God’s Address: the end of your rope
ALT="end of a rope with no knot"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer We’ve all heard the familiar saying, “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and perhaps others are credited with that pithy line on perseverance, but I’ll bet the barn

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Calm in the Midst of the Pyrotechnics
ALT="fireworks"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer The Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup was laid out and maintained like a theme park. Disneyland and Six Flags, move over. Everything was bright, pristine, and welcoming as we pulled our rig in next to the arena and set up camp for the

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Speak to the Earth and It Will Teach You
ALT="sunflowers"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer At first, you might not notice much difference between these two unretouched photographs other than one has no direct sunlight and one does. I took these two images about an hour apart – before sunrise and after. No filters. No corrections. Just raw pictures

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Sometimes Life’s a “Mud-eo”
ALT="muddy rodeo arena"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer In the sport of rodeo, the game is never called on account of rain. Well, almost never. The only place I saw a performance canceled due to weather was Drummond, Montana, where standing water mirrored the bucking chutes (above). But there was no cancellation

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Life, Liberty, and a Little Help from Our Friends
ALT="bullfighter, bull, bull rider"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer For my family, equating the Fourth of July with rodeo is a long-standing habit. Yes, we’ve barbecued and sometimes watched fireworks, but when our kids were growing up, we never celebrated at the house. We didn’t have a house. We had a 16-wheel rig

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Time Is a Runaway Horse

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer The bad news is, six months from today is Christmas Eve. The good news is, six months from today is Christmas Eve. I guess it all depends on how you look at it. Remember when you were a kid and Christmas couldn’t come quickly

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Going Off-Grid (Guiltlessly)
ALT="mountain scene"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last week I left it all behind. Well, sort of. I took my laptop because I was, after all, planning to write. Which meant I also needed my smart phone and Nikon camera. Now that I think about it, I lived more off-grid when

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Forever #lovingthecowboy
ALT="anniversary card picture of cowboy and sweetheart"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer “I do” was a high-priced promise. On this, the anniversary of my wedding, I see how those two little words spoken so long ago were life-changers. That’s one of the things I love about words—and writing them. They can open our hearts to a

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Memorial Day Historical Giveaway
ALT="book cover, Far Side of the Sea"

I felt it quite fitting that today’s post for Memorial Day be presented from wartime novelist Kate Breslin. Kate’s answers to my questions are well thought-out and insightful. Comment below for entry into a giveaway for a paperback copy (ships US) of her latest release, Far Side

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All I Want
ALT ="camp fire"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Have you ever wanted something so simple that it crosses all barriers of time and culture? I have. Fire.             The warmth of a wood stove on a cold spring morning.             The campfire of a cowboy who rolls out

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May All That You Read Be Uplifting
ALT="an open book"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer “May all that you read be uplifting.” Have you seen that line? I use it at the bottom of my email and quarterly newsletters, and I include it at the end of most of my novels. However, it’s more than a poetic parting. Life

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Is It Personal?
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By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer “Automation is on the horizon,” said the checker at my favorite grocery store as he rang up my weekly purchases. “Everything will be done electronically via camera and scanners.” I was stunned. No more friendly conversations, smiles, and small talk during my marketing experience?

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Jesus Paid What We Owed
ALT="A crown of thorns"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer This is an interesting week. Today is the deadline for government taxes due in the United States, and this Friday is the day Christians commemorate Jesus’ death on the cross.   These events seem as far apart on the spectrum as possible, yet in

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Try Again
ALT="yellow daffodil"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I ask why a lot. Do you? Why did mother die? Why did that guy cut me off in traffic? Why did I lose my job?   Why has life not gone as I planned? Maybe I’m asking the wrong why. Maybe I should

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The Fool Says…There Is No God.
ALT="Sunrise Psalm 51:3"

By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Today is April Fool’s day, observed in many Western nations as an opportune time to play jokes on the gullible and unsuspecting. I’ve played tricks on employers, family members, and students and have had plenty of tricks played on me. It’s a fun day

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