life. faithful.

"I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams." ~Doctor Who It's a strange thing when the two sides of your personality are diametrically opposed. Before you feel the need to call in the white coats for me, let me explain: I'm not talking about split personalities or anything like that (though when I write that may be questionable). What I'm talking about is the Dreamer-- the one always ready for an adventure, straining to fly when she's told she can't-- in constant competition with the Realist-- the logical one, the one whose feet are planted firmly on the ground, the one who wants constancy. The Realist is the one who got a BS in physics, taught science to 7th grade and up, and who now sits through classes in medical physics. She is the one who does homework, albeit the night before it is due. The Realist is the one who makes the "smart" choices, like grad school and sensible sho

*Inspired by Sarah Kay's TED Talk 1) God is "I AM"; I am not. 2) I would give my last breath for my kids. 3) A walk through a cow pasture can make you feel better 4) ...so can chocolate cake. 5) Life is unbelievably, painfully, beautiful. 6) Dreams are hard to catch, but they're worth chasing. 7) Love is always worth fighting for. 8) Family is a blessing 9) ...and family isn't limited to blood relations. 10) "Faith" and "religion" aren't synonyms. 11) Risks are worth taking. 12) Writing is linked to my soul. 13) Microscopes reveal amazing things. 14) A good cup of coffee calms frazzled nerves . 15) It feels good to laugh until it hurts. 16) Reading lets you escape. 17) Sometimes praying is hard. 18) Learning is more important than being well educated. 19) Being afraid and being courageous aren't mutually exclusive. 20) There is much I don't know. **

"That's not really my thing, but it's neat that you wrote a book!" It's always said with a smile, and I'm sure the people saying it are genuinely being nice, but every time I hear those words it stings a little. There's a tiny place in my heart that breaks just a bit more. We start out on fairy tales--cut our teeth, so to speak, on stories of magic, sword fights, and adventure. They are the stories that fuel young imaginations, that bring a hopeful twinkle to bright, eager eyes. Tales of fantasy inspire dreams and encourage dreamers. Why, then, do we have such an aversion to them when we "grow up"? I know I don't help matters any. When someone asks me about my story THE PROPHECY I stammer and stutter. I mutter out something along the lines of, "Oh, it's just a fantasy--you know, kings and sword fights and magic and that sort of thing." Then I change the subject as quickly as possible. Mostly it's because I am inc

"The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.'" Genesis 12:1 I'm somebody who always wants to be able to see the path ahead of me. In fact, my prayers for years have included the plea for God to show me His plan for my life--something in the form of a roadmap, with "time of travel" and "duration of stop" clearly marked would be nice. If I could just know where I'm headed, where I'm going to end up, it would be so much easier to make the journey. But what about when God doesn't tell me where I'm headed? What happens when He tells me to go and follows that up with, "I'll let you know when you get there"? What happens when God tells me to leave everything I know, but He doesn't tell me what I'm going to find when I get there? There's a quote by E.L. Doctorow that says, "Writing a novel is like driving a