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How A Bullfrog Beat Fortnite

Cruz caught this frog in our yard last week. We have toads on our farm, but I have never seen a bullfrog here before. There is no pond on our property, but we do have a deep ravine that runs the length of our twenty acres. Maybe the bullfrog hopped out of the ravine. I didn’t believe our eight-year-old son when he told me his toad was swimming. “Do toads swim?” I asked Scott (Scott is my husband if you’re a new reader here). “Please don’t drown the toad!” I yelled over to Cruz up to his knees in our […]

By Paula March 24, 2019

Farming Grace is moving forward

Does God ever surprise you? I mean really surprise you? Like what you planned is nothing like what you ended up with? But you’re really excited anyway? In January, I was thrilled to hear from my dream agent. It looked like I was on my way to traditional publishing, and then… as the days spun out really, really slowly, I remembered why I gave up on traditional publishing. Can I blame it on Amazon? There are millions of books now available to read thanks to the Amazon machine. This makes it very hard for traditional publishers to take a chance […]

By Paula March 14, 2019

Thirty Years With You

Our 30th anniversary didn’t turn out the way we planned. Kind of like our thirty-year marriage. We had to cancel the trip we’ve been dreaming about and settle for our ordinary life instead. As I watched you play basketball with our sons in the driveway last night, ending our day-long anniversary celebration, I realized our ordinary life hasn’t been ordinary at all. It’s been miraculous. While writing you this letter, I looked up the symbol for the 30th anniversary. It’s the pearl, though I doubt you care. You’ve never been good at getting me presents. Gifts to you are like […]

By Paula February 25, 2019

Bloom in the storm

In the middle of a big storm, our young nectarines bloomed. I walked out into the orchard because I couldn’t believe my eyes. “What are you doing?” I asked the confused little trees. “The weather is terrible. Why are you opening your blossoms?” I know it’s weird to talk to trees, but Jesus spoke to a fig tree in the Bible so I figure if Jesus spoke to trees, I can too. I was alarmed that our nectarines were blooming in the middle of hail, rain, and wild winds. Of course, the trees didn’t talk back to me, but a […]

By Paula February 19, 2019

What’s Happening With Farming Grace?

I know some of you are wondering when my new book: Farming Grace will hit Amazon. The truth is, I don’t know. We were all set to release it this month when an email landed in my inbox that completely surprised me. A year ago, I queried my dream literary agent. After a little back and forth, she said she wanted to represent me. Meaning she would try to sell Farming Grace to a traditional publishing house. At the time, I was frantically trying to finish Chasing the Wind. We‘d set up a preorder on the novel and more readers than I […]

By Paula January 24, 2019

When I was naked

Yesterday, I was shopping at American Eagle Outfitters. A tan, flannel shirt in the men’s section caught my eye. I walked over and felt the fabric. When I touched the shirtsleeve, a memory hit me that came like a bird landing on my shoulder. Not a good bird. At least not at first. When I was naked, he clothed me. Okay, I wasn’t completely naked, but I felt naked as I remembered that night years ago. This memory isn’t about sex. It’s about shame. And it descended upon me in the mall like a crow or a dove, I can’t […]

By Paula January 17, 2019

New Year, New Life

I’m starting the new year with four funerals. Four good dads. Four beloved husbands. Men dearly loved by their family and friends. None of these deaths were connected and yet I know at each funeral I will probably see people from the last funeral. My heart has been so heavy stepping into 2019. One of these men was only a couple of years older than my daughter, Cami. I will never forget the day I shared a Bible verse with this boy. It was at his high school and he looked so surprised but responded so sweetly. Michael was an […]

By Paula January 10, 2019