s date with their sweeties. (Hurry! You still have twenty-four hours, fellas!)

*Sir Alexander Fleming introduced penicillin on February 14, 1929, the same day as Chicago’s Valentine’s Day Massacre. Same year the stock market crashed. On the upside, TinTin and Popeye made their debuts that year.

*People spend millions on Valentine’s Day for food, flowers, cards, gifts, and—chocolate!

*Some of the most expensive gifts:

• A six and a half million dollar pink diamond ring by Harry Winston. (’wonder how much a white one is?)

• A purse by Chanel for over two hundred thousand dollars. (no loose change inside)

• A Guerlain lipstick for over sixty thousand dollars. (doesn’t include poofy lips)

• Nearly three thousand for Manolo Blahnik alligator halter shoes. (I never saw an alligator in a halter, nor in shoes) (uff-da)

One of history’s great gifts of love is the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in memorial of his wife. It took nearly 22 years to build.

The costliest and greatest gift ever? Freedom from sin and the grave!

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now…

…love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:18-21, 22b NIV).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Robin J. Steinweg thinks life is sweet right in the middle of homeschooling, writing children’s books, directing, writing and arranging music, teaching music, and listening for the Music of the Master’s voice. Among other things, Robin writes devotionals for the online magazine The Christian Pulse.

INTERRUPTIONS OR OPPORTUNITIES?

By Sharon Wilhite

"Honey, can you make me a lunch?" "Mom, I don't understand this math
problem." Brrring - "Hi! This is so and so. Do you have a few minutes
to listen?" "Mom, look at what I colored." "Honey, I can't find any
socks in my drawer!" Brring - "This is the church prayer chain, could
you pray right now for so and so?" "Mom, what does 'purity' mean?"
"Honey, let me tell you about my day at work." And on and on it goes.

.Matthew 6:33-46 records the miracle of the feeding of the 5000.
Verses 30-32 give the prelude. The disciples were exhilarated but
exhausted. Jesus had trained and then finally sent the disciples out
two by two to do what He was doing - preaching, casting out demons,
and healing the sick in surrounding villages. Now, they had returned
and reported back to Jesus. They were depleted physically ("they had
no leisure so much as to eat") and spiritually.

Jesus invited them on a private retreat for 12 to "rest awhile," but
when they got there they found 5000 other folks waiting for them!!
Interruption or Opportunity? A time for Compassion or Complaining?
Jesus chose compassion and took the interruption as an opportunity to
teach a great multitude many things.

The day wore on until evening. The disciples were tired and
said,"Send them away." (Let them go and feed themselves!) Jesus said,
"Sit them down and give them something to eat" before they go home
(YOU feed them). The disciples could only come up with a little food,
but Jesus blessed that little amount and used it to feed thousands.

Result? Instead of a Retreat for 12, it became a Revival and Refreshment for over 5000!!

Refreshment for the disciples? There were exactly enough leftovers
for each disciple to have a basketful - a "doggy basket," if you
please!

Reminder for all of us? "And when He had sent them away (fed), He

(Jesus) departed into a mountain to pray." Jesus needed some quiet

time with His Father. At the end of a busy day full of interruptions,

teaching opportunities, feeding my family, etc., I need to send everyone away - ha! - or put them to bed!

Then I need to find a quiet place to spend talking to my Heavenly Father Who never minds the interruption, won't tell me to go elsewhere to be fed, fills me up tooverflowing through His Word and prayer, and will send me away refreshed to face another day!

The 12 Days of Muse

by Kathryn Lang

The holidays make me have to sing. Me and my friends, and now my family, have spent many hours crafting our own renditions of many holiday classics. As soon as my mind went in the direction of a holiday theme for this post, the 12 Days of Christmas began to ring clear.

On the first day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the second day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Would you go stoke the fire, and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the third day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “There are three messages in the email, it is time to stoke the fire, and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the fourth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “You have four articles due, there are three email messages, go stoke the fire, and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the fifth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I want to wrap some presents, even though there are four articles due, and three emails flashing, so stop to stoke the fire and remember that I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the sixth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I need a week off to enjoy the holidays . . . I want to wrap some presents, with four articles due, three emails calling, stop to stoke the fire and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the seventh day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Exactly what is a Lord a leapin, I need time off for the holidays, and I WANT TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, because there are four articles due, three emails flashing, stoke the fire before it dies, and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the eighth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Stop to clean the house, and picture a Lord a leapin, before taking more time for the holidays, and I WANT TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, while the four articles come due, three emails flash, and you need to stoke the fire and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the ninth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Just wait until the New Year to start, because you have to clean the house, research Lord a leapin, take time to enjoy the holidays, LET ME WRAP SOME PRESENTS, and the four articles are past due, the three emails have doubled, the fire is just about out, and I’m still not working without my eggnog.”

On the tenth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “You should have picked a different carol, wait until 2011 to start your novel, clean the house before company comes, discover the secrets of the Lord a leapin, LET ME WRAP SOME PRESENTS ALREADY, your editor wants those four articles, the three emails have doubled, the fire will have to be rebuilt and I’m still not working without my eggnog.”

