Month: January 2012

Into the Free: Debut Novel of Love and Forgiveness from Southern Author Julie Cantrell “Gritty, compelling, and beautifully told, Into the Free will take you into a coming-of-age story filled with heartrending hardship and luminous hope. Julie Cantrell is a writer to watch!” —Lisa Wingate, bestselling, award-winning author of Dandelion Summer   COLORADO SPRINGS—Debut author and […]

Guest post by Gail Austin ( An authentic real-time example of writing through the pain.) The Protector I got married the first time at 17.  I only did it to get away from a terrible home life, which is of course a story all its own. It was only minutes after moving into my new […]

Guest post by Summer Alexander I was fifteen years old the first time he showed me who he really was. He forcefully grabbed my wrist and berated me for not returning his phone calls. This was at a time when it wasn’t commonplace for everyone over the age of 8 years old to have a […]

Guest post by Beth Jones Often when I wash dishes, my eyes wander outside the window. I normally watch the beautiful red cardinals flit about, and the squirrels store up nuts for the winter but this weekend I spotted our neighbor’s Labrador on a leash, attached to a rolling trolley between two trees. He could […]

Guest post by Kate Powers “Why are you being mean to me?” A friend of mine’s first grade son marched up to the 4th grade bully ring leader and demanded an answer. He’d been bullied for days now. “I don’t know your name,” she said. He told her his name along with a reminder there […]

Guest post by Jo-Ann Sass   The wanderings of my impatient soul have caused my foot to slip, and I’ve tumbled to the depth of the pit. No light to see, no air to breathe, I’m lost in this desolate place. My very flesh has betrayed me, and cares not of the jest and the […]

Guest post by Joyce Harrell The day starts off full of emotions, this last official day of my employment. Although I am on vacation this week, I’m packing up office equipment which belongs to the company I no longer work for. Through no fault of my own, politics wins and another company seizes the contract. […]

Guest post by Gail Austin It’s been a strange year–packed full of epiphanies lately. Occasionally we’re forced to clean out our closets. Our life closets, our spiritual closets and our emotional closets. We need to check to see what needs to be fixed, tossed, or maybe even re-gifted. My latest epiphany was how God had […]

Guest post by Joyce Harrell Many years ago when I was a young mother with small children, I somehow thought when they left the nest my job as mother would end. I thought when I raised them to be responsible adults somehow they wouldn’t need me anymore. Boy was I wrong! I am glad to […]

“The gas main is still connected!” My husband Ray, a critical care paramedic, texted me from a raging house fire this weekend while on his 24-hour shift. As he and his partner waited outside the home before going in to see if there was anyone alive,  I told him to be careful. “God, protect him […]