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The Jar

This morning I came to the kitchen to make our coffee. The night before I had washed a large ice tea jar, which I left sitting in the sink. Sometimes our kitchen faucet drips just a little. The jar was empty when I went to bed. This morning the large jar was half full, which surprised me. Sitting down to read my Bible, these words leaped out at me, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” The jar immediately entered my mind. A small drip is hardly noticed in our lives, but when a jar is placed […]

By Paula March 10, 2018

Farming Grace

Three years ago, I wrote Farming Grace, a memoir on life, love, and farming. I turned it into my literary agent and waited. No doors opened. Absolutely none. My agent’s dad got cancer. Anna died in a car accident. Struggling with grief, neither of us touched the manuscript for a year. Then in 2016, Scott made me leave my agent and go Amazon. My fiction writing took off. And my memoir sat in silence while I wrote salvation stories. In my novels, someone always comes to Jesus. But Farming Grace came to nothing. I decided God wasn’t ready to do anything with […]

By Paula March 2, 2018

After A Cold Hard Week

It’s been a cold, hard week for the valley farmers. After a warm spell that brought out all the blooms in our orchard, a freeze hit. One or two days of this kind of cold farmers can manage with sprinklers and smudge pots. Actually, smudge pots aren’t used anymore in this valley, but when I was a kid, the old pots filled with diesel were burned in the orchards to keep the trees warm. Nowadays, farmers turn on their sprinklers to save the crop during a cold snap. Watering works for awhile, but freezing temperatures for a week are unmanageable. […]

By Paula February 24, 2018

Chasing Kit Carson, the inspiration for my hero, Peter Brondi in Chasing the Wind

While writing my final California Rising novel, I spent the past year buried in research books. One man dominated my days. Kit Carson. I loosely based my hero, Peter Brondi, on him. I feel like Kit Carson became my friend. When I first began researching for Chasing the Wind, I deemed Carson a heartless killer. He was known as the greatest Indian fighter of all time. Responsible for the deaths of thousands of Indians, Carson helped slaughter the peaceful California Indians along the Sacramento River during the Bear Flag Revolt. He killed Californios and Mexicans alike. He had so much blood on his […]

By Paula February 3, 2018

I figured something out this week after a gunshot wound to the foot

Last week was stressful. I’m trying not to think about it. But I’m thinking about it. Raising boys isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s not just raising boys, it’s battlefield earth. I feel like we’re in a battle here. Every day. All the time. I notice the battle more when I’m trying to finish a book. Strange things happen when I’m on deadline. Sunday night when I went to bed, I lie there staring at the ceiling with tears running down my face. Should I even keep writing books? Is it worth it? After a bloody week, I […]

By Paula January 26, 2018

Activate your faith and reap a harvest

Every farmer knows you’ll never reap a harvest if you don’t activate your tractor. You can sit on your tractor all day, but until you start the engine and drive, you’re going nowhere. This is kind of like your faith. If you don’t put your faith into action, you’ll harvest nothing. In 2017, I was a part of sending a tractor to Africa. Honestly, I can’t take any credit for this miracle. The Good Lord and a lot of wonderful people made it happen. But there are a few things I did that made a difference. First and most importantly, I […]

By Paula January 19, 2018

The Power of Loving People

Our youngest daughter and her new husband are so in love. Romantic love is a powerful thing. But there is something more powerful. God’s love. Romantic love ebbs and flows. God’s love never fails, 1 Corinthians 13:8. I’m taking an online course right now on Thursday nights. Last night, I had homework. Email seven to fifteen people and ask them to tell me what I naturally do better than most people, and what is one thing that is unique to me? I had trouble selecting seven people to email. I couldn’t imagine emailing fifteen. So stirring up my courage, I put the question […]

By Paula January 12, 2018