Robin Gilbert Luftig's Blog

In the English language, there is a two-letter word that has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP. It is listed in the dictionary as an adverb, preposition, adjective, noun, or verb! (Click here for the Merriam-Webster Dictionary link and keep scrolling down the page.) There are over 30 definitions!

I cannot claim total originality for what follows (I think variations of this have circulated before), but it sure is fun to explore for us word lovers!

At first, it is easy to understand the word UP, meaning toward the sky or a higher position, but think about all the other ways we use this word:

You wake UP.

At a meeting, topics come UP.

Political candidates are UP for election.

Your smile can brighten UP a room.

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

You line UP for tickets.

People speak UP or take UP a cause.

And if a person is speaking too softly, we ask them to ���speak UP!���

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

With the right skill, you can fix UP the old car.

It is UP to someone at work to write UP a report.

You call UP your friends.

Please look UP your friends in your address book.

Unfortunately, you can take UP with the wrong crowd.

You work UP an appetite.

At dinner time, you warm UP leftovers and then clean UP the kitchen.

Don���t forget to lock UP the house.

A disaster strikes, and you must pick UP the pieces.

By clicking a thumbs-UP, you can say you ���like��� something online.

After the rain, we say the sky is clearing UP.

And … we’re not finished

If it has not rained for a while, we say it is drying UP.

The bad kid in class always stirs UP trouble.

You think UP excuses.

Someone must open UP a store in the morning but remember to close it UP at night.

A Pixar movie is called ���Up.���

Time to wrap this UP.

So, if you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time; but if you don���t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

[This post ran over a decade ago, and I thought I���d bring it UP again. Pun intended.]

Do you feel like you don���t matter? Are you happy ��� or are you doing what you never thought you���d do? Do you see consistencies ��� or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I���d love to chat.

Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book,��God���s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my��Book��page.

The post The Odd English Language appeared first on Robin Luftig.

Acceptance. It���s what we want. We often live for it. But do we offer it? Not always. Instead, we tend to exasperate those who see life differently than we do.

It’s an easy fact: we���re all different. None of us share the exact experiences that would make us the same. Some come from comfortable home lives and solid families of origin, while others struggle with empty bellies and absentee parents. While we may look the same, go to the same schools or even read the same books, we’re often very different on the inside.

What would happen if we recognized and eagerly shared–and accepted–our differences? Consider this … What if I saw, read, heard, or experienced life as you? ��I bet I’d feel the same way as you do. And the same goes with you. If our experiences were the same, we’d be the same person.

I know harmony is mostly preferable over conflict. Being greeted with smiles is sweeter than scowls. But often a time comes ��� something happens ��� then POW out of nowhere, differences appear. Then conflict. It may be a social media post, a loose statement overheard. That’s when our feelings get hurt, or we hurt someone else���s feelings.

It���s sad, really. Because none of us are the same, inevitably if we allow it, a diverse thought will slip in and cause conflict.

How about this: Let’s celebrate our differences! Learn from one another. Don’t shy away from challenging conversations. Because, honestly, who else do we learn from than those who we love? And if we are different, let’s allow those differences to enhance our lives.

Ladies of the Fire is a great example of friends accepting their differences. We’re brought to the late 1960s as we meet the newly-widowed Lily-Rose Pembrick reeling as she fled Lincoln, Nebraska, with her children. Only taking the cash from the house safe and what she could get her hands on at the family bank, she left the recently-inherited and successful Pembrick Transportation company behind. Exhausted from driving all night, she stopped in Applegate, Ohio, and decided to start a new life on Norwood Street. There, she met Fiona Kasey, an African-American no-nonsense housekeeper/companion to an elderly white woman, and Sugar Bowersox, a Southern spitfire who has lost herself in motherhood.

Together, they enjoyed Lily-Rose���s backyard fire pit, where dreams were spoken and secrets revealed. As they embraced a kinship they never would have sought, Lily-Rose began thinking her past could finally be laid to rest���until someone ended up dead.

The post Accepting Differences appeared first on Robin Luftig.

If you’re new to my site, you may not have heard me talk about Mitch Teemley. In his words, he’s a ” writer, director, composer, filmmaker, and thinker-about-stuffer.” His posts are pretty fabulous. What Do You See? is right up there for writers.

He made me think, too, when he reminded his audience of the story about The Blind Men and the Elephant:

His July 9th post was right on the mark. Click here and check it out.

Do you feel like you don���t matter? Are you happy ��� or are you doing what you never thought you���d do? Do you see consistencies ��� or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I���d love to chat.

Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book,��God���s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my��Book��page.

The post Writer, What Do You See? appeared first on Robin Luftig.

I need to be honest with you ��� I���ve been working on a writing project for a couple of weeks, but the topic refuses to cooperate. This is how the process has gone: I think the ideas are coming together just right. I���m feelin��� the flow ��� feelin��� the love ���

then WHAM … Everything stops.

I regroup, step back, and take a breath. I let it sit–let the thoughts perk for a few hours–then return to the computer, hoping a fresh perspective will get the flow back.

I talk with my husband and my friends, hoping a morsel from our conversations will align all the stars in what I’ve been keystroking. A glimmer of an idea surfaces. Maybe THIS will be the glue that pulls it all together. I start writing again ��� again, feeling the flow, the love, yada-yada ���

Then WHAM … everything stops again. Nothin���. I feel like I���m Charlie Brown and Lucy is holding my football with the promise, ���Really, Charlie Brown, I won���t pull the ball out from under you THIS time ������

The 50,000 words sitting on my computer look good, in my mind, anyway. After writes and re-writes, I���ve decided to leave it there. It���s not mishmashed per se, but it isn���t what was trying to burst from my brain, either.

To all my writer friends, I know you get it. I’m guessing most of you have your own half-written blog posts, works in progress, or stacks of research calling your name.�� You have a shelf … a banker’s box … a file on your hard drive labeled, “Not Yet”. We get it. Creativity cannot be forced.

But it can be fostered.

A lesson good writers learn early is to be a good writer, you need to read. I enjoy writing. I enjoy reading what I write. But if it isn���t flowing, stressing over what’s on my computer screen will not make the story come together any faster. I need to give myself permission to step back, re-charge my batteries, and allow the process to happen. God even told Elijah in 1 Kings 17 to beat-feet it from where he was, hide east of the Jordan, and allow the ravens to feed him for a season.

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: ���Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there. So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.��The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
1 Kings:2-6 NIV

If you’ve read any of my earlier posts on writing, you’ve seen I try to land on remembering how to focus. I

���m excited about writing, but I���m more excited about doing it right; doing it in a focused manner. When focused writing happens, everything in my world flows like honey. I know my obedience to God plan for me is front and center.

Jesus teaches us how to be focused on what we need to do in Hebrews

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

My project will come together in good time if I focus. I might not experience whams ��� but I’m okay with living a non-wham existence.

Do you feel like you don���t matter? With the year half over are you happy ��� or are you doing what you never thought you���d do? Do you see consistencies ��� or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I���d love to chat.

Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book,��God���s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my��Book��page.

The post When Topics Refuse to Cooperate appeared first on Robin Luftig.

Thanks for all of you who shared your thoughts on Ladies on a Mission. ��Here’s a few:

Robin Luftig does a wonderful job bringing these characters to life in Ladies on a Mission. The characterization is so strong that you feel like you truly know Sugar, Lily-Rose, Fiona ��� and especially Granny, who steals every scene she���s in with her feisty personality and sharp wit.

The dialogue feels natural and authentic, and the small-town Kentucky setting is so vividly written that you feel like you���re right there alongside the characters. Add in an engaging mystery and heartfelt friendships, and this becomes a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish.

Be prepared to start talking with a drawl. Robin drops you into small town, Southern life, and you won’t be able to resist the pull of the South. Lemonade, backyard campfires, and complicated family feuds. Oh, and one ornery Granny to boot. Enjoy the adventure.

Robin Luftig hits a home run with Ladies on a Mission in this story set in the 1980s that lends itself to a Hatfields-McCoy vibe. Her strong characters and distinctive storyline keeps you engaged and wondering what else could possibly happen. Strife, hardship, and maybe a little moonshine drive this story into a must-read category. Engaging, enjoyable, and fast-paced, Luftig brings a book to the table that you won���t want to miss.

Ladies On a Misson is a riveting story about a group of Southern women as they face a crisis which tests their calm country life. You���ll experience, as I did, a vision of Appalachia through the lives of the characters. Robin skillfully walks us through family gatherings, breakfast, lunch and supper, chores, crises, church and community. Thank you, Robin, for this wonderful story.

Amazon is a great place to leave reviews. Reviews move an author’s world. If you’d like to help, leave your review at Amazon’s Leave a Review.

Other books for your review

Feel free to check out some of my other books.

The post Thoughts on Ladies on a Mission appeared first on Robin Luftig.

