Heather Holleman's Blog, page 9

Up the Old Familiar Path

This afternoon, I walked up the old familiar path to the elementary school to watch the neighbors in their Halloween Parade. I savored a Pennsylvania autumn—the smokey, earthy smell, the crackling sound of leaves and acorns crunching beneath my feet, and the sounds of leaves blowing in the cool wind.

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All We Need Right Now

This morning, I found great comfort and inspiration in Hannah Whitall Smith’s words about God: “As we look at the life of Christ and listen to His words, we can hear God saying, ‘I am rest for the weary; I am peace for the storm-tossed; I am strength for the powerless; I am wisdom for the foolish; I am righteousness for the sinful; I am all that the neediest soul on earth can want; I am exceeding abundantly beyond all you can ask or think of blessing and help and care’.”

Perhaps we forgot this morning. Perhaps we needed a gentle reminder that God is here as our rest, peace, strength, wisdom, righteousness, and provision.

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Getting Ready to Write Your Book in November

Hello! Hello! Hello! Are you as excited as I am for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)? We have 10 days to get organized to write your book. So let’s do it! I’m hoping to write the second book of the This Seat’s Saved series, so I need to think of a plot, new characters, new animal friends, themes—all of it. What about you? What if you committed to write every day in November, maybe 1,000 words, to finish a short manuscript?

If you’re up for the game, here consider these three ways to get ready to write:

Think of your title (this always gets me excited) Draft out 12 possible chapter titles (nonfiction or fiction) Answer this: What question will this book answer for the reader?

What if you really did this? What if you wrote the story your life is telling?

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Riches of Nature in Autumn: The Backyard

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Never Without a Witness

I listen to speaker remind us that “God never leaves Himself without a witness.” The phrase brings great comfort, and I cannot remember where I’ve heard the line before. I think of desperate situations where God seems so far away from people. Can I take comfort and courage that God left a witness in Jesus, in the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He leaves a witness in terms of a Christian presence? We can pray for that witness to stand up, proclaim truth, and be the presence of Christ to hurting people.

God never leaves Himself without a witness.

I search the sentence, and I realize it’s from Acts 14:17: “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

In the context of the speaker’s words, he reminded us that God always leaves a witness of Himself. He never makes it impossible to find Him as we seek for Him. God also always leaves a witness to His goodness and truth in the lives of others around us. He has left a witness, in fact, in you and me.

Imagine being the answer to someone’s search for truth because you provide the witness to who Jesus is.

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Why It Works

As I continue to study savoring, I’m thrilled with everything I’m learning. For example, if you consider three good things that happen to you each day, and then consider why they happened, you begin to do what’s called “positive rumination.” Instead of worry, anxiety, or fear, you’re using those neural pathways to think wonderful thoughts. You’re less depressed. You’re less anxious. And your more connected to others when you share your experiences. I love social science research. I love learning.

Then I realized something amazing. Live with Flair was really, always, a positive rumination blog! It was! It is!

So today I marveled over my collection of unusual pumpkins from my mini pumpkin patch experiment. I loved checking the pumpkins each Saturday morning with the little girls from next door. They picked dozens for their front porch and house. I love watching things grow. I love the mystery of why and how certain pumpkins came out striped green or orange or white or splotched. I love how adorable they look. And mostly, I love sharing the joy with two little girls who would scream out, “I found a striped one! I found a little orange one!”

Here I go. I’m savoring. I hope you are too, today.

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Back Where It Started

Ashley and I traveled to Moody Publishers in Chicago yesterday for an author meeting. My acquisitions editor, Judy Dunagan, reminisced about that wonderful year when she first read the proposal for Seated with Christ. In 2014, my life changed forever when my dream of publishing a book came true. And now? We’re dreaming of more books in years to come.

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Reading About Savoring

I love reading all the research I can about how to live better. This week, I’m reading about savoring. Savoring means you focus your attention on the positive emotions (or pleasure) of an experience. It means you engage all your senses to notice what you love about anything from autumn leaves, a cat’s purr, a conversation with a friend, a cozy sweater, a great meal, or even a memory with a loved one. People who savor during the day experience less depression and anxiety, they manage uncertainty better, and they generally enjoy life more.

The coolest thing I’ve read about savoring involves how the brain uses the same mechanisms for savoring as it does for worrying or ruminating (both negative), but with savoring, you fixate on something positive or pleasurable, turning it over in your mind like a pebble. Others do this when they worry or ruminate, but if you decide to practice savoring instead, you’ll see immediate benefits. I read research about savoring protecting you against the negative impacts of highly stressful situation. I read about how savoring improves well-being, friendships, and life purpose.

When savoring, you’re intensifying pleasure. You can call up a great memory to your mind. You can focus on blessings. Then, you can share your joy with others to reinforce the savoring. As I continue to study the psalms, I see David savoring God. I cannot wait to learn more. I sit here, savoring my cool sip of water, my lovely instrumental music, the hum of the heater, and the crisp tartness of my apple.

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Spread Far and Wide

Do you remember the year I made acorn flour from the enormous overflow of acorns in my driveway and side yard? Well, I thought of that today as I woke up to people collecting acorns from the white oak beside our house. They brought rakes and hoppers, and I had to learn more.

I learned the county sent them to collect the acorns, plant them, and grow oak trees to replenish the game lands and areas of Pennsylvania. They collected on the church land near our property line, but they made sure we were OK with them collecting from our yard, too. I felt so proud of my acorns! I imagined my white oak producing thousands more trees for Pennsylvania.

Far and wide these acorns will go. They will replenish the whole forest.

I had so many questions. I started with this one: How do you know which acorns will grow into a tree? One researcher told me that, initially, when they wash the acorns, the ones that sink to the bottom of the wash basin are viable. The ones that float aren’t. But then, they experimented and discovered that the floating ones also grew into trees. So they plant them all, and some take root.

Today began as an ordinary day, but now? Now, I’m part of the history of the Pennsylvania forest with our acorns.

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The Next One

I spent a lot of time today thinking about the next book after This Seat’s Saved. I love dreaming about another middle-grade novel, and this time, I’m exploring a more in-depth theme of jealousy. I’m thinking of another animal appearing as well.

When you pitch an idea to an agent or publisher, the first step involves character descriptions and chapter summaries. This you add to a proposal that includes a one-sentence summary and then a paragraph summary. You include a vision for the book and ideas for marketing and promotion.

So here I go. We’ll see what happens. I’m not sure where the writing will take me; I just know that Elita Brown’s story isn’t finished yet.

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