Happy, Relaxing Weekend

There’s more rain on the horizon where I’m at today, but as the thunder rolls and the sky darkens, I’m curled up in my writing cave crafting and polishing.

As five o’ clock approaches, I wanted to wish you a Happy, relaxing weekend!

Many of you will travel over this Memorial holiday. Some will have cookouts and spend time with family. Others will trek to cemeteries to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Whatever you have planned, I pray that the next few days grant peace and allow you some down time. It’s so important we build in moments to pause, reflect, and rest—something that often gets shoved to the back burner in the busyness of life.

Let me encourage you to guard your clock—to not do yet one more thing just for the sake of saying you did.

While fear of disappointing others is a motivating factor for many of us, when we disappoint ourselves the consequences are worse.

We find ourselves regretting the choices we made or the time-sucks we permitted.

And that’s the thing. When we repeat the same behavior over and over again we risk—dare I say it? Resentment. Stress. Anxiety. All those delightful (not!) emotions and physical indicators associated with burnout.

We can handle stress for a while (just ask any parent, caregiver, career achiever, etc.), but experienced over a prolonged length of time the weight of expectation suffocates.

This weekend be intentional and take charge of what matters. (Read Wednesday’s post about time management.) Choose wisely and let go of what can wait.

Now—I wanted to share a few housekeeping details.

Sometime soon I’ll review one of my favorite books here on the blog. I rarely post reviews because of (1) time constraints and (2) there are others who dedicate their blogs solely for that purpose.

The Reason is one of those fabulous books I simply must tell you about. Written by my friend William Sirls, this bestselling novel is a life-changer.

I initially read The Reason several years ago and I knew then that this was a story that had the potential to impact lives. I’d never read anything like it. It challenged my perspective and increased my faith in a new way.

It drew me closer to God.

Soon, The Reason will re-release with another publisher. It’s available for pre-order now. (And to add to the excitement, the film, starring Louis Gossett, Jr., just wrapped production a few months ago. Can’t wait to see it!)

I’ll give away an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) at the time of my review, so please stay tuned.

Next week (Wednesday), my June e-newsletter rolls out to subscribers. As always, it’s uplifting and encouragement-packed with a few fun tidbits and a smile or two. Sign up in the sidebar if you’d like to receive one. (No Downer Debbie content allowed! 🙂 )

Thank you for your Pinterest tips! I’m a recent adopter and I’ve had a lot of fun creating story boards. Check out my inspiration for future novels and let me know how you use Pinterest.

Finally, I have some great links to share with you.

Tina Radcliffe talked about Classic Romance Tropes this week on Seekerville. If you missed this post, be sure and check it out. Lots of tips and insight into the story-crafting process.

Do you have a true, first-person story to tell? Consider entering Guideposts’ Writers Workshop Contest. But hurry—deadline to enter is June 10th.

For a glimpse inside the publishing world, don’t miss A Look Inside the Biz by my friend Jamie Chavez. As you know, Jamie tells it like it is in a loving, get real way.

Onward to a happy, relaxing weekend, my friend! *clink*

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