When I wrote Ladies of the Fire, I fell completely in love with Lily-Rose, Fiona, and Sugar. On those pages, I watched Lily-Rose come into her own. While these three women built a friendship, they acknowledged and respected how they each loved life differently. And I was right there with them. Basking by the flickering flames. Passing cookies or chips to Sugar. Breaking up arguments between the possum eater and the northerner. I carried wood to the fire to keep the flames burning so the evenings would not end. I loved every minute I spent in Applegate.

After seeing Lily-Rose find peace and contentment in her life, and Fiona put to bed the emptiness and unanswered questions from her past, I realized I wanted to watch Sugar fully embrace her life as well. These three friends were going to always be connected, and I needed to see how their worlds moved forward. Their unbreakable bond is what brought me to write Ladies On a Mission. It gave the ladies a reason–ten years after their lives took them in different directions–to come together again as only best friends would.

It was clear from the beginning that the challenges Lily-Rose faced in Ladies of the Fire were specific to her. Then in Ladies Uncover a Secret, the challenges Fiona faced in the 1970s were different than anything Sugar or Lily-Rose would ever know. But as friends, they would all need to stretch to meet Sugar where she was to fill her needs. That���s the beauty I hope you find in Sugar’s story.

Several people and sources help form Ladies On a Mission. To write from Sugar’s point of view, the voice needed to be clear and authentic. I took a trip to Hazard Kentucky with my husband and took in what the community could offer. We visited a few diners (ate Fried bologna sandwiches), drove through a few “Hollars” (small protected valleys between two mountain or hills), read several books on Appalachian living (Thank you, Cindy Sproles) and watched movies about the Kentucky Appalachian Mountain area. I worked hard to say Ap�����pa�����LA�����chian instead of Ap�����pa�����A�����chian. I did my best to get into Sugar’s head. Feel what I imagined her to experience. Learn what I could only guess she knew.

Growing up, I lived in a small community in Ohio, smaller than Applegate. My world was surrounded by farm country and factories. And close to my corner of the world were other small communities. But I didn’t have any experience with hill folk. I hope you like what you read.

I���m excited to hear what you find after reading Ladies On a Mission. Let me know your thoughts on Sugar’s discoveries and how the friendship between these three women gave her strength. And let me know how you feel about Granny. Her position in the story takes a new twist. After you finally put the book down, maybe go out and chop some wood, bake some cookies, or whatever you need to do to bask in the presence of the three friends.

When I finished my first draft of Ladies On a Mission, I thought I had told all the stories I had for these three ladies and their lives together. It was bittersweet, but as a big girl, I figured there were other stories to tell.

After I received the draft back from my editor, I came across a phrase she highlighted then added a note in the margin, This is the title of your next book. Is it true? Am I finished with the three gals? Are we staying in Trotter or coming back to Applegate?

After hitting my head on my desk a few times, I stopped and looked out the window, trying to see the special and secluded view that Burl had at the end of Ladies On a Mission.��Then I smiled because my editor was right. There’s more to come.

Can a woman on the run find herself again?

Ladies of the Fire��brought us to the late 1960s as we met the newly-widowed Lily-Rose Pembrick reeling as she fled Lincoln, Nebraska, with her children. Only taking the cash from the house safe and what she could get her hands on at the family bank, she left the recently-inherited and successful Pembrick Transportation company behind.��Exhausted from driving all night, she stopped in Applegate, Ohio, and decided to start a new life on Norwood Street. There, she met Fiona Kasey, an African-American no-nonsense housekeeper/companion to an elderly white woman, and Sugar Bowersox, a Southern spitfire who has lost herself in motherhood.

Together, they enjoyed Lily-Rose���s backyard fire pit, where dreams were spoken and secrets revealed. As they embraced a kinship they never would have sought, Lily-Rose began thinking her past could finally be laid to rest���until someone ended up dead.

The post From Sugar’s Point of View appeared first on Robin Luftig.

It took me years to realize my family of origin was pretty dysfunctional. But as an adult, one of my favorite go-to’s when I feel low is remembering how caring and wonderful my dad was and how he honored my feelings, holding them close to his heart.

I would jump at the chance to be with Dad when he spent time in his special place–his Man Cave. That’s where he kept his guns, cameras and film equipment, plus special sentimental pieces from his childhood. I am certain he only allowed me in when he was there because of the guns. He told all of us, “The only exception to going into the Man Cave by yourself is if the house is on fire. Then you grab all the 8mm films you can. Everything else is replaceable.”

