Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 2

10 Memorable Quotes by General Colin Powell

@bethvogt

 

Gen. Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, died this past Monday due to COVID-19 complications. He was 84 years old. Powell was the first black Secretary of State, and was appointed by President George W. Bush, serving during the years after 9/11.

Today, I wanted to honor him by sharing some of his insights with you.

 

“Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty to those for whom your work, and persistence.”

 

 

“Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity.”

 

 

“Never let you ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it.”

 

 

“It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.”

 

 

“There are no secrets to success. Don’t waste time looking for them.”

 

 

“There is no end to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”

 

 

“Fear and failure are always present. Accept them as part of life and learn how to manage these realities.”

 

 

“Always be looking for that which you do well and that which you love doing, and when you find those two things together — man, you’ve got it.”

 

 

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.”

 

Which quote stood out to you from the ones I shared today?

 

10 Memorable Quotes by General Colin Powell #lifequotes #ColinPowell
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'Always show more kindness than seems necessary because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.' #quote by General Colin Powell #perspective #inmemory
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Oh yes! You can get a sneak peek of my upcoming November 1 release, Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella for free! Read the first chapter — it’s just a click away. Enjoy a bit of Christmas today!

SNEAK PEEK! Read the first chapter of @bethvogt's upcoming release Unpacking Christmas for free! Enjoy a bit of Christmas with the Thatcher sisters today! #christmasnovella #booklovers
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It’s Not Too Early to be Thinking About 2022

@bethvogt

A lot of people are counting down the days until Christmas. There are 73 days until December 25, my friends.

But did you know there are 80 days until the start of 2022?

If those 80 days race by like the other 285, then January 1, 2022 will show up on our calendars before we’re ready.

I’ll admit I’ve only just started my Christmas shopping, not to mention the discussion of Thanksgiving dinner with my adult kiddos that is in 44 days. But I have one very important item in place for 2022: I know my One Word for 2022!

 Some of you want to say, “Beth, it’s too early to think about New Year’s resolutions. We also don’t need to think about our One Words for the next year.”

But I always start to pray in September about next year’s One Word. When potential words come to mind, I ponder them, waiting to see if they stay with me. If they don’t, I keep praying. In past years, I’ve settled on my annual One Word as early as September and as late as December.

I’m finishing my 16th year choosing One Word instead of writing out New Year’s resolutions. Doing this has been life changing for me. I always lost my list of well-intentioned resolutions, but it’s difficult to forget a single word, especially when you back it up with a visual of some sort and a meaningful Scripture verse.

Both 2020 and 2021 were focused on the One Word “listen.” I’ve done everything from talking less – of course! – to posting quotes about listening on my Instagram feed. And I do believe I’ve become a better listener. I hope I don’t forget the lessons I’ve learned. The biggest lesson learned?

I like to listen to other people.

 What’s my One Word for 2022?

Pray.

Based on these wise words by Mother Teresa, I feel like God’s been preparing my heart for 2022: “God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.”

 I’m eager to see where God will lead me in the coming year as I follow him into a new adventure of prayer.

Have you thought about your One Word for 2022?

 

It's Not Too Early to be Thinking About 2022 #OneWord #focus
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'I'm looking forward to the future, and feeling grateful for the past.' #quote by @mikeroweworks #anticipation #focus
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You Can Still Preorder the Ebook of Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella for only $2.99! Go Here to order. 

 

 

PREORDER SALE: The #ebook for Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella is available now for only $2.99! “…Unpacking Christmas will delight you,” says NYT’s bestselling author @RachelHauck #ChristmasNovella #family
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Sometimes We Need to be Reminded There’s Always Hope

@bethvogt

“There’s always hope,” my daughter Amy said.

“I’ll hope in a minute,” I told her.

I was sitting down, leaning over, grappling with some unexpected news. Unwanted news. The kind that takes your breath away, even as your eyes sting with tears.

You know what I mean, right?

For just a minute, you lose your grip on hope … and then your fingers tighten around the trustworthy expectation again before it slips away.

Got it.

