Be a Friend --Find Community

For the past two weeks, I’ve written about Soulful Ink, a Facebook group, open to anyone who feels they need rest from all that comes at us in this old world. I love that group.

I’m not going to talk about that group per se, today, but I want to encourage you to find a group like this in your community. You don’t have to be particularly talented. You don’t even have to do the artsy, creative things. Just be there for one another. Pray for one another. Support one another in the day to day things of life. (1Thessalonians 5:11)

I think most of us would agree that we have decent, if not blessed, day to day lives. But everyone has had or will have those days when we just want to walk away from everything, throw up our hands and shout, Uncle. Those are the days on which we really need to support one another.

Most, if not all, of us know the twenty-third Psalm. This just reminded me of the line Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Turning Worry Junkies into Journal Junkies

I’m touched that so many of you stopped by to read my blog about Edie Melson’s Soul Care. I hope that you went over to our Facebook group, Soulful Ink, and joined in on the fun and worship. If you haven’t done that yet, it still isn’t too late. Edie’s videos are available right on the site, along with all of the fabulous print-outs she’s made available to us.

Last night, Edie talked about worry. I don’t know about y’all, but I am an award-winning worrier. Yes, I know, it isn’t exactly what I should be doing, but, hey, I’m human just like you. Plus—I’m a bit of a control freak.

I cannot believe that I just admitted that . . . but it’s true. I know what I would do in most situations (until it comes to my own life), but our four sons seem to have minds of their own, and they don’t always listen, or even want to listen, to Mama any more. Insert heavy sigh here.

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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