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Forgive a Murderer
[Guest Post by Laurie Coombs – I met my new sweet friend through our mutual friend Sarah Francis Martin. Her story on forgiveness rocked my world. Could I forgive a murderer and not only that but–without ruining her story–please keep reading!] What do you do when your world comes crashing down upon you? What do you do when tragedy strikes? When relationships fail? When trust has been broken? When your cheated on, lied to, abandoned, and just downright sinned against? I can tell you this much. Everything inside you will want to hold onto the anger you feel. You’ll be drawn toward bitterness. Yet, even though you may be just…
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Forgiveness: The F Word
[Guest Post by Nicole Reyes – I can’t wait for you to hear her later this month as one of the speakers for Quarter Life Conference. She is an advocate for the local church, and I can’t wait for you to hear why. In the mean time, read her powerful story about forgiveness.] Forgiveness, also known as the F word, can be a hard pill to swallow. Archbishop Desmond Tutu knows what he’s talking about. He said, “Without forgiveness, there’s no future.” Many of you are thinking… “Well, you don’t know the pain I’ve been through.” I don’t know your past pain, but I do know what’s even worse than…
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If I Told You How I Felt
If I told you how I felt–you might not forgive me. This month’s new theme is on forgiving others. And recently, I’ve felt lousy. I even posted this on Facebook last week: “If you’re afraid to say how you really feel for fear of losing the friendship, maybe (gulp) they were never a true friend to begin with!” I felt I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Thankfully, when I woke up early one morning I came across this life changing post from Donald Miller. He admitted to being too careful. He wrote, “The sad thing is when we’re careful, we are actually being affected by fear. People are careful when…
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God First Family Second
[Guest Post by Beth Berry – I am overjoyed to introduce my second mother-daughter blog duo on devotionaldiva.com. Rachel Berry, Beth’s daughter and I previously met at the San Diego Christian Writer’s Guild. She shared her blog here about losing the Miss Oregon crown. Now, I bring you her mom. Please welcome Beth with open arms.] I left my office at 10:00 p.m. one cool September night, looking forward to crawling into my warm bed and snuggling up next to my husband of twenty four years. Like every evening, I looked forward to sharing my day with him and hearing about his. But that night was different than any other–instead…
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Couples Therapy
[Guest Post by Angela McNeil – I have had the privilege of getting together with her a few times. She’s taken our family portraits, headshots of mine, and of course her daily dose of sarcasm on her Facebook status’. What I appreciate most about my friend Angela, is she’s never afraid to be honest about her past. If you have ever been in an abusive relationship, I hope you will be encouraged by her story.] You mean not all relationships are like this? When I was in High School 1993-1994 my father worked for a software company that was on the Online community craze, like AOL chat rooms and IMing.…
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Just Thank God and Move On
[Guest Post by Brett Wilson – I met her through our mutual friend Sarah Martin. She is a fun, single lady who writes fairy tales of faith, single-hood, and coffee. If you have recently gone through a breakup, I hope her story will encourage you to thank God and move on.] “Hey, baby! Wanna be our guest?” I snapped my head to see where the voices were calling from. I was at a stoplight on a citrus-sunny road somewhere between Virginia Beach and North Carolina. There, simultaneously stopped on my left was a group of baseball-capped men in a dirty white pickup truck. “Really, Lord?” I thought as I tried…
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How to Write an eBook
I’ve received more than a few requests over the past weeks on how to write an eBook. The printing and publishing business is changing–and fast! Yesterday as I was watching the movie The Help, I was reminded just how far our culture has come with putting words on a page. Not only are we allowed to write about all things including race or sex, but we have religious freedoms as well. As a Christian and as a writer I believe we have a responsibility to seek and speak the truth. Clearly one is much harder than the other. My favorite verse (pertaining to writing) in the Bible is from 1…
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My Heart is Torn
As I sit here writing this, I am literally tearing my hair out. Every time I write a book my life seems to go through a major transition. First there was Faithbook of Jesus. When I was writing my first book I realized how much my heart couldn’t handle serving two masters. I made the extremely difficult decision to quit my dream job to move back with my parents and write full time. Then there was Not Another Dating Book. It came as such a surprise. My second book had just been canceled the day I finished writing it. I wasn’t confident in my writing abilities or the direction of…
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Having Healthy Relationships with Men
[Guest Post by Lindsay Morgan – My friend Sarah Martin introduced me to Lindsay. She is a very sweet girl who shares her fear of men, and how the Lord helped her overcome it! If any of you have ever been afraid of marriage–you should definitely read this one!] Having healthy relationships with men is the last thing I am qualified to write on. But. That is when the Holy Spirit can say what He really wants. If you knew my history of dating and relationships, you would realize like I did –that our Heavenly Father really does have a sense of humor. I am 36 and single, and I’ve…
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Staying Together Damaged Me
[Guest Post by Anonymous – Today’s guest wishes to remain anonymous to protect the identity of her family. If you know of anyone who is suffering in silence in a marriage that is both damaging and abusive, please encourage them that they are not alone–and it’s okay to get help!] Living together damaged me. I can hear the traditionalists cheering and saying “Finally!” Hold those cheers ones of traditional leanings…you may not like what I have coming. I have a history of doing the “right” thing. In high school I didn’t drink because I played sports, and the legal age for drinking was 21, not 15, 16, or 17. I…