Yes. There’s always hope.

My author-friend Cynthia Ruchti says, “I can’t unravel. I’m hemmed in hope.”

Some days threaten to fray our hearts, don’t they? We get bad news. Or someone we love needs a shoulder to lean on as they bear up under an unexpected heartache.

This life can feel like a maze of dark valleys. And while I believe God never leaves us or forsakes us, earthly trials try us. Hope seems thin — unable to hold up the weight of our troubles.

But my hope is not some man-made, prepackaged product you’ll find on a shelf at Target or Costco.

No.

My faith in God grants me room to be honest. To say, “I need to catch my breath. This grieves me — but I still have hope.” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)

My hope is eternal. Priceless. Grace-filled. The kind of hope that holds up under the weight of the most difficult days … that lights the way through dark valleys.

How’s your hope holding up this week? 

 

Sometimes We Need to be Reminded There's Always Hope #encouragement #faith
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'I can't unravel. I'm hemmed with hope.' #quote by @cynthiaruchti #hope #trust
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You Can Preorder the Ebook of Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella for only $2.99! Go Here to order. 

 

 

PREORDER SALE: The #ebook for Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella is available now for only $2.99! “…Unpacking Christmas will delight you,” says NYT’s bestselling author @RachelHauck #ChristmasNovella #family
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Five Inspiring Quotes to Help You Discover the Beauty of the Fall Season

@bethvogt

 

I’ve always said summer is my favorite season of the year, but I may be changing my mind. So many of my friends declare autumn is their favorite time of year—and there certainly are quite an assortment of quotes about this time of year. Here are a few new ones I discovered.

Tell me: how do you feel about autumn?

 

“Autumn… the year’s last, loveliest smile.” William Cullen Bryant, American poet

 

“How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” John Burroughs, American naturalist

 

“I hope I can be the autumn leaf, who looked at the sky and lived. And when it was time to leave, gracefully it knew life was a gift.” Dodinsky, author

 

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see …” Vincent van Gogh, painter

 

“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.” Raquel Franco, poet

 

Five Inspiring Quotes to Help You Discover the Beauty of the Fall Season #autumn #quotes
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'Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile.' #quote by poet William Cullen Bryant #fall2021 #inspiration
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Tomorrow is THE LAST DAY to enter my contest designed for booklovers, with a dash of Christmas thrown in! You can enter here .

 

Thursday 9.30.2021 is the LAST DAY to enter the #giveaway to win the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Novella #booklovers #christmasnovella @Crazy4Fiction
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What Helps Us Clean Out Our Mental Junk Drawers?

 

My friend Mary and I went for an early morning walk the other day. During our weekly walks, we take turns talking about life in an honest, here’s-what’s-going-on-with-me kind of way.

Mary invited me to go first, so after discussing my latest ups and downs, I yielded the, um, sidewalk to Mary.

As we neared the end of our walk, Mary summed up her thoughts by saying, “I don’t know how to deal with all this, so I stuff it in the junk drawer in the back of my mind and move on.”

I had no easy answer for what Mary was struggling with. I hugged her because sometimes all you can do for a friend is let them know you care and that you’re praying for them.

Mary’s concept of a mental junk drawer stayed with me the rest of the morning. I called her several hours after our walk. Here’s what I said:

“You know what? We all have junk drawers.”

Even as she laughed, I knew Mary got what I was saying, and then we talked about junk drawers for a while.

Yes, we all have junk drawers – sometimes more than one.

You might think of the kitchen catch-all drawer, where you toss the assortment of pens and pencils, along with paper clips, odd receipts, keys, rubber bands, and old, dried out tubes of Super Glue.

You tell me what’s in your physical junk drawer.

Mary and I realized there’s a significant difference between mental junk drawers and those kitchen junk drawers filled with pens and pencils and old receipts.

The mental ones? They contain pieces of our heart.

Our mental junk drawers accumulate the emotional stuff that have no easy answers. No resolutions in sight. We don’t want to leave all that stuff sitting out every day, so we stick it in a virtual drawer where we don’t have to look it all the time.

