Heather Holleman's Blog, page 110

A Moment of Insight While Feeding a Cat Tuna Flavored Treats

This morning as I fed my neighbor’s cat, I remembered to offer him a few treats from his treat box. I found a little squeezable pouch of this tuna flavored paste. I quietly tore open the pouch.

Instant insanity! The cat went crazy with joy! The cat ran faster than any creature should to my hand that held the treat.

The cat became so focused on consuming this tuna paste that nothing—and I mean nothing–could distract him. My husband was in the kitchen filling the cat bowl with fresh water and fresh food, and I heard him rustling around to locate some of the other treat options.

Normally, this sound in the kitchen would draw the cat in for food and water. But no, not now. Nothing could distract from this cat’s singular motive. Nothing could break his concentration on the tuna. Nothing!

At that moment, as I watched the pure bliss of this cat, I observed his focus. At once point, he turned his face to acknowledge all the distraction from the kitchen, but then he immediately turned back to my hand that held the treat.

I said to him, “Nothing is better than this. You won’t be distracted by anything because what you have here is so much better.”

I thought of my walk with the Lord and what a pleasure it’s been to leisurely read God’s word during COVID-10 and then the holidays. I lingered with the Lord without distraction. It was so good and so pleasant. But this week, with fresh work responsibilities, I feel the distraction of other food, other treats. I want to remember how good it can be to feed on God’s word, to receive from His hand.

I want to be the cat that races in, heartily feasts, and will not leave.

 

Back to Work–And Making the Most of It

It’s back to work after the holiday break. I consider this fresh season of work with a new semester and a new year, and I know one thing the pandemic has taught me:

Make the most of today because you don’t know what’s coming. 

The phrase resonates all day:

Make the most of today. 

It’s fun to ask, “How can I make the most of today? What does that look like for me?” In simple terms, it’s like asking how we can enjoy something as much as possible, how we can treasure the moments as much as possible, and how we can make the best use of our resources and skills. Biblically speaking, it’s a call to attune our lives to God each day and embrace the opportunities He gives us.

It’s about being fully present, more aware, more open to God, more willing to do unusual, faith-filled things. It’s about loving those around us more radically, about giving more generously, and about opening wide our hearts.

Ironically, it’s not about doing more. It’s more about pausing to absorb, reflect upon, and enjoy. It’s worship and wonder most of all. From there, I think of making the most of the day by using my words wisely and serving others.

I think of Ephesians 5:15-17: Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

We can approach our day with this idea of “making the most of every opportunity.” We can pray we are not foolish, but instead understand God’s will for the day.

 

Deeper Into Winter

The last snow and ice thawed. I imagined a warm, spring breeze coming the other day. But no! We’re just deeper into winter today, and it is truly beautiful. Spring can wait.

The Thing Requiring Faith

These past two days of 2021, I’ve been inspired to think about doing things that actually require faith. 

It’s so exciting! What an adventure to live this way. Consider Hebrews 11:6–the famous passage that says this: “Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Or think about 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and the idea of our work “produced by faith.”

I know I’m doing something that requires faith when I feel like I’m not doing something in my own strength. It’s faith when I’m depending on God because I can’t see my way ahead. It’s faith when I do something that scares me or when I step out in a new direction as I follow God’s leading. I know it’s faith when I’m trusting God with the outcome as I talk to people about Jesus. It’s faith when I think, “I can’t do this, but God can!”

Some of my faith steps include launching that Facebook author page writer’s encouragement for January, reaching out to friends who don’t know Jesus yet, sending a young adult novel to my agent and publisher, and accepting speaking engagements and new teaching assignments at Penn State. I’m excited to think about this new day and what I’ll do that requires faith. If nothing in my life requires faith, maybe I’m in the wrong spot.

 

What You Give

Happy New Year! I pray this is your best year yet, full of marvelous, fresh joys, laughter, creativity, wonder, and rich community.

Last night, some neighbors invited our street to come down to watch fireworks they bought. We could stay socially-distanced while still laughing together and bringing in the new year with all the children. It was a generous fireworks party, just for the neighbors. Another family brought beverages, and still another set up a fire pit in a driveway with little slips of paper where we could throw 2020 into the fire to say good-bye to a hard year. Both events made me grateful, hopeful, and happy. Those families gave us a great gift of love and togetherness on New Years Eve.

For 2021, in addition to committing to daily moisturizing (Ha! I’m serious!), I want to add good to others, to give more to others, and to think about how I can bless wherever I am.

Here’s to a fresh, new year!

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In case you’re not on Facebook and want to know what I’m posting to encourage writers in January, I included my post below:

Today is the day! Consider the writing project you’d most like to finish. By the end of the month, you could finish this project.

Tip: The single question: Think of your writing project as the answer to a question someone is asking. Write that question down. Every book I’ve written began with a great question I needed to answer first for myself and then for others. What question does your project answer for the world?