When I was allowed in the room, one of my favorite items I sought out was a stuffed bird. It was about the size of my palm, with wild ostrich feather plumage glued onto it. The yellows, reds, and green colors dazzled me. Dad kept the bird secured away in a glass cabinet. I was memorized by this delicate object, so out of place surrounded by items dedicated to hunting. I made stories about why it was set apart with reverence and displayed only for Dad���s eyes to see.

Was it a gift from a princess he had rescued from the grips of a ferocious dragon? Was it a piece of treasure he had found while hunting with Indians? My imagination knew no boundaries.

I figured���with all the wisdom that a four-year-old could have���since Father’s Day was approaching and Dad liked it so much, I should give it to him again.�� Since I was already in his room, I had access to the sacred bird.

When Dad was not looking, I carefully walked over to the display case and opened it. Slowly, I reached into the case and carefully grabbed the stuffed bird. I held it in my tiny hands as if it were precious jewels. I abruptly left and took my stolen booty to my bedroom. Securing the bird there, I left my room and brought back several pages of newspaper and masking tape. With all the care I could muster, I wrapped the stuffed bird as his Father���s Day gift. I was sure he would be thrilled with my present.

On Father���s Day, after dinner was finished, Mom and Dad were having coffee. That was my queue. I ran upstairs and scooped up my special gift for Dad. Standing before him I ceremonially offered him my carefully wrapped package. He looked at the crumpled ball of newspaper encircled with bands of masking tape and pulled me up into his lap so I could have the perfect view of the unveiling.

As he carefully unwrapped the mound of tape and paper, he revealed the soft, fragile stuffed bird that I had taken from his glass cabinet. He paused, smiled, and said that he loved it. “Thank you for the perfect present, Robbie. This is such a cute bird. I���ll keep it forever!” He smothered me with hugs and kisses. I strutted away as if I had just been awarded a national medal for being the most loving and awesome child of the year. Later that summer, we began preparation for Dad���s birthday. He never wanted much of a fuss, but we enjoyed honoring him the best we could.

Even in the most dysfunctional family, there are good memories. What stories do you carry in your heart?

I had no idea how to out-gift Father���s Day, then one day the answer came to me. Dad liked it so much that I’d give him the bird again.

One day while he was in the gun room,�� I carefully opened the display case and grabbed the feathered masterpiece. And as before, I took it to my room and wrapped it with newspaper and masking tape. When the time came for presents after dinner, I made sure I was at the front of the pack. Dad, once again, scooped me and my ball of newspaper and masking tape up and pulled me on his lap.

When he saw all the plumage and beautiful colors … and not missing a beat … he raved on about how beautiful this present was and how he was so pleased that I knew just what he liked. He never let on that he recognized the bird from the glass case in his room or that he even knew I had taken it. Instead, he made a fuss over me and my re-re-gifted item that had already belonged to him.

He made me feel like I had offered him the moon and it was the most special gift he ever received.��In my preschool mind, life with my dad was the most perfectest life ever.

I have so many wonderful memories of my father. With Father���s Day around the corner and if I’m feeling low, I will���just like every year���miss his hugs. Memories will have to be enough.

If possible, find something to thank your father for. You���ll be glad you did.

(Re-posted from June 2012)

Do you feel like you don���t matter? Are you happy ��� or are you doing what you never thought you���d do? Do you see consistencies ��� or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I���d love to chat.

Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book,��God���s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my��Book��page.

The post He Honored My Feelings appeared first on Robin Luftig.

It’s funny how and when things come to mind. While switching over the seasonal clothes in my closet (do others still do that?), a friend from long ago “Bonnie” … (not her real name) came to mind. Back in the day, our lives ran in sync. We were pregnant at the same times, liked the same herb teas, and even went back to college as non-traditional students during the same season in our lives. With everything we did, it seemed were connected at the hip. It was a wonderful friendship. It’s a real heartbreak, then, when friendships end.

Unfortunately, Bonnie and I also dealt with similar compulsions in our lives at the same time. I filed for divorce to start a new life. I soon began steeping in my dysfunction, not realizing the harm I was causing myself. And as a good (and compulsive) friend, Bonnie came right along. It didn���t take long for her to follow the path I had blazed and she, too, filed for divorce.

Again, she and I were inseparable. We even scheduled our children���s visitation evenings on the same nights so we could go out and enjoy ourselves; paint the town red. Life was our oyster and there was no limit to what was before us. We were two attractive young women looking for attention and enjoying all that we received.

