What if God doesn’t do things my way?

“Trusting God with her eternal soul had been easy for Livvy. She had been raised to take Him at His word, and she believed what He said about salvation. It all made sense to her—God’s gift of love and salvation in Jesus. But trusting Him with her

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Radio interview and giveaway

“Blot out my transgressions” is printed in blue ink on the back cover of my new book, Branding the Wrangler’s Heart. That phrase is from Psalm 51:1,2 and it undergirds one important question in the book: Will Livvy forgive Whit for how he treated her in the

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What’s your perspective?

Every Easter brings to mind the years my family participated in a passion play at our church. Those re-enactments of key events in the life of Christ left an indelible mark on my heart. I played the part of a woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her

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Annual Refresher Course

Our local ranch and farm supply store is singing a song of life. As soon as you step through the sliding glass doors, the music tickles your ear and draws you to a warm spot where peeping chicks are bobbling around in their fuzzy jackets. And keeping

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Springtime, Rabbits, and Teapots

From the tracks in the snow this winter, I figured we had a good-sized jackrabbit. Either that or a kangaroo. But it wasn’t until the last 8-inch “dusting” we received that I actually saw the critter. Looking out the kitchen window, I spotted a new stump in

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Saving time and marshmallows

Tonight at midnight we lose an hour as we set our clocks forward to 1 a.m. Personally, I won’t be awake to spring ahead, and will have already given up those precious sixty minutes. Airline travelers lose more than an hour when traveling across the international dateline.

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Warmth, comfort, and potbelly biscuits

My dad had an old cast iron stove in his “office” – a building out back of our house that women today would call a man cave. The stove sat right in the middle of the room surrounded by desks, chairs, book shelves, and a drafting table.

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From the present to the past
ALT TEXT "Book The Cowboy Takes a Wife"

There is a curve in US Highway 50 west of Cañon City, Colorado, that the locals call Soda Point. For perhaps a couple of centuries a natural soda spring bubbled up there and Utes and explorers alike took the waters. In the late 1940s someone or many

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Win a signed book

The Cowboy Takes a Wife releases on Kindle today and in paperback on Feb. 4. Read on to see how you can win a signed copy. *** Before Colorado statehood was attached to this stretch of prairie and Rocky Mountains, it was known as Kansas Territory (or

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When “no” becomes “yes”

Every January I switch out my desktop calendar, looking back through the previous year to transfer birth dates and other important information. This year, instead of a simple transfer of dates, the endeavor became a time of praise and awe and thanksgiving. For example, last January I

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Faith and Fresh Hope on the Medicine Train

“I am preparing you for what is on the road ahead, just around the bend” (Jesus Calling, December 27). The words of Sarah Young’s best-selling devotional sprang to life as the train wrapped around the curve ahead. From our seats in the dining car, my husband and

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Everything else is just tinsel

Christmas is when the child we were should touch the child we raise so he can see the Wonder of Love. Everything else is just tinsel. Memories decorate more Christmases than all the world’s tree ornaments, paper and trimmings combined. For some people, those memories aren’t so

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The Contrast of Christmas

I just finished decorating for Christmas. Seems I put up less each year, but some things are a must: The old plaster nativity set I had as a child, complete with one wise man’s chipped off nose and Joseph’s empty hand that held a long-lost staff. The

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Sun-scorched land, anyone?

Sun-scorched land. Not my favorite place to be, but sometimes I find myself scrabbling through loose rock and sand—just like a character in the final novel of my three-book historical series. As a seat-of-the-pants writer, I don’t plot and plan the story up front, I simply sit

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Unimproved Road

Unimproved road, the sign said. Looked all right to me. My husband and I continued along the unpaved lane through grazing land and open cow country, admiring an old ranch house and barn surrounded by towering cottonwood trees. The beautiful setting inspired peaceful thoughts as we drove

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