Posts by Michele Chynoweth

I just returned from another writers conference – this one a four-day trip to the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in Elizabethtown, KY – and as always I came back with my head and heart full of ideas and inspiration. But this time was different than past conferences…even different from the last time (two years ago)…

I hope all fathers had a happy Father’s Day yesterday. Some of you have lost your dads…others may have had or have a bad relationship with their fathers…or some none at all. But we each should take comfort in the fact that we all have a heavenly Father who loves and cherishes every one of…

The Beatitudes are one of my very favorite readings in the Bible, especially if I’m feeling a little blah or down. It reminds me that everything I do…all of the successes and failures, trials and triumphs, fears and frustrations…all of my efforts, whether they fall on the mark or fall short…will all be worth it…

I spent time doing something out of the ordinary this past weekend…relaxing. I didn’t go to the beach or the pool due to the rainy weather we’ve been experiencing here in much of Maryland. Nonetheless, my husband was feeling under the weather so I took the time to step away from my rat race of…

Happy Memorial Day to everyone out there! I am reminded of all of the freedoms I have come to know (and hopefully don’t take for granted). First I am grateful to God for making me just the way I am and granting me free will. I don’t always exercise it in the best ways but…

Had to say goodbye to my youngest child, my daughter Kendra, last night as she headed off to her new house, new job and new life in Florida after graduating from college. It was bittersweet of course. Just like when you’re reading a good novel and you know “the end” is coming and you want…

I was blessed to have my four-year-old grand-daughter stay overnight for a birthday sleepover and small party this weekend. She of course wanted me to fall asleep with her which I did…and then she woke up crying with a bad croup-like cough at four in the morning. I calmed her down but didn’t have any…

I went to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC this past weekend with my husband for the first time in my life…and they really were as breathtaking as I had imagined they would be and then some. The first really warm, sunny day we’ve had here in this area, it was a wonderful, romantic…

I was a contestant recently in a Toastmasters International Speech contest on the “Division” level (for those non-Toastmasters, basically the third tier in a four-tier contest from which the winner goes to the annual global contest and the “crowning” of the next “World Champion of Public Speaking.” I had already won the first two tiers…

Easter Sunday, the pinnacle of the Church’s calendar year, is a day filled with joy.  The Monday after? Perhaps not so much. It’s back to work, back to “normal,” and this year for many people living in the Northeast, still cold and winter-like. So how do we sustain the joy we have experienced as the…