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
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Welcome! This week I’m part of a multi-author Christmas scavenger hunt and I’d love it if you’d join us in the fun. At each author’s blog, you will find a question that can be answered by checking out the free preview for their book
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I’m a Christmas-carol fan. The music takes me back to my childhood and all those candlelight Christmas Eve services we attended. From there I went on to high school choir and church choir and – okay, I admit it – I know all the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I have a time machine in my home. When I run my fingers over the smooth wooden doors, I’m transported to the turn of the century. Not this century, but 1900. It’s a primitive piece, one of three hutches that belonged to my grandmother.
In her new Christmas novella, Sara’s Surprise, part of the historical Thousand Islands series, author Susan G. Mathis looks at a modern issue that is not at all modern. It’s been around for a long time. Abused by your Boss? By Susan G. Mathis A Canadian survey
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer When I taught sixth-grade world history, I grew accustomed to adolescent boys who dreamed of becoming soldiers and warriors like the ancient kings they studied. Later, when I taught English composition at the college, several of my students were young marines who bore unseen
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer What was that hanging from my bird feeder – a bat? I looked again. Sparrows swarmed the feeder and the ground beneath it, scrabbling for seeds and corn in the snow. The dangling creature flapped its wings and tried to upright itself. A bird.