Got up at seven this morning to watch the hurricane coverage. My heart aches at the video clips of children huddled in stadium seats at the Superdome. The pillows they clutch seem like scant protection against the monster storm they know is coming. At least when our kids cry out in the night, the monster isn't real.

A few minutes ago, they said the white flashing on the roof of the Superdome is shredded. Some sections of the roof itself have peeled away. It's impossible to tell the extent of the structural damage right now and there's no camera coverage from inside the building, but I'm praying the people inside will be comforted and kept safe -- not just them, but everyone in the path of Katrina.

Most people in the storm - aside from a few die-hards who stayed on purpose so they could say they rode out the hurricane - are there either because they have no choice, or because they're part of a force of often unsung heroes. Many many service people are risking their lives to keep others safe and healthy. Not only policeman, fireman, doctors, nurses, etc. but people like my niece's boyfriend, Tim, who's in charge of a massive effort to provide food for the emergency workers, Entergy personnel, and students who had nowhere else to go at the local coastal university. He couldn't evacuate. Too many people who need him. I'm praying a special blessing for these people who sacrifice their safety to serve others.

Some days even those of us hundreds of miles inland feel like the eye of the storm is bearing down on us and there's no way out. All we can do is clutch our pillow and pray. May God protect you from the monsters in your life.

I've been reading a lot of blogs about writing lately. I'd like for my blog to be more writing-related, but I hate to lose this one for just general ramblings. Hmm. . . Wonder if there's a way to have both on my website? I guess I'll ask my long-suffering webmistress. :)

My new heroine is Kennedy Marshall and she's really coming alive for me. As things happen through the day, the thought - Kennedy would think so and so about this - flashes through my mind. That's when I know I'm actually getting into the character. Either that or I'm certifiably crazy, depending on if you're asking my writing friends or the "normals" in my life.

When I'm starting a new story, I sit down and do a background sheet for my main characters. Once I have that info down, the temptation begins. Have you ever tried to sprinkle garlic powder or cinnamon on something, only to have the plastic hole-thingie come off? Yuck! That's me with my first draft. I'm overcome with a desire to share with the reader everything I know about my protagonist. . . in the FIRST chapter. Sometimes even on the FIRST page. :) I fight it though, and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, slashing out those paragraphs of backstory, saving them for later to be sprinkled in a little at a time. It's hard, but in the end it's worth it.

If you're a writer struggling with this, my best suggestion is to print out your story and highlight the parts that are "filling the reader in" on backstory. They should be small sections scattered sparingly (check out that alliteration!) through your manuscript. It's much more appetizing that way!

For you writers out there, how do you stop yourself from falling prey to this temptation? Click on "Post a Comment" and share your solutions. :) Readers, how do you feel when you're drawn out of the story by a long segment of backstory? Enquiring minds want to know.

I had a colonoscopy today. It wasn't a tenth as bad as I'd thought it would be. The prep yesterday was much worse than the actual procedure, but even that was do-able. Today, after I was wheeled on a gurney down to the surgery room I told the doc I didn't think I needed nearly as much sedative as most people. He laughed and said, "We hear that all the time and those are always the ones we have to hit in the head with a brick in order to get them knocked out." That's the last thing I remember until I awoke in a completely different part of the surgery center with Kevin rubbing my back and asking me if I was going to wake up. I'm not sure if the doctor used a brick or just gave me a normal dose of sedative, but either way, it was completely painless.

I've been meaning to have this for years. But every time I tried to schedule, I'd chicken out. Now I wonder why I worried and fretted about it for so long. If you need a colonoscopy for any reason, please don't delay. Peace of mind is yours for the asking. :) I have diverticulosis and also had to have one small polyp removed. (I'd appreciate your prayers that it turns out to be as benign as the doctor thinks it is once it gets to the lab.) I'm so thankful that God answered our prayers and gave me a diagnosis that I can work with. (High fiber diet, avoid peanuts, popcorn and anything else that might get stuck in those little pockets)

OH OH OH!! I registered tonight for the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in Nashville! Check out ACFW at http://www.americanchristianfictionwriters.com - It's an amazing organization. Click on the conference button and join us in September in Nashville! :) You won't be sorry!

My husband's grandmother passed away Thursday night. After several years of suffering from Alzheimer's and a stroke a year ago that left her wheelchair bound, she's finally at home with God, with a clear mind and a new body. My husband, Kevin agreed to do the funeral service and he spent several hours writing out what he wanted to say about his "Granny." He did a beautiful job yesterday afternoon and I know Granny would have been proud of him. He improvised a lot when he was up there and that made it even better, but here's his original written version. . .

Bessie May Lynxwiler . . . As her oldest grandson, I knew her as Granny.

She was tough as a pine knot! She milked cows for years at their grade A dairy, then later when Papa bought a sawmill, she would stack lumber on the tail end of the mill all day - working harder and getting more done than just about any big strong man and still have every meal ready when it was time to eat. Even though she worked like a man, Granny loved pretty things. You could hardly walk through her house for all the what-knots and things people had given her. She collected bells and before that, salt and pepper shakers. She had a set from all 50 states.