But, as scripture warns, we had enjoyed the ���pleasures of sin for a season��� but when the season was over our lives began to fall apart. We didn’t recognize that we were spending time with people we never should have met… doing things we never should have done ��� going places we never should have visited. We were making choices we never should have made.

In the middle of the wallowing in muck and mire that was due to our choices, Bonnie and I severed our friendship. We remained civil with each other, but too many secrets were shared between us. The secrets that once bonded our friendship now carried the potential to do great harm.

Opportunities led me to relocate from the town where Bonnie and I lived in, and life for me moved on. Years later I found myself on my knees, asking God to take over my mismanaged life. I was humbled and thrilled that his grace had waited for me. From the point, my walk with Christ fills me daily with wonder and awe of how he could love and forgive completely.

A few years ago had the opportunity to return to the area where Bonnie and I lived. Once there, I happened to walk into a fast-food restaurant and saw a young man who I knew immediately had to be Bonnie���s son. His features reflected his parent’s so strikingly that I had to ask if Bonnie was his mother.

Yes, he said, shyly ��� how did I know her? I vaguely shared how she and I had spent some time together years ago. I gave him my cell phone number and asked him to have his mom call me. I was so excited about having the opportunity to chat with Bonnie. The thought of offering an amend, making it our relationship right, thrilled my heart. I wanted so desperately to share my new life ��in Christ with her. We had always been like two peas from the same pod and I knew she would get it, too.

But her return call never came

Her call never came. I thought maybe Bonnie���s son had misplaced my note, so I called her number that I had remembered from long ago. Hearing Bonnie’s recorded voice, ��I left my own message asking her to give me a call. I said I had lots to share with her. When I ended the message, I was excited to that I’d soon have the opportunity to tell her of my healing journey.

But again, no call came.

That’s when reality hit me–she wasn���t going to call.

Just because I had found peace in Christ’s truth didn���t necessarily mean that she had found it, too. I needed to realize that Bonnie had the right to not want to hear my amend; that she had the right not to accept the new and improved me. If she wanted to hang onto her memories of me ��� that was her right.

Just because I had found peace in truth didn���t necessarily mean that she had found it, too. When friendship ends.

Or maybe she was following Christ and chose to steer clear of chances to be tempted by past sins. Did she see me as an evil reminder?

I have few regrets in my life. I’ve given all the broken parts of my life and watched as he turned it to his glory. But if I had the chance to take anything back ��� if I could have a do-over ��� I would fix my relationship with Bonnie. It makes me sad to think that a great friendship ended because of past sins.��I miss her still and can only hope she has found the peace in her life as I have found in mine.

But back to my closet and switching out clothes. Seasons ��� they come and they go. ��Another Winter has come to an end and Spring is ready to begin.

Just as it should be.

When Friendships End
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What say you?

What do you wonder about?�� Are you happy ��� or are you doing what you never thought you���d do? Do you see consistencies ��� or are you all over the place? Drop me a line. I���d love to chat.

Struggling to find good in your life? Check out my award-winning book,��God���s Best During Your Worst, or check out any of my other books on my��Book��page.

The post Sometimes Friendships End appeared first on Robin Luftig.

June is my birthday month. You know, the month you receive emails offering free appetizers at restaurants? Or maybe a free ice cream cone at your local ice cream stand or a five dollar discount at your favorite store. It’s when servers even come to your table and sing to you.

Folks like to honor others and most people love a good party. Scripture tells us it’s good to celebrate.

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”
��� Psalm 118:24

It also gives a point of reference to take stock of past twelve months. What points of interest were there? Were there opportunities you could have taken? God’s words reminds us that we all have a purpose, and it’s more than enjoying the days.

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
��� Psalm 90:12

I have several plans for my birthday month. I plan on spending it with family and friends. I’ll also be at conferences, both teaching and learning. And I’ll also be ��taking stock on the days ahead of me.

It’s not lost on me that the number of birthdays ahead of me are fewer than the birthdays I’ve already celebrated. But I’m good with that. My life is full of love from people I hold dear. My life’s experiences have given me more opportunities to learn patience as well as tenacity.

And joy. I’m humbled by one of God’s greatest gifts to me. Joy.

If you’re at a picnic or beach … hiking a trail … or drinking a cup of good coffee, I’d love if you’d take a moment and celebrate my birthday with me. Thinking about that makes me smile, too.

Ladies��� Fans, Check out Ladies on a Mission

Full lives aren���t necessarily lives fulfilled.

