Have You Done Your Homework?

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

That may seem an odd question to ask as school draws to a close for the summer. For many, this is just the start of a very busy season. Just because school is out doesn’t mean the work ends. I’m talking about for writers.

This time last week I was busy running around the hills and up and down the stairs on the campus at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in Black Mountain, North Carolina. I was there with my sister for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. This is a fabulous conference for those of you who may have any kind of interest or a calling to write. It is run by Edie Melson and DiAnn Mills, two outstanding authors and all-around fabulous women. Each of these ladies has the heart of a teacher.

BRMCWC 
BRMCWC, as the conference is called by many, is a full four days of learning the craft of writing from the very best teachers in the industry. If you go to this site https://www.blueridgeconference.com/  you will be able to read all about the faculty for this year. Delve deeper and you will find classes they taught. It is an intense week filled with not only learning opportunities, but appointments with agents, editors, and publishers, and just about anyone associated with the publishing industry. We also have a time of worship each morning and each evening followed by keynotes from member of the faculty.

Making Tough Decisions

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’ve recently had to make a pretty big decision. It was big to me, although in the scope of my entire life, it would seem inconsequential. I actually struggled for weeks with this. I declined something I thought I was being called to do. But when I look back, this decision had been there all along.

When this opportunity first presented itself, I was gung ho. But in the back of my mind I was hearing, wait, the timing isn’t right.  But I didn’t heed that voice. I just went headlong and even talked about it with enthusiasm. All the while, that Voice was imploring me to wait. (Psalm 27:14)

Family Reunion: Making Memories

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

We’ve recently had my husband’s two sisters and their husbands visiting. Sue, the younger of the two, and her husband Bill live in Athens, Greece, and we don’t see them very often. Kay and her husband Randy live in Birmingham and they’ve come several times since we’ve lived in North Carolina. It’s been five years since the three siblings were together.

One thing families always seem to do is reminisce about the olden days. We are no exception.  They talked about people and places they all remember from their childhoods. I’ve heard these stories so often after almost forty-five years of being married to the baby of the family, that I know many of the people and places, too. And it doesn’t hurt that my husband’s mother grew up in my hometown. We graduated from Andalusia High School, twenty-eight years apart.

Almost Home but Lost

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

My husband and I recently made the long trip from our little villa in the Tampa area of Florida, 650 miles up the road to our condo near Asheville. This was our fifth or sixth trip up here since the beginning of the year. I actually lost count. Suffice it to say, when you are of a certain age and you’re traveling up and down the roads on trips that far, it can wear on a body. In spite of that, we decided to make it in one day.

I haven’t driven a lot since about 2011. That year, we went from a three-car family to a one-car couple. Our youngest was off in college and he needed reliable transportation. Seeing no need for us to have two cars, we sold J’s car to said son. Along with the loss of the car meant that I drove very little. My husband became my chauffeur. As one of my dear friends so aptly put it, J (that’s my husband)  was spending his days, Driving Miss Debbie.

Now picture a woman who hasn’t driven more than a handful of times in the past seven years, having no choice but to drive the family car from Tampa to Asheville. It was an undertaking I wasn’t in the slightest looking forward to, but I did it with mostly a smile on my face.

Precious Memories Linger On

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Do you ever experience days in which memories come flooding without any warning? I had one such day this past week. Of course, I was talking to my sister at the time. I was working on last week’s blog about churches closing their doors. Our thoughts soon turned to the little town in which we grew up. Andalusia, Alabama, was a great place in which to live out our formative years. It is small-town USA, but it was filled with the best teachers, mentors, Sunday School teachers, pastors, friends, one could hope to have.

Sissy didn’t spend as much time in Andalusia as I. She entered the eleventh grade the year we moved there and soon went off to college and marriage. I was in the fourth grade at East Three-Notch Elementary School.  Mrs. Jay was my teacher. I have fond memories of her.