By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Cancelled weddings Invitation-only funerals Online church services (exclusively) Closed restaurants Empty schools Social distancing/quarantine/lock-down Our routines have been upended and some people have panicked. Some have apologized for last minute changes, many are frightened, and others are just plain angry. Novelists, however, may be
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer What was she thinking? The mother who packed the lunch that fed five thousand. When she bundled her son’s meal of fish and mini loaves, did she imagine the work of her hands feeding the equivalent of a city? Was the boy out at
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I recently had a cord of wood delivered to my home. A cord is roughly a stack that is four feet high and eight feet long. The depth of the stack, or length of the logs, varies and, therefore, affects the price. Find a
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Do you read? Today is National Read Across America Day. As an author and educator, this is a national observance I can get behind wholeheartedly. Words and stories take us places and afford opportunities that may otherwise be unattainable. For example, the ability to
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer When the lights go out – and they will – who or what will be your power source? The power went out last week in my neck of the woods, but thankfully, the outside temp had warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees. I
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I have treats for you. Snacks – gotta love ’em, right? Especially if they’re shaped like little animals, have been around for 149 years, and can march across the top of the keyboard while you’re cooking up another novel. Today I’m posting on Heroes,
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer The words caught me. I hadn’t expected them, but there they were. Following my Bible-reading plan for the day, I had turned to the first chapter of Malachi in the New Living Translation. Verse 2 jumped off the page: “I have always loved you.”
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer How many of us today prepare meals? I can think of a few people who go all out when it comes to cooking and inviting, or putting on a big spread, as farm/ranch families might say. But we have busy lives, right? Times have
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer As a novelist, my life often intersects with my fictional characters—or theirs with mine. A challenge they face may be one with which I’ve wrestled. A discovery they make could mirror one of my own. This was the case with my recent novella, Just
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Have you ever felt like you’ve lost it all? Have you ever really lost it all? Following a recent surprise that completed a trilogy of painful events, a familiar scripture came to me with fresh perspective. God remains the strength of my heart; He
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer One of my favorite promises in the Bible is found in Isaiah 40:31 where new or renewed strength is assured for those who wait on the Lord. “They shall soar high on wings like eagles,” says the New Living Translation. I’ve written quite a
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last week I shared my life verse – Psalm 16:8 – and how it encourages me in the New Year as well as in every new endeavor. Recently I discovered what I consider to be a companion verse. As is often the case when
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer New beginnings. Technically, that’s a redundant phrase – like tuna fish. If something is a beginning, then it’s new. And if it’s new, then it’s the beginning of something different. However, our ears seem to like the sound of “new beginnings.” It rings with
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Shadows of the Season My baby’s hands so fine so perfectly formed hiding crease and fold within their tiny grasp as though from years of bending. What shadow do I see across his palm as he lies gently sleeping? My baby’s face so pure
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Repetitive action at keyboards has cost me a couple of wrist surgeries. Occupational hazard, some would say. Worth it, I would say. The piano came alive to me in kindergarten, a typewriter in high school. Dancing my fingers over a keyboard in emotive expression