Years have passed and it���s 1984. Sugar Bowersox and her family recently moved to Trotter, Kentucky, where Dungar could take the head coach of the brand new Trotter College. They were both thrilled too come back. Sugar thought once they returned to their childhood hometown, life would be smooth sailing. But those thoughts ended when a star football player is found in the weight room ��� stabbed and holding onto life. Dungar���s a mess. Their daughters are struggling as they try to find their way in their new lives. And Gran is feistier than ever. When Sugar calls Lily-Rose and shares the upheavals to their lives, she ached for her friendship with Lily-Rose and Fiona. ���Lily-Rose, I don���t know where to start. But I need you and Weeds. I sure could use a fire.���

The Ladies��� latest adventure, Ladies on a Mission, takes them to Kentucky and a world unknown to Lily-Rose and Fiona. New and not-so-new faces participate in this newest who-done-it.

The post My Birthday Month appeared first on Robin Luftig.

“My heart feels so jumbly … how do I know what to pray for? Besides, why would God answer my simple prayers?”

Over a cup of coffee and honest conversation, a friend shared her confusion regarding praying. She continued. “He’s God … Creator of the Universe. I need to make sure my prayer life has power, you know, carry a punch. What I pray for has to matter.”

Because Jesus knew his apostles were easily distracted (squirrel!), He broke down the elements of prayers. He warmed them not to pray so others would be impressed with their command of words, but to bare their hearts to the ��One who knows them better than anyone else.

Matthew 6:9-13 gives us the pieces.

���Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
��������on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
��������as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
��������but deliver us from the evil one.“

The elements are there to use when knocking on door of God’s heart. Reverence. Honor. Trust.

My friend wasn’t satisfied. “I do that, but where do I fit in asking God to help me find my house keys? That sounds like a stupid request … but I had to call my husband to have him let me in our house.”

When we live in a state of continual prayer, it’s easy to blurt out a “help me find my keys” prayer.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God���s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

I offered comfort to my friend. “When we have a continual dialogue going with God, keys can be a part of it. We see a friend in need, we tell God about it. When we see a toddler in the grocery story enjoying a tangerine and juice is dripping down their arms, we thank God for the beauty in small things. Not only is continual prayer like a chit-chat with God, it sets our heart in a state of continual gratitude. What a wonderful state to be in.”

I could tell my friend still needed help pulling the pieces together, so I broke it down further. “Tomorrow, when you wake up, pray like Matthew 6 shows us. Have a moment with just you and God. Honor him. Not because you want something, but because he’s God.”

She nodded. “I can do that.”

“Right? And after that, remind him that you want what he wants. That’s the ‘your kingdom come, your will be done’ part.

“I can do that, too.”

“Then thank him for what he’s put in your life. Your family, kids, friends, job … stuff like that.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty blessed in that way.”

I saw the light of recognition in her eyes. She was getting it. I continued. “When you tell God about that, you’re praying.”

She sipped her coffee then nodded. “Then do you mean if I do that all day, I’m acknowledging God all day?”

“Yes!” I love conversations that have happy endings.

I watched my friend as she started connecting dots … prayer dots. “I need to pray for my marriage. My husband and my kids. Because if I don’t then who will?” Another sip of coffee. “And I can’t forget that woman in the cubical next to me at the office. She’s always staring daggers at me. I need to pray for her, too, right?”

“Yep, That’s the pray for our enemies like Matthew 5:44 says, ‘But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

As we finished our coffee I silently thanked God for my friend. Our relationship was a true gift that brought an element of light to my life. But I’m sure he already knew that.

He’s a good, good heavenly father.

Ladies��� Fans, Ladies on a Mission is here!

Full lives aren���t necessarily lives fulfilled.

Years have passed and it���s 1984. Sugar Bowersox and her family recently moved to Trotter, Kentucky, where Dungar could take the head coach of the brand new Trotter College. They were both thrilled too come back. Sugar thought once they returned to their childhood hometown, life would be smooth sailing. But those thoughts ended when a star football player is found in the weight room ��� stabbed and holding onto life. Dungar���s a mess. Their daughters are struggling as they try to find their way in their new lives. And Gran is feistier than ever. When Sugar calls Lily-Rose and shares the upheavals to their lives, she ached for her friendship with Lily-Rose and Fiona. ���Lily-Rose, I don���t know where to start. But I need you and Weeds. I sure could use a fire.���

The Ladies��� latest adventure, Ladies on a Mission, takes them to Kentucky and a world unknown to Lily-Rose and Fiona. New and not-so-new faces participate in this newest who-done-it.

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