We’re all dealing with hard stuff. Problems we can’t fix. Issues that have no easy answers. Struggles that cause our heart to ache because people we love are involved.

One of the ways we get through life is by bearing one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Sometimes that means we listen when someone sifts through the stuff in their mental junk drawer. And sometimes our friends listen to us.

Just listen.

You don’t have to solve someone’s problem to lighten someone else’s load.

What Helps Us Clean Out Our Mental Junk Drawers? #struggles #hope
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'You don't have to solve someone's problems to lighten someone else's load.' #quote by author @bethvogt #listen #friendship
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You’ve got 8 more days to enter my contest designed for booklovers, with a dash of Christmas thrown in! You can enter here .

Here's Your Chance to #Win Some Novels: the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella by @bethvogt #booklovers #Christmasnovella @Crazy4Fiction
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Making Today and Every Day an Opportunity to Encourage Others

@bethvogt

Did you know that September 12 was National Day of Encouragement? That it’s an annual national holiday?

I didn’t.

With just a bit of research, I discovered National Day of Encouragement started when a group of high school students attending a leadership forum were asked:

what was the biggest problem young people were facingwhat’s a solution for the problem

The problem? Lack of encouragement.

The solution? Declaring September 12 National Day of Encouragement. It’s been an official holiday since 2007.

Let’s back up. The students were asked to name the biggest problem affecting them. Of all the things they could have selected – financial struggles, family struggles, academic struggles – they lasered in on lack of encouragement.

Anybody else surprised besides me?

I’m all for having a National Day of Encouragement.

We have all sorts of “National Days” throughout the year. Just in September, there’s National Bowling League Day (Sept. 3); National Play-Doh Day (Sept. 16); National Car Free Day (Sept. 22); and National Good Neighbor Day (Sept. 28).

Back to the National Day of Encouragement. What about purposing to encourage others every day of the year, not just one day in September?

Are we choosing to be kind to others daily, considering both the words we speak and how we interact with others?

Encouragement can be something as simple as remembering to say please or thank you or good job. A smile, tipping the barista in the Starbucks drive-thru, or writing a short note can also cheer up someone. So often people don’t feel seen, much less appreciated or valued. When we take the time to let another person know we value them and what they do, that we are grateful for them, we change the course of their day – maybe even their life.

Encouragement means we offer someone support, confidence, or hope. Sometimes we don’t realize how much someone needs a boost of confidence or an influx of hope. What we say, what we do, makes more difference than we ever realize. Our words of encouragement can become a true blessing in someone else’s life.

Never underestimate the investment of encouragement in someone else’s life.

When has someone else’s encouragement made a difference in your life?

Making Today and Every Day an Opportunity to Encourage Others #hope #kindness
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'Hope and encouragement, especially hope, is probably one of the greatest things you can give another person.' #quote by coach Becky Hammon #hope #encouragement
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There’s still time to enter my contest designed for all you booklovers, with a dash of Christmas thrown in! You can enter here .

Here's Your Chance to #Win Some Novels: the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella by @bethvogt #booklovers #Christmasnovella @Crazy4Fiction
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Life is Hard … and There is Still Reason to Hope

@bethvogt

 

I’ve backed away from this blog post numerous times.

I’ve rethought the topic, but the theme continues to sit there and stare at me without blinking.

Life is hard.

Yes, I’m the same woman who just blogged about wearing Life is Good T-shirts as a reminder to look for the good in life.

But sometimes circumstances weigh us down. Maybe we’re facing something unexpected. Something daunting. Or maybe someone we love, a family member or friend, is struggling.

We confront incomprehensible tragedies blaring across the national news every single day.

In my little corner of the world? My heart has been burdened for family members and friends facing challenges and heartaches. Unexpected medical diagnoses. Financial struggles. Betrayals. Yes, even tragic deaths.

I’ve gotten to the point I want to resort to the childish behavior of sticking my fingers in my ears and singing, “La la la la la … I can’t hear you!”

I just can’t anymore with bad news.