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Quit piping about the novel and do it, if you ever finish this stupid carol, or you could just wait until 2011 to start, because the house really does need to be cleaned, and I still want to know what a Lord a leapin is, and I NEED TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, the four articles are so past due, and the editor keeps emailing, you’ll have to go out in the cold for fire wood, and I’m still waiting for my eggnog.”

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I guess we should get started, quit piping up about the novel and just write already, the carol is ALMOST over, or we could wait until the New Year, company should NOT see the house like this, the Lord a leapin mystery still needs uncovering, and I MUST WRAP SOME PRESENTS, the four articles will never get done at this rate, and that’s why the emails are flashing, the fire has completely gone cold, and you have yet to bring me that mug of eggnog.”

My muse can be very demanding, and fickle, but fortunately she has never tortured me quite this bad. The one thing you can take away from this little exercise is that inspiration can be unlocked EVERYWHERE. Even an old, often annoying, Christmas carol can ignite an article that you never saw coming.

How will you choose to let the holidays inspire your writing?

Introducing Michael Elmore

A SECOND CHANCE

Being overweight is an issue I have struggled with all of my life. Of course, I had been through the usual panacea of diets. Dieting and weight loss were like a never-ending yo-yo for me. I eventually tipped the scales at nearly 400 pounds and my life was miserable. What made me the saddest was the thought that within a handful of years I would die and not see my grandchildren grow up.

This led me to having bariatric bypass surgery for weight loss in April 2008. The surgery was successful except that eight months later I developed a vitamin B-1 deficiency. The result was that I woke up one morning with global amnesia, unable to walk or even talk. Eventually, doctors noticed that my blood serum B-1 level was mildly low and gave me an IV which I responded to almost immediately. Later, they told me that I had developed Wernike-Korsakoff's Syndrome, a rare disorder that usually occurs only in alcoholics.

After my release from the hospital the day before Christmas, I began a nine-month stint in therapy and a two years later, I have experienced a miraculous recovery. This is amazing since many Wernike-Korsakoff patients never fully recover and some have to spend the rest of their lives in care centers.

So what is the message behind my story? I have learned firsthand that God is my healer. I weigh 190 pounds now – not 400. I no longer have diabetes or any of the other health conditions I mentioned earlier, and the serious illness I had has resolved. I expect to see my grandchildren grow up and watch them have children. I have been given a second chance to live.

It's alright for men to admit that they haven't done such a good job of taking care of themselves physically and that they need a second chance too. The truth is that God has given all of us a second chance in Christ Jesus. Perhaps you have health concerns that you have not dealt with or have felt guilty about or been afraid to deal with. It is all right. I am familiar with those emotions and I am living proof that God can give you the second chance that you need.


Michael Elmore
Chaplain, pastor, author
The Occult Invasion of Healthcare
The Changing Face of Spirituality in Medicine
www.michaelelmoreonline.com

Introducing Kathryn Lang

Becoming a Famous Writer

Getting everyone to know my name in the small town where I live can be a simple task. Finding a way to become recognized all around the globe – and across the internet – can feel like an impossible task. Successful people understand that both situations follow the same pattern.

Tips for Getting Known           

1.      Take time out to know others. People are interested in me when I show interest in them. The more focused I am on my needs then the less interesting I will be to the people around me. Online, or in line at the local store, I need to help others meet their needs by listening to their words and then pointing them in the right direction.

2.      Get out and about. No one will know who I am as long as I stay hidden away in my closet. I have to reach out and connect with others. My online time should be divided between forums, social media and other blogs as well as my own writings. I should also make time to visit conferences any chance that I can get. Contacts will beget more contacts and the only way to make contacts is to get out.

3.      Offer something worthwhile. People waste enough time as it is. I need to provide a good or service that makes spending a few minutes with me worth the effort. I can provide information or products online, or I can simply provide words of inspiration and encouragement. People need to walk away from an encounter with me with more than they arrived.

4.      Bring a smile to the table. Show people that you have the ability to find some laughter even in the tough times. A good heart draws people closer and gives them the desire to know more about who you are and where you are going. Leave the whining to the four year old.

5.      Build a pattern of integrity. Do what you say you will do, when you say you will do it, to the best of your ability. Building a path of reliability allows others to spread the word that you are all that you claim to be (AND a bag of chips to boot).

Getting known only begins the process for developing a successful writing career, but it can be the best foundation for a writing platform. Take the time and put in the effort to develop relationships and you will find that those relationships help to push you towards your goals of success.

