Chapter One

Chapter One

Hello readers! For my post this week, I am sharing the opening scenes of my award-winning novel, Bird Horse, and Muffin, a story of finding God in the midst of loss. Keep in mind that all the God moments in this novel are based on true stories. Write me if you’d like a signed copy…

                            Prologue…

Iris Rose Somerset, the story told through her eyes…

I am not old, but I’m no longer a child. Sometimes I’m brave enough to think about those days—days of suffocating fear and weeks when sadness had no end, and I lived with many questions tapping on my brain like a relentless woodpecker. Each new bend in the road of twists and turns thrust me into the unknown like a wild mustang ride…snorting, stomping, and even trampling my simple world. And when the quiet came at night, my heart seemed as cold as the bottom of the great lake.

Yet Nana’s gentle hand on my arm, or the look in Skeets’ kind eyes, well, they kept something muffin alive in me. They made me believe a greater thing could happen, something I’ve never quite been able to explain—that calm knowing inside, the surge of boldness I felt and the certainty of where it was from. I sometimes wonder at how easily I could have ignored it. I could’ve been distracted and missed it.

But I didn’t. Somehow, I didn’t.Continue reading

Many Waters Cannot Quench

Many Waters Cannot Quench

love bond is as fierce as death“Good night, good night!

Parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night

     Till it be morrow.”

So said Juliet to her Romeo, not knowing where a balcony moment of affection would lead. Committing to love opens us up to both sweet ecstasy and crushing sorrow. Shakespeare’s timeless play is at once beautiful and agonizing for that reason. We want it to end differently.Bond of love between soldiers and families is passionate

The bond of love between people is a universal mystery. It’s a vibrant, potent connection. Can you feel the chemistry between pair skaters or ice dancers when you watch the Olympics?

And of course, it’s more expansive than romantic love. Have you watched any soldiers-returning-home clips on YouTube? Millions have. Children and fathers, husbands and wives, mothers and sons…families reuniting after long separations.

Tears weave down my cheeks every time.

Parting ways for a season is hard, but completely losing our connection of love is worse.Continue reading

Last Meal Fellowship

Last Meal Fellowship

It was October 1986. Hitchhiking across the country, Sebastian Junger stood outside of Gillette Wyoming, carrying a week’s worth of food in his backpack. A man in soiled coveralls walked up the on-ramp toward him. The man’s hair looked shabby, but he didn’t seem aggressive. Still, Sebastian was young and alone and “watched him like a hawk.”

Here’s how he remembers the encounter in his book, Tribes:

The man studied him and asked where he was headed.

“California.”

He nodded. “How much food do you got?”

Sebastian was obliged to share his food, but he didn’t want to be robbed.

“Oh, I just got a little cheese.”

Fellowship starts with caringHe shook his head. “You need more than that.”

Turns out the man lived in a broken-down car. Every day he walked three miles to a coalmine to see if they needed extra hands. Some days they didn’t and that day was one of them.

“I won’t be needing this,” he said opening his lunchbox, which contained a bologna sandwich, an apple, and a bag of chips—probably provided by a church. “I saw you from town and just wanted to make sure you were okay.” The guy turned and headed back toward Gillette.

Sebastian thought about that man for the rest of his trip. In fact, he thought about him for the rest of his life.Continue reading