Blog Posts

How Her Marriage Was Transformed by the Power of Unconditional Love

7/31/2017

- by Danielle Bernock

The word love is thrown around flippantly yet it’s the most powerful force that exists. But not just any kind of love – unconditional love.

It can change your life if you’ll believe it like Christy did.

Christy was miserable in her marriage and wanted relief from the pain.

The following is an interview with Christy and how she prayed the strangest prayer, got an unexpected answer and changed the course of her life.

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How to Overcome Fear and Finally Start...

7/21/2017

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Have you ever wanted to do something – write a book, take a class, start your own business, whatever – and were too afraid to start?

Me too. But no more!

In this video, I'll give you two critical keys to overcome that fear of starting and just ... start.

I think you'll be surprised at the breakthrough you'll experience if you take these two steps.

Here's that free downloadable, Finally Get Started: The Kickstarter Worksheet.

In the meantime, in the comments below, tell me one thing you've been afraid to start, and have decided to start on.

-Kim

PS. If you want to learn how to silence the inner & external critics in your life, how to manage and avoid panic attacks, how to start without being an expert, and how to fail productively, you'll want to check this out!
If there's enough interest, I'll launch this new course:How to Overcome Fear and Get Stuff Done. Check out the deets here.

PS. If 3-5 people buy, I'll do it. I'm thinking of capping attendance at 10 people for this beta version though, so if you want in, definitely go sooner rather than later. (If you end up registering after the beta run, get on the waiting list for the next launch!)

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The Kind of Person I Want to Be

7/17/2017

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In less than three minutes hundreds of lives were impacted.

Hundreds of families and friends were left wondering what the last thing was they’d said to each other. Whatever it was, it had been the last.

This time it was my turn to sit in a pew for a friend.

To watch them say goodbye too soon.

To let tears fall as their faces and voices strained to express joy and gratitude in the painful dead-center of heartbreak and disbelief.

I just talked to him.

We just got together yesterday.

I still look at the door, expecting him to come in any minute.

Grandchildren and great grandchildren rose one after another to call him blessed – I was stunned. I’d seen grandchildren come up before, to share a poem or story, but never so many or so moving. This man left a legacy of faith and modelled a life well-lived, and even the young seemed to recognize it and mourn the loss of such a mentor.

The tear-filled gratitude of those left behind – even great grandchildren! – left me wishing I’d known him better. Known him at all.

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How to Slow Down in a Busy Day: A Lesson from my Daughter

6/23/2017

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I'm so thankful for my children.

I learn a lot from them.

Like their need for patience. Or my need for grace.

One day we drove home, a cloud of dust billowing behind us on the country road as I raced from one thing to another. My mind raced. The car raced. Time seemed to always run out every day and leave things undone.

As we sped past the grass, my ten year old daughter pressed her forehead against the window and watched the grass blur by.

"Oh!! I saw flowers!!" she said.

"Yeah?" I said, remembering the bunch of wild flowers my husband had picked me once. No occasion, no reason, he just thought of me and had picked them on his way home from work. I was moved by his thoughtfulness.

"We should pick some!" I suggested, and pulled over.

Out there, on the country road, I stood waiting for her to carefully select the flower that was just right.
The sky was so blue, the clouds so puffy and white, and all was still.

So still. Time seemed to freeze. Lists disappeared from my mind for just a moment.

I'd forgotten how refreshing it is to intentionally slow down - to take a break from life so I can live it.

With our kids off to school this year, I've had the chance to freelance full time. It's awesome.
As I hustle my face off to scare up new clients, serve existing ones, launch my own products, and do all the one-man-show things an entrepreneur does, tasks and worries easily crowd out the very moments that fuel me with inspiration to create in the first place!

I feel like I need to slow down. Relax. Rest. Think.
But there's not time for that!

... is there?

Here's what I learned at the side of the road this week: finding peace in the chaos doesn't have to be complicated. Three minutes picking flowers was a simple, free, short, easy thing to do, and it felt so good.

It's not about taking hours of rest; sometimes it only takes a moment to refresh.

*Happy sigh*

What refreshing moment made you happy sigh today?

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When God's Love and Grace Rock Your World All Over Again...

6/6/2017

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You know how sometimes a new understanding of a basic truth grabs your heart and rocks your world? Like all of the sudden the idea that God's grace just blows your mind all over again?

I love that.

And it's happening again...

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Chapter 30: Cancer and The Gift of Laughter

4/4/2017

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After Mom's near 3-month stay in hospital, some of these comics are a whole lot funnier. I get it now... >.

I haven't been able to even look at this story for months.

But, Mom's been gone for almost two months now, and I felt drawn to read her story again.