You might say "no big thing." But Granny didn't have the money available to buy these. She took out an ad in a farm journal that said, "If you will send me a pair of Salt and Pepper shakers from your state, I will crochet you a doiley." And when they started coming in, she stayed up late after working hard all day to do just that. No wonder her collection was precious to her.

But nothing meant more to Granny than her family. That's one place being tough came in awful handy. She and Papa raised four boys - each with a stubborn will of his own. She had to be tough to keep her bluff in on them. But I can tell you -- and I'm sure they can, too -- it wasn't all bluff. She had a saying: "If you don't straighten up, I'm gonna knock a hickey on your dubby-hubby, it'll take six months to haul it off in a wheelbarrow." I never was sure what a dubby-hubby was, but the thought of having a bruise that big makes me want to stay on the straight and narrow. When one of Granny's boys stepped out of line -- whether he was five or fifty -- she didn't hesitate to put him in his place. That was probably one reason they all loved her so much. And I believe each of her daughters-in-law would say she was the best mother-in-law anyone could have.

In spite of her tough exterior, her family never doubted her tender loving heart.

She had eased up a bunch by the time us grandkids came along. We mostly just saw the loving side of Granny. We never heard her say she was too busy to take us fishing. Or too tired to play rummy with us. She would let us stay up late until we thought we would fall out playing. And when our visit to Granny was over and it was time to go home, she'd give us a big hug and a VERY hardy pat on the back. Then she'd send us off with three words, "Granny loves you." We always knew it was true.

Yes, Granny loved her family, but she also treasured her friends in the community. Her later years proved her good judgment in choosing her friends wisely. You all have been so faithful to help take care of Granny, to call and check on her, and to show her lovingkindness right up to the end. And even though in recent times, she might not have been able to call you by name, you can rest assured -- Granny loved you.

Another thing Granny loved to do was feed you! Any time, any day! Sunday was really special though. A feast. Cold Lemonade. Milk by the gallon. White or brown beans, and pork chops, the smoothest mashed potatoes with butter all over, green beans, corn, and the best cornbread with crunchy crust. I know she had to float it in grease, but we'd never heard of cholesterol back then, and it was sure was good. If you left Granny's house hungry it was your own fault.

I always thought it was funny that at Granny's house the men sat down first and ate. When they were done, the women would eat. Now looking back it's not so strange. Granny wanted to be the servant that God wanted her to be. This was one way Granny chose to do it.

This was all a part of her greatest love of all -- Her love for the LORD.

She loved the people she went to church with at Brakebill and looked forward to every opportunity to meet back here with her brothers and sisters in Christ. Granny tried her best to get all her kids and grandkids to go to church with her.

She had a cross-stitched scripture on the wall above her chair. The passage was from 1 Corinthians 13. Bessie May Lynxwiler's life here on this earth -- as amazing as it was -- can be summed up with these words from that chapter. . .

THOUGH I SPEAK WITH THE TONGUES OF MEN AND OF ANGELS, AN HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM BECOME AS A SOUNDING BRASS, OR A TINKLING CYMBAL. AND THOUGH I HAVE THE GIFT OF PROPHECY, AND UNDERSTAND ALL MYSTERIES, AND ALL KNOWLEDGE; AND THOUGH I HAVE ALL FAITH, SO THAT I COULD REMOVE MOUNTAINS AND HAVE NOT LOVE, I AM NOTHING. AND THOUGH I BESTOW ALL MY GOODS TO FEED THE POOR AND THOUGH I GIVE MY BODY TO BE BURNED, AND HAVE NOT LOVE, IT PROFITETH ME NOTHING. LOVE SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND; LOVE ENVIETH NOT; LOVE VAUNTETH NOT ITSELF, IS NOT PUFFED UP. DOTH NOT BEHAVE ITSELF UNSEEMLY, SEEKETH NOT HER OWN, IS NOT EASILY PROVOKED, THINKETH NO EVIL, REJOICETH NOT IN INIQUITY, BUT REJOICETH IN TRUTH; BEARETH ALL THINGS, BELIEVETH ALL THINGS, HOPETH ALL THINGS, ENDURETH ALL THINGS.

Granny wasn't perfect. But the perfect love described in these verses was something she always aspired to.

Proverbs 116:15 tells us "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." If we've been faithful, God longs to have us home with Him. And before you think that God doesn't care about you because you haven't obeyed the gospel yet, let me tell you. . .
Second Peter, chapter three, verse nine says "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, NOT WILLING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, but that all should come to repentance." God loves us all and wants us to obey. Eventually for each of us comes the final day, though, and after that day there is no second chance. Verse ten of that same chapter spells that out. . .But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. . .

We have no guarantee of yet another warning.

Yes, Granny had her faults, but she loved God and tried her best to be obedient to His will. And whether we know it or not, woven tightly into our memories by the golden threads of her life, is a challenge from her - For each one of us to do the same.