Today as I mulled over this blog post I kept shifting my shoulders – literally moving my shoulders back and forth – trying to bear up under the emotional weight of all the different things I’ve heard about. Things I’m praying about.

No amount of adjusting my shoulders lifted the burden in my heart.

Life is hard.

Sometimes circumstances fray our hope, turning it into a fragile thing to hold on to.

The question becomes: What are we hoping for?

Am I merely hoping for a good life for me, for my family, for my friends?

Or am I hoping to see God’s provision in the midst of all of life’s circumstances? Am I trusting that yes, He will bring something good out of this very bad situation I find myself in? Or the situation my friend is facing?

The hope I hold onto is not a close-my-eyes-and-ignore-what’s-going-on kind of hope.

No.

This is the kind of hope that helps me face the reality of life with my eyes wide open. This grace-filled hope bears up under the full weight of whatever is burdening my heart.

Life is hard … and there is a real God who offers us hope that helps us get through the hard, hard days.

I don’t know if you needed to hear this or not … but I know I did.

Life is Hard ... and There is Still Reason to Hope #faith #grace
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'Each day we hold things in our heart, sometimes these things are heavy. Carrying God's grace with us each and every day lightens life's load.' #quote by actor Ron Baratono #hope #grace
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***

 

Don’t forget to enter to win not one, but four of my books, including my upcoming Christmas novella, Unpacking Christmas. Three other winners will win a copy of Unpacking Christmas. Click on the graphic below to enter or go here.

 

Here's Your Chance to #Win Some Novels: the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella by @bethvogt #booklovers #Christmasnovella @Crazy4Fiction
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Here’s Your Chance to Win Some Novels: the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella

@bethvogt

I’m experiencing the joy of writing fiction again this year, after my writing life was disrupted in 2020 by, well, lots of different circumstances.

Writing a book is hard work. I have to sit down, ignore the interruptions, and tell the story, one word at a time. And yes, as H. L. Mencken said, along the way there are happy accidents, or what I like to call moments of “accidental brilliance,” where something I write pings in a way I hadn’t planned.

Today, I’m inviting you to celebrate with me as I’m finishing all the prep work for my upcoming November release, Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella. (Cue a little fa la la la la, please!)

A little review: The first book in the Thatcher Sisters Series, Things I Never Told You, released in 2018. Then came Moments We Forget in 2019, followed by The Best We’ve Been in 2020. Since then, readers have asked about Johanna, Jillian, and Payton. With this Christmas novella, readers can catch up with the trio of sisters.

Here’s a glimpse at what Unpacking Christmas is about:

Johanna, Jillian, and Payton’s excitement about the Christmas holidays is upset when their parents announce they’re selling their long-time family home. Soon the sisters find themselves facing a variety of unexpected changes, including a serious health scare for their dad. Instead of putting up holiday lights and decorating the family Christmas tree, the Thatcher sisters are helping pack up their childhood home. Along the way, they share treasured memories as they try to hold onto valued traditions, discovering the struggles they’ve endured pale in comparison to the love they share with each other.

What about that celebration I mentioned? Enter the giveaway from today through September 30 for a chance to win the GRAND PRIZE: the 3-book series, as well as a copy of Unpacking Christmas when it releases in November. If you’ve already read the series, that’s great! (I hope you left a review!) If you win, you can always give the prize to a family member or friend. Three other people will win copies of Unpacking Christmas.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's Your Chance to #Win Some Novels: the Thatcher Sisters Series and Unpacking Christmas: A Thatcher Sisters Christmas Novella by @bethvogt #booklovers #Christmasnovella @Crazy4Fiction
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'There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy accident.' #quote by H.L. Mencken #writing #discovery
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What to Do When You’re Heavy-Hearted

@bethvogt

I’ve heard the term “heavy-hearted” quite a bit recently.

People are heavy-hearted about their life circumstances – from family struggles to friends’ setbacks. People are heavy-hearted about life “out there” – events playing out across the world via nonstop news headlines every single hour of the day.

