It Just Takes One

It Just Takes One

Years ago I went to my first Writers’ Conference hoping to get encouragement or insight, even if it meant discouraging me from becoming a writer, because I wanted to write a memoir about how I got into and out of the drug world. I left the conference with a lot of information about what the literary industry wanted, and also with a little book titled “You Start with One” by Deo Miller and Susan Titus. It was the story about how Deo and his wife wanted to help abandoned children in Sri Lanka find homes. They were overwhelmed by the needs of these kids, but they decided to find one child a home and they ended up helping multitudes.

Later on in my journey to be an author, I read Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird another book about doing things little by little. So that is how I wrote my memoir, little by little over 20 years; one idea, one memory, one line, one chapter at a time.

When the economy tanked I spent over a year filling out mountains of paperwork, month after month, trying to save our home from foreclosure: contacting our bank and every program we fit into, trying every lead, and getting nothing but overwhelming stress and buckets of tears. Then as I was ready to give up and walk away, my husband who has learning disabilities, handwrites one letter with spelling and grammar errors included, to one person; the CEO of the bank, and sent copies to every politician and news media he thought might help. Immediately the bank called, and started helping us get a loan modification. We are finishing up the trial modification and should get the permanent loan Modification in February. From that one letter we now have letters from The White House, the governor, 2 senators, an assembly man, a state representative, the Department of Justice, The Department of Treasury, including a call from our district attorney’s office, another assemblywoman, and a personal contact with our attorney general’s office who is working closely with us to save our house. Everyone made phone calls and sent letters to our bank to help us, and many more people prayed that we’d get help. When all else fails remember it just takes one; one person who goes that extra mile and doesn’t give up.

As we head into the New Year the news is filled with pending doom of the Fiscal Cliff, the people we put into office can’t seem to find common ground and yet if one person, one Party, would shift a little, to do the job we asked them to do, to look out for us and put us first we could break through this quagmire and start the year united.


We have just celebrated Christmas, a time where we remember that one young girl said yes to God and put her needs aside, and she changed to course of mankind forever. Will we be the one that looks at the impossible and says with God all things are possible? I hope so. A Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

Lilly, our newest foster dog, who had a broken back
and still lives her life running at full speed.



Hope Rocks: A Lesson in Letting Go

htthttpFor the last year I’ve been upset because my notebook computer has been glitching, and freezing, and taking forever to start up. I mainly use it to stay in touch with my family and friends on facebook—checking out what interests them, and sharing what interesting things I’ve found. I also play games and write my first drafts on it. That frees up our PC for my business and John’s art business stuff. It also limits us from getting a computer virus on the PC.


Fed up, last week I took the notebook into have diagnostic run on it and the news was bad—bad sectors, I would need a new hard-drive and then have to reprogram it. When we counted up the cost to do this, it made more sense to buy a new one. So I found one for a great price and bought it through E-bates, a program my sister told me about that gives you cash back if you use their website. Then John mentioned a friend of ours might want the other computer, because he likes to fix them and he doesn’t have a notebook. We picked up the old one, and I started removing personal stuff and non-essential programs to get it ready to send to our friend. Wouldn’t you know it, after removing everything and restarting the computer, it worked just fine! At first I wanted to kick myself for wasting money on a new one, but today I had an Ah Ha moment—if I hadn’t been willing to give it away I never would have deleted all the programs that were causing the conflict! Isn’t that like our life, we hold on to our problems, fret about them, complain about them, not willing to let go and give them to God who can clean us up, fix us and make us like new….


Here’s a little bit of hope for you: Next time your “heart-drive” is glitching, freezing up and not wanting to work right; give it away to God and other people and enjoy the blessing of a new one.

Hope rocks :-)

To learn more about Hope Rocks go to  http://www.woodstocklily.com/

Good Friday

The mournful calling of a lone dove echoed in the early foggy morning. Opening my kitchen blinds I gasped; the nest was empty. Rushing to the door I saw the evidence I hoped not to see, broken eggs and feathers lay scattered on the ground. Hope dashed in the morning light. My hope that the dove family was a sign that we were out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death ended in a whimper as I cried out to John...another death...too many this year. The symbolism of last nights killing was not lost on me, last night it was Passover and the angel of death visited us again. Then, a vision of the priest at the temple in Jerusalem accepting the dove, the prescribed sacrifice for God to cleanse His people from sin. Another vision: our little dove giving her life to protect her family hoping to bring about new life, and now today, Good Friday, the day I remember that Jesus Christ died for love, to cleanse our sins. The little dove precious to God, Jesus his son precious to Him, and His beloved mankind ransomed when He laid down His Life. There is my hope, a hope that sustains me in this valley.

A Little Bit of Hope

The worst thing about losing your mother is all the little things you want to share with her. Daily, since January when she left for heaven, I have caught myself thinking Mom would love this...like this picture I took today. Emily Dickinson wrote that "Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." Sometimes it takes a little hope sent from heaven to remember that even with your loved one gone, life can be joyfull...now look carefully at the little bit of hope I found outside my kitchen window. Look it's perched in the grapevine behind the angel.

Dry Land

Six weeks ago our well went out. We use it to water our yard. It is connected to our sprinkler system, and so we've been hand watering most of the summer. Right now the once green lawn looks like the hills surounding us; gold and dry. I noticed in the backyard big cracks where the earth has dried, and the wood around the raised beds has buckled and shifted. Too much sunshine and not enough water and everything is a little scorched around the edges. The only plants that are doing well are those with deep roots; they can weather this time of drought and still bear fruit. I want to be like those plants.

This morning during my time of prayer and devotions I read: "I will pour out water upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land;" Isaiah 44:3 Lord pour out your living water, make my roots grow deep fed by your word. Help me to bear fruit in this season of drought.

The News Blues

We were watching the world news and local news and it struck us again how many depressing stories there are right now. Gas is almost $5.00 a gallon, foreclosures everywhere, record amounts of people without health insurance, tornado's, earthquakes, war and rumours of war. Fear comes creeping in and hope is pushed aside. In the face of such overwhelming problems what can one person do? I know what I must do; stand fast and face fear head on. We are suffering along with alot of other people, I don't have health insurance, we didn't budget for these kinds of gas prices when we bought our house 30 minutes from my job, bills pile up, income decreases, and I know people in the service in Afghanistan and Iraq. I want to send money to China, and to other people who need food and housing, and it breaks my heart to not have the finances to do more. So when I say I must stand fast and face fear it is a reality in my life. We are in a battle to keep hope alive. To live hopefully in the face of fear. To point the way to the One that is Hope. Every time the spirit of fear comes, you must knock it down with the word of faith. Jesus conquered fear. God tells us to fear not. In Psalm 34:19 it says "A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all."

The problems that are happening in the world are real, we are effected by them in all sorts of ways, but there is a bigger picture one that includes you and me. How do we respond to our circumstances? How do we reach out to help each other? How do we become God's hands, feet, and voice? I like this scripture found in 1 Chronicles "Be strong and courageous and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord, my God is with you."