Question: Is your question best answered by a novel, a poem, a song, a nonfiction book, a blog post or a news article? Decide which form of writing your project should take and why.

You can start writing today! Try just 300 words (about a typed, double spaced page).

Something Fun for January 2021–Writing Tips for You

Happy New Years Eve! I have something fun I’m doing on Facebook with my much underused author page.

https://www.facebook.com/writer.heatherholleman


Here’s what I posted, and feel free to join me if you need encouragement in January:


I thought I’d use my author page to encourage your writing in 2021–at least for the month of January. I LOVE coaching writers! I’ll provide a tip and a question both intended to develop your writing goals.



Tip: Write down your favorite story to tell about your life. Usually, it’s a treasured memory—a single beautiful moment. Why do you like to tell it? What happens to readers when they read it? Great novels and nonfiction often stem from single moments.


Question: By this time in your life, what have you become an expert in? Think broadly. This expertise grants you great authority to write. You can tell me your expertise in the comments. Be proud of yourself. Some are experts in time-management, grief, gardening, listening, waiting, singing, baking, parenting, failing, walking, resting. . .



On New Years Day, I’ll ask for your book idea for 2021!! Eeek!!!

Make It In the Morning

I’ve said this before: Do the hard things when you know you have the energy for it. If your best hours are in the morning, do your writing, cooking, or planning then. Don’t wait till the afternoon slump.

As I age, I realize I have limited energy during the day. By 3:00 PM, I’m ready to get in my pajamas! 4:00 PM? Maybe I have energy to go for a walk, ready, or tidy up. But by 5:00 PM? If I haven’t already prepped dinner, I’m the one saying, “Who wants to order pizza?” But all this changed this year because I decided to make dinner in the morning or around lunchtime. I’m serious! If you want to enjoy your afternoon and early evening, either prep everything for dinner in the morning, or make the entire meal so you just have to pull it out of the fridge and heat it up.

I remember this today when my daughter and I decided to make the stuffed spinach shells at 9:00 AM. Why not? Sure, the whole house smelled like garlic and tomato sauce when maybe I would have preferred coffee and cinnamon oatmeal, but the benefits far outweighed the costs. Now, I enjoy a late afternoon of a clean kitchen and plenty of time to relax in my pajamas if I want. I’ll pull out the stuffed shells and let them bake peacefully.

If you haven’t discovered the wisdom of making dinner after breakfast, try it on the days when you know you’ll be zapped of energy by afternoon.

 

Adding to the Good

This morning’s Greystone Devotion spoke to my heart when it mentioned bringing goodness into the lives of others. I thought about the people in my life and what it would mean to bring goodness to them today. Whom might I encourage? Who needs a gift? Who needs prayer? I ask God to help me bring good to those around me.

Am I adding goodness here? I love the question! I love thinking of our purpose as adding good wherever we are.

 

Simple Everyday Prayers that Change Everything

I find myself lingering over Psalm 141:3-4. What a beautiful psalm to pray back to the Lord! What I notice is David’s seemingly simple prayer request that actually changes everything about the day and our whole lives if we consider it deeply. He asks God for this:

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds. . . 

Essentially, it’s this: Help me speak the right words. Help me want godly things.

Can you imagine a day in which everything you spoke was the right thing? A day when your words didn’t cause harm or confusion? When you didn’t speak in anger? When you didn’t gossip or lead others into any kind of wrong thinking? Imagine living a day where your words brought life and healing and joy. Imagine a day where you were more silent before the Lord than you have ever been. I think David knew his weaknesses here; he asks God to guard his words and keep watch over his mouth.

But what’s next? He prays to want the right things in life. What a marvelous, powerful prayer indeed. I pray this for my daughters, my students, and my husband. I pray this for myself. I pray that ungodly things suddenly seem boring and harmful and even disgusting. I pray instead that we are drawn to beautiful, godly activities, behaviors, and thoughts. Help us want this, Lord.

Help me speak the right words. Help me want godly things.

 

 

Two New Recipes to Try

This week, we’re trying these two new recipes. As the long winter days continue during the pandemic, it’s nice to look forward to new things–even if they involve jackfruit and cauliflower.

First, a jackfruit curry. Yum! https://thymeandlove.com/easy-vegan-jackfruit-curry/ It’s adventurous, strange, and fun to try.

Next, a cauliflower bake: https://www.forksoverknives.com/recipes/vegan-salads-sides/creamy-cauliflower-side-dish-bake/. We do love cauliflower in our family!

If we like a new recipe, we print it out and place it in a plastic sleeve to go into our official family recipe binder. To make it into the binder, we have to love a recipe. We have to want to make it again. We have to give it a 10 out of 10. It’s fun to try new recipes, rate them, and build a great collection of recipes.

If you need some ideas to make the winter months fun, try to add in a few new, strange recipes.