How do we counterbalance the ongoing challenges that weigh our hearts down?

The visual that came to my mind was of an old-fashioned seesaw – maybe you call it a teeter-totter. Imagine that on one end is your heart, weighed down with:

GriefFearDoubtAngerExhaustion

The other end of the seesaw is stuck up in the air. What can we do to offset our heavy-heartedness?

Consider these three things that help me lighten my heart:

Focus on Unchanging Truth. Circumstances in our lives change. Sometimes they improve. Sometimes they get worse. I don’t know about you, but while things are better in 2021, they’re still a bit too unsettled for me. The headlines unsettle me. Focusing on Truth lifts my heavy heart. This verse is encouraging me this week: When I am filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy. (Psalm 94:19 CSB)Be honest with someone about your heart condition. I have a precious friend who asks me on a regular basis, “How’s your heart?” She knows I’ll give her a truthful answer because that’s the kind of relationship we’ve built with one another. I also have the freedom to ask her the same question. Talking with her, praying with her, lifts the burdens from my heart.Be on your guard. If we’re not careful, we’re inundated with information all day long – and sometimes all night long. I don’t turn the TV on first thing in the morning just to check the headlines. I limit how often I scan the news on my phone. I also try not to check the news right before I go to sleep – that’s a guaranteed way to ramp up my anxiety.

What about you? How do you lighten your heart when it’s weighed down?

What to Do When You're Heavy-Hearted #challenges #hope
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'If you share in a heart-felt sorrow, you can lighten the load of a friend. Sometimes sharing the burden together can mend two broken hearts in the end.' #quote by Wes Fesler #heavyhearted #hope
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Life, Reality, and Pondering the Credibility of a T-shirt Motto

@bethvogt

My walking buddy Mary told me to write this blog post about our conversation yesterday.

“Write a blog about it. See what your readers say.”

So, yes, you may thank Mary for today’s post – and yes, I’d love to hear your thoughts about … my choice of T-shirts.

At the end of our hour-long walk yesterday, Mary commented on my T-shirt. It wasn’t one of my normal workout shirts. No, yesterday I threw on one of my Life is Good T-shirts.

The last couple of years, I’ve purchased a few Life is Good T-shirts. I wear them as a reminder to look for the good in life. There’s no denying life has been difficult for everyone for so many different reasons. And the challenges keep on coming.  Our minds, bodies, and spirits are weary.

I deal with all these ongoing challenges in a variety of ways. Prayer. Music. Anchor verses. Yes, one way I deal with all of this is by wearing Life is Good T-shirts. When I look in the mirror, I see the logo and I’m reminded to look for the good. To look for opportunities to be the good.

Of course, when Mary told me, “I don’t like those T-shirts,” I had to ask why.

Here’s what Mary said:

I’m just not a fan of the whole “life is good” motto. In the worst light, it’s just not true. In the best possible light, I think that it’s the wrong focus because, for most people , life is not good. They struggle with financial issues, family issues, health issues – heavy, heavy stuff.

  It doesn’t mean life is not ever good. But if I watch the news, I see clearly overall life is not good. I travel the world and see so much pain and suffering. It breaks my heart. So I can’t embrace that motto.

  Now, God is good – always . When life is not good? He is still good. Because that is His nature.

  Can life be good? Yes. But I wouldn’t say “Life is good” as a stand-alone statement because it makes it sound like life is always good.

I understand what Mary’s saying. I also agree with what she’s saying.

I don’t wear my T-shirt like a pair of blinders so that I can’t see what’s going on around me in the world – the pain, the heartbreak, the fear. No. I wear it to help my perspective stay positive amid all the negative.

And, like Mary, I know the source of my true hope isn’t in a T-shirt slogan. My life is good, day in and day out, come what may, because of God and his promises to me.

So, friends, what do you think about the “Life is good” slogan? I’d love to know.

Life, Reality, and Pondering the Credibility of a T-shirt Motto #perspective #life
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'It's important to have people...who have a totally different perspective than you....' by @ShondaRhimes #quote #perspective
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