Audra Jennings

  Pardon this post, but I need to do some ranting.  I really haven't blog ranted in a while, but I am bound and determined to get into a regular blogging routine again. I've been saying that for at least a year and a half now, even as a I spent part of the day working on back posting. I'm never going to get caught up, and I might as well give that up in favor of just starting anew today.  It's kind of a tradition of going First Monday weekend in January to Canton and stock up on clearance craft supplies. Now granted, I don't really need, scratch that, I don't need at all, anything to fill my craft room, but that's not the point. Not the point at all.  Now, I get it rained all night and it was 30-something degrees this morning. However, that's the time to go as proven a few years ago when my parents and I went. There are no crowds. It was the perfect time to avoid crowds and not worry about social distancing. It would be the complete opposite of the milli...

If today is any indication, 2019 is going to be annoying. More on that in a minute. First a recap of 2018: It was a blur. It wasn't the year I planned, that's for sure. I didn't expect a job shake-up. However, I can say that going freelance and joining a publisher's team has been a positive. I haven't achieved the right balance yet, but I hope to get a better grip on that in 2019. I found myself over-committed in 2018. Once I did have the job change, I planned to make more time to give myself some breathing room and work on my crafting business throughout the year. Until Thanksgiving (3 days that actually found me out of town at a craft show) and two days at Christmas, I really didn't have any down time. My getting ahead on crafts never happened. I set out the year with the word "better." Just try to do everything and be a little bit better. I shared that I chose that word with someone lately, and that person said that sucked as a "One Wor...

So... now it's 2015. There's nothing like a new year to remind you that you are a creature of habit. And that you're getting old. I think I proved the getting old - or at least acting like it - by going out to the church last night to play games with the senior citizens. Oh, yes I did. I played 84 with two of the elders, their wives, and the preacher's mother. Thankfully, the elders were my partners. The fact that I hadn't played 84 in 15 years says something about my age too. At least that was while I was in college. One of my high school coaches posted yesterday about her 23rd anniversary to another coach. I remember coming back from Christmas break, and the two had gotten married. Wow, I'm getting old, but I digress. Every year, I have the unofficial list of things I want to improve. They aren't official resolutions though. This year I want to finish the Bible reading plan I started two years ago. Although I read every day, it's turning into a...

Let's just move on past this Happy New Year stuff. I know, you expect that coming from me. I have a love/hate relationship with the last 6 months of the year. In a way I love the fall for the weather it is supposed to bring (some years, nature doesn't bring it). However, with the seasonally shorter days and every other excuse there is, the end of the year (starting with mid-November around my birthday) puts me into a funk. More dealing with family situations, more reminders of another year that has gone by without much change from the last, people going on about how they plan to improve themselves. Oh, my goodness, can we get to January 2 already? In 2011, I feel short of reading my Bible every day by one day. December 31 was the only day I missed. If only I did so well in 2012. I know I missed a week. The only resolution I may have met this year, and I'm not sure it started off as a resolution or a formal goal, but all 366 days of 2012, I posted on this blog. Now, ...

An interview with Joanna Weaver, Author of At the Feet of Jesus     Author Joanna Weaver confesses to being a fellow struggler when attempting to find a quiet time for study and reflection. She understands the challenges we all face. In her latest release, At the Feet of Jesus: Daily Devotions to Nurture a Mary Heart (WaterBrook Press / October 2, 2012 / hardcover / ISBN: 978-0307731005 / $ 15.99 / also available in e-book) , Weaver gives readers the structure they need to grow closer to God. This 365-day devotional encourages and inspires women who want to deepen their spiritual lives as they spend a year at the feet of Jesus. At the Feet of Jesus combines a conversational tone, real-life stories and insightful Bible teaching to engage readers at an emotional and spiritual level. Each page-per-day devotional includes a brief inspirational reading, a short Bible passage and a reflection question designed to create a greater hunger for intimacy with God. Q: Y...