A new year. A new canvas. Pick up your brush. Paint your dreams into reality. Go ahead. Make the world look different. — Julie Saffrin
Read MoreThose Who Champion
This post originally appeared at The Novel Way, a website of which I no longer am a part. But because of comments the blog post generated, I am reposting it here with minor changes. Although visitors to my blog will mostly find posts that speak to the power of gratitude, occasionally readers get my musing on about various and sundry topics. Today’s topic is about the power of influence. BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life is a non-fiction book. It certainly has elements of fiction in it, as it is filled with stories of unique characters whose lives are triggered by an…
Read MoreThe Tale of the Tablecloth and Manger Moments
Last night, at Substance Church in St. Paul, Minn., Peter Haas, the pastor there, told a Christmas story which I had never heard. I hope it touches your heart this Christmas season, as it did mine. The writer of this story, Howard C. Schade, pastor of the First Reformed Church in Nyack, N.Y. penned this story in the December 1954 issue of Reader’s Digest. Note: I checked with Snopes.com and it says this story is likely legend. I’ll leave that for you to decide. As for me, I choose to believe what Schade wrote in the magazine’s “Drama in Real…
Read MoreMeet Bonnie McGrath: Writer of 800 Christmas Cards Each With Handwritten Note
Meet Bonnie McGrath: Writer of 800 Christmas Cards Each With Handwritten Note EDINA, MN — Think you have a big Christmas card list? You haven’t met Bonnie McGrath. Not only will Bonnie send 800 Christmas cards in December 2013, she’ll write a personal note in each one. “For me, it is just very meaningful that I put something in the note that lets the person know how I feel about him or her,” Bonnie said. “I feel it’s the only time I might have to talk to a person and I want to stay connected.” Seems a lot of us…
Read MoreA Shower for the Baby Bump Gal
December 2013 As Mary Lee Underberg, my fellow baby shower hostess said, “It’s so weird. We’re having baby showers for our babies.” Where has the time gone? How did we get to giving baby showers for our friends’ children when it seems only yesterday we gathered for play dates with them in each others’ homes? Sunday, December 14, 2013, Mary Lee, Betty Selness and I put on a baby shower for Erin (Lindvall) Carr, who’s expecting to deliver her first child mid-January. She’s expecting a boy. Here’s how our day looked. Many, many thanks to Mary Lee and Betty for their amazing culinary…
Read MoreEagles put on spectacular loop-the-loop show on Dead Lake
“…one wing tip a space marvel…” Carl Sandburg Summer 2013 at our lake home in Ottertail County brought us bald eagles. They seemed to like our wetlands and frequented the place. If you’d like to hear what they sound like, thanks to the National Geographic website, you can do so here. At the Perham fair, a handler from The Raptor Center brought a rescued eagle for all to see. This one was blind in one eye and 30 years old. Still, it is a sight to behold. On one of our trips to the north bay, we spotted an eagle…
Read MoreLavish Love
In college, I studied various communication theories. The one I found most memorable was Young Yun Kim’s Cross-Cultural Adaptation Theory, a theory that explains how immigrants learn to adapt to a new culture and country. Kim explained this theory in Understanding Communication Theory: The Communicative Forces for Human Action, by giving an example of how Korean immigrants accustomed themselves to living in the United States. To acclimate themselves to living in America, the immigrants planted one foot in their new country and kept the other in their old by: Speaking English to those who spoke English Speaking Korean to fellow Koreans Reading…
Read MorePlay Date
In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, she writes about the importance of having a monthly play date. Friend and author Joy DeKok and I did exactly that on Monday, May 13. Our first stop was the University of Minnesota’s Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minn. Although the Arboretum was just shedding its winter clothes and many of the gardens showed only an inch or so of good things to come, the magnolias were in bloom and filled the pathway with their lovely blossoms and sweet fragrance. The tulips looked like foot-high asparagus spears. But in protected, sunny spots, we did see bright spots…
Read MoreBreaking ice
Every now and then I head to Excelsior Commons to watch the water. Being near water helps me get back to me and often provides a new perspective or a creative thought. Yesterday, April 22, 2013, I sat in my car in a parking space and watched as a boat hugged the ice, breaking it up into bits and pieces. One would think a barge-like boat would be used for this, but the boat used was just an ordinary speed boat created floating chunks of ice, with the waves from the boat sending them to shore. Later, I paid Dunn Bros. coffee shop…
Read MoreFree book download! Shelley Hitz’s new book, 21 Ways to Celebrate Gratitude
Shelley Hitz and I both write about gratitude. I’m delighted to feature her today on the release of her new book, 21 Stories of Gratitude: The Power of Living Life with a Grateful Heart. Today she features her fifth way to celebrate gratitude by feeding families Thanksgiving meals. Welcome, Shelley! 21 Ways to Celebrate Gratitude Idea #5: Feed Families Thanksgiving Meals by Shelley Hitz Thanksgiving season is soon approaching and this year, I encourage you to take the opportunity to celebrate gratitude. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of this holiday season, take a moment (or two) to…
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