By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer On the first morning of my state’s official stay-at-home mandate due to coronavirus, I walked to the end of my country lane and discovered a few other official things. The sunrise pushed shadows out of the valley. Deer meandered through the yard, unhurried and unworried.
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 morning as I hurried around the house, fretting over my ever-growing to-do list, I muttered, “Did time go this fast for the Hebrews who wandered in the wilderness? How about when David was a shepherd boy, giant-killer, and king? Or when Jesus walked
“Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” Many of us struggle with gossip, frivolous chatter, and unwholesome talk – all caused by what the book of James calls “a small part of the body…that makes great boasts,” the tongue. James goes on to compare the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer As an author, I tend to fall in love with some of my characters, including the animal characters. For my inspirational-Western-romance books, this means I’m collecting horses and dogs, metaphorically speaking. However, I may be collecting a real-life hound companion for Blue the Cowdog
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. The distaste has to do with the word “resolution.” It reminds me of my days as a reporter covering government meetings where resolutions were merely formal declarations of opinions and intentions without any formal action. In other words,