Soul Care- Spending Creative Time with Our Creator

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve participated in an online group, not a Bible study group, per se, but one that is doing a study called Soul Care. It’s based on the book by the same name written by Edie Melson, co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Mountainside Marketing Conference, and a soon to be Soul Care conference. 

This isn’t your ordinary Bible study. This is Edie’s way of taking us out of our busy days to not only spend time with God in prayer and rest, but using our creative selves to worship Him through “creative expression”. The back of the book blurb reads in part, “She has learned that sensory involvement deepens our relationship with the Father and gives rest to our weary souls. She will teach you to tap into your creativity.”

I’m so glad that I joined the online group. I missed last week due to being at a writing conference, so this week, I’ve been playing catch-up. The activities Edie has created that go along with the prayers and devotionals in Soul Care are not only fun, but are thought-provoking. I have found myself diving deep into the Word and spending time with my Father in a way I’ve never experienced. It’s life-altering and we’re only into week three.

Thankful for Another Birthday

Today is my birthday. I can tell you that they seem to come around far more often these days. But I’m not complaining. I think of many classmates who are no longer with us. I think of well-loved cousins who have gone to be with Jesus. I think of the children of friends and family who left us far too soon. I think of my parents. And I’m thankful for this birthday.

When I was three, my mama had a party for me at our home with cousins and friends and, of course, my big sister there to help me celebrate. Mama made Sissy and me matching taffeta evening gowns for the occasion. They were red and so pretty. I can still smell the fabric and hear the crinkle sound it made with each movement. I loved that dress.

Calling in the Big Guns

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’ve been at this writing business for quite a few years now. Decades, really if you go way back to when I wrote my first novel in seventh grade. It was awful, as you would expect. But I wrote faithfully, every single night. I took my work to my friend who eagerly awaited the day’s additions. All these years later, I have no clue what happened to that first book. Knowing my mother, it quietly made its way into the trash once I was otherwise occupied with normal teen things—Sunday afternoon movies, hanging out with friends, church youth group,  and always, music.

Surprises Never End When Doing Genealogy

By Debra DuPree Williiams @DDuPreeWilliams

By now, most of you know that I write cozy mysteries. If you aren’t familiar with cozies, they are a sub-genre of the mystery family. In a cozy, there is an amateur sleuth and there is no graphic showing of the murder. The murder takes place off-stage and there are no yukky things, in other words, no graphic murder is described, as it is happening, or after the fact.

The cozy I’ve written takes a page from my own search for my great-grandmother’s (our Daddy’s grandmother) grave. My sister and I have looked for her final resting place for over twenty years . . . to no avail. She isn’t buried by her first husband, my great-grandfather, nor is she buried next to her second husband. Indeed, no one in my family even spoke of a second husband. Ever.

Peace in the Storms of Life

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I hope you will be blessed by these words and the accompanying photograph. With the hurricane hitting my state and those around us this week, I thought we could all use the reminder that Christ is the Peace within the storm. Even when the flood waters rise around us, He is still there, holding us in the palm of His hand. May we find His deep peace in the coming days as we work to get our lives back to normal.

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A Storm is Coming-Are You Prepared?

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

With the arrival of hurricane Florence fast approaching, we see people hurrying here and there for needed supplies. Grocery store shelves are already empty in many areas. Water is in short supply in the coastal regions of both North and South Carolina. I hear that even some interior areas are running short. And forget about finding a loaf of bread.

Getting Out of Harm's Way 
Freeways have been made one-way in both North and South Carolina as people flee the areas most likely to be hit the hardest by this massive storm. Indeed, one friend who lives in my area posted on Facebook last night that she was stuck in very slow traffic. But she went on to say how fortunate she is that she isn’t among those fleeing. Where we live, we should be safe.

It's Apple Season--Have You Picked the Best One?

by Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

This past weekend brought with it not only Labor Day weekend, but the seventy-second annual apple festival here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This is a lovely time of year. The local orchards are packed with people eager to pick their own apples. I can see why. The trees are literally bowing down beneath the weight of the crop this year.

The varieties are many and there is something for everyone’s taste. There are the familiar red or golden delicious, Gala, which is an early variety. There are apples from Jonagold to Mutsu. That was one with which I had absolutely no familiarity. But it is very good.At any of the orchards, they have samples so you may taste prior to heading into the orchards, basket in hand.