When was the last time you felt that giddy-in-the-throat joy or saw something so breathtaking, you were brought to tears? As I get older (and prayerfully, wiser) it occurs more often for me, and it doesn’t take much. I can stand at my back window and watch the antics of the vibrant red cardinals flitting around the bird feeder, and …
Cross-Wired
If you readjust the pillows on your bed so they’re just right (more than once), you may be in the same psychotic boat as me—a Type-A personality. Okay, I’m not really a Type-A, but I definitely lean precariously in that direction. Just the other morning, I actually rolled my eyes and took charge as my oh-so-patient husband put my flower …
Meet Katie Shands
From the moment I read the first line in Katie Shands contemporary fiction, Finding Franklin, I was hooked on the lyrical prose and the tone, which steeped me with the quaint and quirky flavor of the South. I hope you’ll be as taken with her writing as I am. So, Katie, tell us what led you to be the writer …
Walking in Purpose
For some reason, the video is no longer available. To see it, copy the link: https://youtu.be/1FV0DArKcLM I’m just going admit something right up front—I got the videos mixed up (gasp!) So, if you read last week’s post, and watched the video, you were actually watching the last video rather than the fourth. Hopefully, I didn’t confuse things too much. In …
The Road to Recovery
How often have you survived an extremely difficult season only to realize later on (sometimes much later) that it was really a blessing in disguise? Nikki’s accident, and subsequent recovery, was one of those for me—and for Nikki, as well. For me, it was an opportunity to reconnect with my daughter in a very real way. For months before her …
Extraordinary
Last week, I blogged about the mishaps with my daughter Nikki as she fought the confinements of a hospital bed and being tied down (for her own good). Given her new nickname (Little Houdini) it was with trepidation that we admitted her to an inpatient recovery program in mid-town Sacramento. How would the staff guarantee her safety where she’d have …
Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
In the midst of Nikki’s car accident, subsequent coma and traumatic brain injury, the emotions were like that of a roller coaster—up and down; up and down. Once the initial fear of death was over, there was still the worry about how well she would recover. Her age played a significant role in her prognosis. Had she been even six …
Tragedy to Triumph
Traumatic Brain Injury is a personal issue for me. Within 18 months, both my son and daughter were in accidents which required them to be medic-flighted to the hospital with TBI. In 2002, Christopher took a dramatic dive off his skateboard while traveling down a very steep street—he was showing off for the Japanese exchange students hanging around the church …
Review of When Your Voice Became Mine
About the Book Book: When Your Voice Became Mine Author: Celeste N. Bowers Genre: Non-Fiction Release Date: November 2019 For all those who have lost hope and purpose, and for all those who hurt deep inside from loss, author Celeste Bowers wishes she could spare you from pain, just as she hoped she could shield her own ten-year-old daughter, Christina, …
It’s About Perspective
How many movie-goers do we have out there? My husband and I rarely go—the film has to be one we really want to see in order to shell out nearly $10 a ticket. The first movie I took my daughter Nikki to was The Little Mermaid. The year was 1989 and she’d just turned four. That was the year a …