For those who don't know, my mom's 6 year long battle with Multiple Myeloma (bone and blood cancer) ended in February of this year. Since the phone call that launched this whole difficult journey, I've been recording it. What began as a journal became a story of strength, faith, and the light that shines best in darkness.

I didn't begin by writing a book, but it may well become one.

Here's an excerpt that made me laugh this week. I hope it does the same for you.

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What 16 Publishing Contracts Taught Me About Ego, Publishing, and Making Money as a Hybrid Author-preneur

3/31/2017

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Guest Post By Tracy Krauss

I used to think finding an agent and securing a traditional publishing deal was the pinnacle of writing success.

It would prove I was legit.

I’d finally be able to call myself a writer without feeling like a fraud.

Since my first book came out in 2009, however, my thinking has changed. I’ve signed sixteen traditional contracts, had an agent, said good-bye to that agent, used a vanity press twice, and self-published using both Createspace and Lightning Source. I've learned a few things.

I’m now a hybrid – a new breed of writer trying to use the best from both worlds.

The Truth About Traditional Publishing...

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What God Thinks Of Us When We're Addicted

12/17/2016

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Addiction. I never thought I’d fall into it again.

They say that’s when you’re most certain to fall – when you think you can’t.

I can definitely vouch for that.

I’d escaped from multiple addictions over the years – cigarettes, the need for approval, self-pity, shopping, guilt, complaining, fear – so I knew some pits to avoid. I wasn’t about to start any of that again. I had freedom. I was good.

What I didn’t realize – what I had completely forgotten – was that addiction doesn’t leap out from the bushes and grab you. It doesn’t wave its arms and yell, “Danger! Danger!!” It’s neither sudden nor obvious. At least until it’s too late.

Addiction is more like… a magician.

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Cancer and the Ministry of Suffering

12/11/2016

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My mom's cancer journey is one I've recorded from the beginning.
What began as a private journal became a story to share for the encouragement of others.

The struggle has polished my mom's faith to a gleaming shine, and I'm honored that she allows me to share it with you. I hope, by these excerpts, you find encouragement in your own struggles and praise God along with us for how He is good even in the struggle.

This time, I'd like to do a throwback to last October (2015). I love this woman's faith and aspire to such myself...

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The Bright Side of Getting Cow Plops For Christmas

12/5/2016

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For the last six years, my mom has had Multiple Myeloma, which is cancer in the bones and blood.

And it’s been a wonderful gift.
Not that I wish cancer or suffering on anyone.
It’s hard. Painful to watch. Painful for her to endure.

But one of the greatest gifts that has come out of it for me has been relationship with her. We’ve spent so much time together on commutes to and from the hospital and in countless waiting rooms, and have come to know each other much better. We’re closer. There never seemed time for that before. For that I will always be grateful.

This month Mom was admitted to hospital for the final time. Myeloma was causing kidney failure, and this was it. She would likely not make Christmas.

One day as I was wandering the hospital halls and contemplating this journey, I realized God had given me another gift: the gift of family time without Mom.

It sounds weird, I know. But Mom has been the glue that’s held our family together. She’s been the peacemaker. The cartilage in the joint. The patter-down of ruffled feathers.

It will be more than just different without her. It will be difficult.

As we try to figure out how to relate to each other without her calming influence, we’re going to step on each other’s toes. We won’t mean to, we’ve just never done this without Mom before.

I felt like I had rounded the corridor in a hospital and discovered a big, beautiful gift on the floor. You know, the white box with the pretty red ribbon? I was elated at the opportunity for growth. We had a unique chance at deeper relationship. It was a first-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I. was. Thrilled.

But, as Mom slipped away, sleeping more and more, and we were left to interact without her to help us, it was … well… clunky and horrible. We’re terrible at this. We’ve never done this before. So we hurt each other. Even if we don’t mean to.

That’s when it hit me.

I had opened the gift.

I’d removed the beautiful ribbon and took off the lid, and inside the box was something stinky.

God had given me cow plops for Christmas.

Big, stinky cow plops.

But here’s the thing. A person can look at a gift like that and think, ‘Eww!!! What a crappy gift! I hate this stupid Christmas!’ or a person can think, ‘Ah… fertilizer… I get it. Thank you.”

As I stare down into the big box of stink that God has gifted me this Christmas, I am reminded of James 1:17: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

My wise writer friend Violet Moore often said this of that passage:
The good gifts are the ones we want.
The perfect gifts are the ones we don’t want.

I say this all to encourage you.

Whatever you’re struggling with, however awkward and horrifying and stinky your journey is, I promise you, the journey is a gift. It might seem like the worst gift ever, but maybe that’s exactly what is needed.
If you’re also receiving cow plops for Christmas, let’s decide together to look into the box and call it perfect.

Because it is.

Even if it stinks for a while.

As Mom says, "It's all good."

And it really is.

.

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