Kathryn Lang walks to the beat of her own drummer and sometimes her own band. Her unique walk was confirmed during Bible study when the preacher asked what kind of people God calls us to be. "We are called to be a peculiar people. You have that one down, don't you Kathryn?" Writing and speaking allow Kathryn to share her heart and her passion to motivate and inspire others to pursue their dreams.

http://www.kathrynlang.com/

http://successfulfreelancewriter.com/free-reports/

Introducing Jeannette Doran

Enter into the Stillness

   When  world chaos and noise leave me in turmoil I know it is time to return to my center. I find help in entering into the stillness.  November a time of dying, when the bare land enters into sleep and a quietness settles in,  I begin to long for solitude and stretches of time to enter deep with in my soul. 

     The spring and summer beauty having given way to autumn splendor has begun to diminish. The days have grow shorter and the cool wind blows . Leaves have scattered leaving their multitude  blanket of color, reds, browns, orange and yellow. I find a new loveliness in twisted bare branches. After the rains and the dying of nature we will awake one morning to a soft covering of snow over the rich Iowa farmland. It's a time when all of earth seems to enter into a long slumber. Newly buried seeds or old ones need a resting time; it's the cycle of life. So, too I think we all need a time of leisure, of entering into the stillness to listen in silence to the voice of God. All things of beauty are created in silence someone once expressed. This symbolizes a need to take time in solitude to be Alone with God Alone.

    Reflecting on the reality that the creator of our universe dwells within our very being helps me to realize how unconditional is God's love for each of us. After time I begin to see my God working within my very being accomplishing what I have been unable to do for such a long time. This stirs up a grateful heart for all of God's gifts. My trust and faith seem to expand and I enter into the stillness in silent praise for my Creator's bondless love.

About Jeannette

After graduation I had the joy of living life in the Chiapas jungle, the land which helped to form Karena Shields into the enriching person we knew at U.S.D..This plantation was her inheritance where she arrived strapped on the back of a Mayan Indian. She grew up in this land of Maya, loving the people and their heritage. Most summers students would accompany her as a learning experience... Since I hoped to enter Carmel I felt this time in the jungle would be a space of solitude in the vast beauty of the jungle. Where I would also learn to adapt to another way of life I would need in Carmel. While I pursued my goal of seeking Carmel, I taught school. In June of 1965, I entered Carmel in Boston and went the following year on the foundation to South Dartmouth, MA. A coastland, where the waves splashed against the rugged rocky shore, was a place of splendor conducive for a contemplative life of prayer. Several reasons brought us to the difficult decision to close the Monastery in 1987. My journey brought me to Montreal for a four year study sabbatical. In 1992 I came to Iowa .and in 1994 I lived with a community of Carmelite Hermits in Minnesota for five years and returned to Iowa. Recently to our surprise when Oda Scheer visited her sister in our community we realized we roomed in the same dorm and graduated together. What a wonderful gift!

Welcome to The Great Blog Adventure.

Whenever I don’t know how to start writing something, I go to the dictionary.  It’s chockfull of words many of which I’ve never even used.  When I sat down to write my first post for The Great Blog Adventure, what did I do?  That’s right, I went to the dictionary, at least the on-line version.  You don’t need to remember how to alphabetize (or even spell) to use the online dictionaries.  Even the dictionary writers don’t know how to spell.

The first word I looked up was:

Blog – noun. “a website that allows users to reflect, share opinions, and discuss various topics in the form of an online journal while readers may comment on posts.”¹ (Oh, please let there be readers who WILL make comments)

Sounds like the perfect definition for what this group of bloggers is attempting on these digital pages.  Our topics will be many and varied.  Some of us write inspiring devotions, some great book reviews, some share their opinions on life, faith, current events and just about anything else that strikes our fancy.  And some of us just can not resist going for laughs. 

Next I decided to take a look at the definition of great.

Great - “of major significance or importance; "a great work of art"; "Einstein was one of the outstanding figures of the 20th centurey"²

I love the definition and think it’s a great goal, too.  It certainly gives us something to aspire to (and some of us will leave no participle un-dangled in the effort to sound natural).  An opportunity to create a work of art doesn’t knock every day.

*Rabbit Trail Alert (RTA)--Those of you who are good spellers will have noticed that this definition of great is where I discovered that dictionary writers can’t spell.  “…century”?  And they also use pointless examples—where’s the word “great” in the sentence about Einstein? Maybe I’m not the only one who needs a  proofreader.

Finally I looked up adventure where I found out

“An adventure is an activity that is perceived to involve risky, dangerous or exciting experiences.”

“to take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome” ¹

“a wild and exciting undertaking (not necessarily lawful)²

While I doubt The Great Blog Adventure will be posting anything unlawful in the near future, I am thrilled to be undertaking this wild and exciting “risk in the hope of a favorable outcome” with you. (If sharing who you are and what you believe through your words in a public forum isn’t risky then I don’t know what is.)

I invite you to join me as we read, write, share and learn together on this great blog adventure.

It is my prayer that as we reveal our lives, our thoughts, our creativity and our faith through our words, that God may bless our readers, stretch our talents and continue to grow us into the writers He intends us to become.

So I’m thinking maybe we got the name right.

Let The Great Blog Adventure begin.

Gail P. Smith

¹.From .wiktionary.org/wiki/

² wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn