Cheryl Grey Bostrom's Blog, page 9
August 6, 2022
Book Birthday!
This week SUGAR BIRDS turned a year old—and what a year it’s been!
Hop on over to Amazon and see what she’s been up to HERE!
YOU helped take her there. 
I’m grateful beyond words. Thank you all for welcoming her so, so warmly and helping her find her place in the world.
And now, a few of the week’s pics:
Ambush.
Right there on the lowest branch of one of our apple trees, chest high to our pups, within feet of our walking trail: these.
Bald-faced hornets.
No harm, no foul.
Whew.
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Water Pup Daisy, already resourceful at five months old.
When the temps passed 90, here’s where we could usually find her. 
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When your wake wiggles.
.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
—Proverbs 3:6
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And a couple of 2019 TBs (Throwbacks):
Introvert.
“Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.”
—John 16:32b
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“Say! I like green eggs . . .”
—Dr. Seuss.
“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”
—Jeremiah 33:3
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
July 30, 2022
Cervix
“For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” —Romans 8:22.
All creation, I remind myself.
Everywhere, birth pangs,
even now in
these lilty summer days
so wondrous
my breath hitches with awe.
“Push,” I say
as the future dilates,
soon to deliver a
new earth,
groanless.
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Reconsidering.
“Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”
—Colossians 3:2
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Julying.
“Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders.”
—Job 37:14
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Scrolls.
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”
—1 Cor 13:9-10
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Cervix.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
—2 Corinthians 5:17
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And a few 2019 throwbacks for you:
Electrification.
“For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.”
—2 Corinthians 4:6 NLT
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Because tempests end.
Driving home after the rain a week ago, this.
“He stilled the storm to a whisper . . .”
—Psalm 107:29
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Afterward. Still standing.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
—Ephesians 6:13
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When the glass ceiling breaks.
“For nothing is impossible with God.”
—Luke 1:37 NLT
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Calendar.
Fireweed blossoms blaze up their summer stem all the way to September’s “smoke.” This shot reads late July.
“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”
—Genesis 8:22
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
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Sugar Birds—coming up on her first birthday! Get your copy HERE.
July 23, 2022
Better than Oz
Bare feet. Old clothes. Bicycles. Ferries. Chalk. Trees. Hideouts and hikes. Farm chores. Garden pickings. Baking. A tusked old pig. Baby lambs. Lots and lots of goats. Garlic braids. Dogs, young and old. Berries, shells and beach stones. Driftwood. The C (Candy!) Shop.
Sunshine days (better than any yellow brick road) with family from far away, dropped from the sky.
Mountains and water and love, oh my!
There’s no place like home.
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you. . .” —Genesis 26:3
“We love because he first loved us.” —1 John 4:19
“I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.” —Joel 2:25
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Now. . . If you’re looking for more PNW summer, Sandra Byrd’s new novel Heirlooms will take you to Whidbey Island (also in Washington State)—and another country farm. In its pages you’ll enter a story of intergenerational and cross-cultural friendships as lovely as any I’ve read.
Here’s the gist: Two Navy widows—one of Korean lineage—find solace in each other after their husbands’ deaths. Estranged from their mothers, the two become family-of-heart. Those women have passed when their granddaughters follow attic clues to sleuth the details of their shared histories—and honor the legacies of their remarkable grandmothers.
I hope you enjoy it. This story is so rich and warm-hearted, you’ll be weeping by its conclusion.
I was.
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
July 2, 2022
Ferries and Fairies
This week family arrives for a good long stay,
so I’m readying guest rooms.
We’ll hunt leafy fairies in Black Dog Hideout,
ride ferries in the San Juans,
and more.
With four we love more than breath,
we’ll cram summer into a sweet package of time
until they fly away again.
I won’t be posting until they do,
but I’ll bring you the pics on July 23.
Until then, here’s a June mishmash for you.
Enjoy!
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When you fledge in the city . . .
you sit on dumpster frames.
and cars. 
(I arrived early for an appointment in Northgate, so went for a walk in a commercial area. Around a corner, this baby—a rock toss from her nest, and oblivious to passersby.)
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I bent for a an early morning sniff, nose distance from my favorite floribunda.
“Hold infinity in the palm of your hand…”
—William Blake
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Slime-fest.
“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”
—Proverbs 13:20
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TBS
Then the giraffe stopped by.
“Not all those who wander are lost . . .”
—J. R. R. Tolkien
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So glad YOU stopped by, too, friends.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
P.S. Your next summer read? Buy it HERE.
June 25, 2022
Over My Shoulder
Any time of year you’ll find me plodding along stream beds or the periphery of swamps,
hiking to vantage points for sunrise panoramas or birds.
With friends, I hunt light on forest floors—
where the visual timbre is tuned by forks of leaves and limbs.
Always I go with some sort of camera in hand.
Often it’s just an iPhone or, with punny love, an EYE-phone,
Also often, I hike with my little “I think I can, I think I can” Nikon,
which has just enough settings to make my snooty lenses happy.
And I’ve learned that no matter how mesmerizing the scene before me,
the one over my shoulder may be even richer.
Here’s what I mean:
Around a corner, a surprise:
This mare and her foal —newly sun-dried, umbilical cord dangling.
Click. Click. (iPhone at fuzzy dusk, through fences, but still . . . )
Then I turned. Over my shoulder, this:
Try it, friends.
Click the baby, then turn, and catch the faces of those watching her.
Click a sunset, then turn for alpenglow.
Click the Nows and the Maybes.
Then turn.
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Just passing through. . .
“For this world is not our permanent home…”
—Hebrews 13:14 NLT
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Thanks for seeing life with me. So glad you’re here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
P.S. For more, drop me a note at Cheryl@CherylBostrom.com and I’ll send you letters now and then about progress on my latest book, personal life, and writerly musings not found online. Old-school correspondence, between you and me. Would love to hear from you.
And if you’re looking for a summer read, maybe this?
In audio, paper, and ebook everywhere, including this link HERE:
WINNER: 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS – 2 Fiction Categories: Cross-Genre, Inspirational
GOLD WINNER: 2022 IPPY AWARDS – Best First Book – Fiction
SILVER WINNER: 2022 NAUTILUS AWARDS – Fiction/Large Publishers
WINNER: CHRISTIANITY TODAY’s 2022 BOOK AWARDS – Merit in Fiction
WINNER: 2021 AMERICAN FICTION AWARDS – 3 Categories: Literary Fiction, General Fiction, Cross Genre Fiction
SILVER WINNER: 2021 READER’S FAVORITE AWARD – Inspirational Fiction
WINNER: 2021 BEST BOOK AWARD – Inspirational Fiction
SILVER WINNER: 2021 FOREWORD INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS – Religious Fiction
Finalist: 2022 NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS – General Fiction/Novel
Finalist: 2021 BEST BOOK AWARDS- Cross Genre Fiction
Finalist: 2022 INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS – 2 Categories: General Fiction, Literary Fiction
Finalist: 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards – General Fiction/Novel
Finalist: 2021 AMERICAN FICTION AWARDS – Religious Fiction
Finalist: 2021 FOREWORD INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDS – 2 categories: General Adult Fiction,
Finalist: 2022 Carol Awards -Debut Fiction
June 18, 2022
Worth a Thousand Words
Hi Friends,
We’re home now, after two weeks of camping in eastern Washington and Oregon. I feigned illiteracy, and let my camera interpret adventures between—and during—the near daily showers.
I didn’t write for days. And so, like the ones we passed, my reservoir filled to spilling.
I hope these highlights add to yours, too.
Lake Wallowa, Oregon. We biked from our campsite at the lake’s far end to town and back, the day after we rode a tram to an 8,200 foot peak out there.
On the way up.
Lake Wallowa from the tram.
Worth the ride. Panoramic views of the Blues.
With my favorite hiking partner.
Chief Joseph’s grave near the lakeshore.
We found every river roaring, floody, including the Wallowa.
And the Columbia.
Caught in a thunderstorm hiking in the John Day Fossil Beds. Flash flood?
The baby hid.
Until the deluge quit and the sun came out.
All gates open on every dam we passed.
***
Back at our Wallowa campsite, this mud-faced mama meandered, a softball toss away.
Black bear, cinnamon phase.
Turning stones for morsels.
With cubs in tow.
Grazing.
Headed home. A first peek at another drenching storm storm heading our way, this one outside of Pendleton, Oregon.
Blue skies in Wenatchee between storms, so we biked to Lincoln Rock, and passed directly beneath this homebody osprey. She refused the leap, though parents and sibs coaxed from overhead.
Did I mention that fourteen-week-old Daisy came with us?
hiking . . .
swimming . . .
chasing . . .
exploring . . .
teething. 
A last shot on Stevens Pass, a week before the summer solstice.
Wishing YOU love-filled adventures this summer, regardless of weather. Thanks for joining mine.
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Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
June 4, 2022
On the Road Again
Our theme song, for the next two weeks: Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again.
“One, two, a one, two, three, four—
On the road again
Just can’t wait to get on the road again . . .
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again . . .
makin’ music with my friends . . .”
Eastern Oregon, this trip, with a few other couples and a fourteen-week-old puppy.
I won’t be writing much, if at all, but will send pics. You’ll find the first few below.
Meanwhile, this week’s winner in the third and final week of the SUGAR BIRDS GIVEAWAY is TRACY WIRICK! Congratulations, Tracy! Please send me your mailing address, and I’ll ship a copy of the book to you as soon as we get home.
May God hold you all close this week, wherever you ramble.
House sitters in place.
Big dogs keeping them company.
Blake, Cheryl, and baby pup Daisy on the road again.
Willie’s singing in the background. 
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At the headwaters of Oregon’s Metolius River, with a baby so wiggly only her leash makes most of the pics..
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Dandelion Daisy . . . over 20 pounds already!
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TBs—Throwbacks—from three years ago:
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When there’s a crease in the chrysalis.
“For we know that all creation has been groaning . . .“
—Romans 8:22
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Baby blanket.
“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”
—1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT
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A rainy day visit from a female Anna’s Hummingbird, right outside my study window. I was slogging through revisions.
I closed my computer to watch—and decided to copy her.
“Drink deeply of God’s Spirit . . . . Sing and offer praise in your hearts to the Lord.”
—Ephesians 5:19 WNT
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Thanks for traveling with me, friends. So glad you’re here!
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
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P.S. Thanks, Author Cynthia Ruchti & genreadblog! 
May 28, 2022
Winner and Pics #2
This week’s GIVEAWAY WINNER is Angela Lugo! Congratulations, Angie! What’s your mailing address? I’ll send Sugar Birds your way.
I’ll be drawing one more winner this coming week for a signed copy of Sugar Birds when you join my mailing list!
Just drop me a note at Cheryl@CherylBostrom.com with LETTER and YOUR NAME somewhere in the subject line or body. You’ll be entered in the drawing and will get a short letter from me to you on Saturdays (with a blog link attached).
If you change your mind, unsubscribe anytime! I’ll be delighted that you visited—and you’ll still be entered in the Sugar Birds drawing.
Already subscribed? You’re automatically entered.
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Now this week’s pics and captions:
Praying for families in Uvalde.
“A cry is heard in Ramah— deep anguish and bitter weeping. Rachel weeps for her children . . .”
—Jeremiah 31:15
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Undercover.
“You will give us peace, LORD.”
—Isaiah 26:12
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Ran outside in my jammies this morning to SUN! No rain! Temp over 60, so the bees hummed! Birds sang! Garden’s in!
PNW springtime, you are so worth Nov-April…um…May…
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Passing by.
When He utters His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the wind from His storehouses.
—Jeremiah 10:13
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French variety.
The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume . . .
—Proverbs 27:9
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Throwback pics from three years ago this week.
Lupine: Generations—Each new one builds upon the last.
“He always stands by his covenant—the commitment he made to a thousand generations.”
—Psalm 105:8 NLT
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. Love spending time with you here.
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks
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Sugar Birds: Your next summer read?
May 21, 2022
Winner and Pics
This week’s GIVEAWAY WINNER is Chelsie Stanford! Congratulations, Chelsie! What’s your mailing address? I’ll send Sugar Birds your way!
I’ll be drawing another winner this week for a signed SUGAR BIRDS PAPERBACK when you join my mailing list!
Just drop me a note at Cheryl@CherylBostrom.com with LETTER and YOUR NAME somewhere in the subject line or body. You’ll be entered in the drawing and will get a short letter from me to you on Saturdays (with a blog link attached).
If you change your mind, unsubscribe anytime! I’ll be delighted that you visited—and you’ll still be entered in the Sugar Birds drawing.
Already subscribed? You’re automatically entered.
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PNW pics for you!
Roost.
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
—Mark 6:61
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Paintbrushes, loaded.
“You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water…”
—Psalm 65:9
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Grinch crossing.
This, too, shall pass.
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Now for some THROWBACKS—posted three years ago this week:
If mountains ate fruit.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights . . .”
—James 1:17
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West of the woods, Mamba kept barking. Blake investigated and found her nosing this western painted turtle. Long claws suggest it’s a male, but with that flat plastron and impressive size (see Blake’s shoe for scale), it may be a girl? Anybody know for certain?
When Blake carried him to our pond—away from cow hooves and dogs—he took to it like, um, a turtle to water.
Anybody know how to read those age rings?
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Laser light.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates, cutting between soul and spirit, between joints and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
—Hebrews 4:12
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Beach lace.
“. . . I made the sand a boundary for the sea.”
—Jeremiah 5:22
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Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here!
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
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P. S. from earlier this week:
You just never know. 
When Sugar Birds entered the 2021-22 awards race, I hoped the book might pick up a couple. Good for marketing, right?
Now in my inbox this morning: A press release saying that SUGAR BIRDS won a Silver Medal in Fiction in the NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS—joining previous Nautilus winners that include Barbara Kingsolver, Desmond Tutu, Louise Erdrich, Naomi Wolf, and many others.
Who’d a guessed this woman of a certain age would have the joy of a fiction debut that would land in such fun places?
I’m keenly aware of God’s sweet kindness in all this—from conception to completion to where and how the story lands. May the book continue to find homes wherever it will give Him beautiful glory.
I’m grateful beyond any words I know how to write.
So for those of you in the writing slog . . . stay the course—or return to it after a long time away, like I did. (The intervening years are part of the process, too.) Pray. Think of Sarah, pregnant at 95 
. Stuff happens when we least expect it, and sometimes long after we thought it could.
May 14, 2022
Sugar Birds Giveaway!
A SUGAR BIRDS GIVEAWAY!
For years now, I’ve posted photos, reviews, and thoughts here at Watching Nature, Seeing Life. Thousands of you have made it a habit to stop by.
Some of you land here when WordPress lets you know that my latest post has gone live. Others of you visit by clicking on social media links, or by going directly to my website at CherylBostrom.com.
But to those of you who subscribe by email, every week I send this blog along with a short personal letter—JUST to you email subscribers. In each mailing I include giveaway offers, (funny?) musings about my writing and personal life, and an updated word count for my WIP (Work In Progress . . . a Sugar Birds sequel). Those letters don’t appear anywhere online.
If you’d like to receive the whole kaboodle—letter and blog—AND enter the drawing for a paper copy of my novel SUGAR BIRDS, here’s how you can throw your name in the hat:
Drop me a note at Cheryl@CherylBostrom.com with LETTER and your name in the body.
If you change your mind, unsubscribe anytime! I’ll be delighted that you visited for awhile—and you’ll still be entered in the Sugar Birds drawing.
If you already subscribe by email, you’re already entered.
I’ll be giving away signed copies for the next few weeks.
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Recent, these:
“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.”
—Martin Luther
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Plenty.
The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.
—Psalm 23:1
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Trailside decor.
Trillium, Wild bleeding hearts. An ancient western red cedar in her mossy coat.
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Pin oak leaves, emerging. Growing toward heaven.
Like you. Like me.
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And for all of you new to this site, some TB pics—THROWBACKS—from three years ago:
Kildeer.
I was studying the roadside gravel when he offered to show me his nest. “It’s up here a ways,” he said. “The Mrs. will be along shortly. Her trick shoulder can slow her down.”
“Anything serious?” I asked, as the bird led me up the hill. Before he distracted me, I had been watching his mate drag her wing in the dirt.
“Comes and goes.”
I followed him for fifty yards before he spoke again. “I’ll check on her. Wait here.” 
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Koala.
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Morning has broken
Like the first morning;
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird;
Praise for the singing,
Praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word.
.
(Eleanor Farjeon, 1931)
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Two of us found these beauties along the creek yesterday: me and the fuzzy guy with the pollen basket on his tibia. (Can you find him?)
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. . . . not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these
—Luke 12:27
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Thanks for stopping by, friends! So glad you’re here!
Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.
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P.S.
I got a heads up about this last week, but received the official announcement today. Stunned and so, so grateful that
SUGAR BIRDS won GOLD in the 2022 IPPYS for FICTION – FIRST BOOK.
Soli Deo gloria, every minute, every hour, every day. 
Conducted annually, the Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year’s best independently published titles from around the world.
