From the Slacker ...

It's easy to get out of the habit of blogging. I've really been a slacker, haven't I? In  more ways than one. Hopefully, that will change with the first of the new year. Yes, I'm still alive, and tomorrow I MUST finish up my Christmas shopping--whether I want to or not.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes. Anything here you can relate to?

The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly. ~Oswald Chambers

You must keep sending work out; you must never let a manuscript do nothing but eat its head off in a drawer. You send that work out again and again, while you're working on another one. If you have talent, you will receive some measure of success--but only if you persist.  ~Isaac Asimo

The more we fear starting a project, the more difficult the project becomes in our mind. This is self-defeating. ~Rob Parnell

Sometimes, when it’s going badly, she wonders if what she believes to be a love of the written word is really just a fetish for stationary. The true writer, the born writer, will scribble words on scraps of litter, the back of a bus ticket, on the wall of a cell.   ~David Nicholls

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good. ~William Faulkner

My Christmas stories are featured on  Pamela Thibodeaux's blog on Tuesday. I hope you'll visit and leave a comment.  

Is everyone ready for Christmas?

Merry Christmas

 

I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas.

Be safe--be happy,

and enjoy your loved ones.

jess

A Scam Around Every Corner

Just got a weird phone call. A young Asian voice just called inquiring about my book, The Groom Wore Blue Suede Shoes. She called on our 'telemarketing' line-the house phone which has forever been defiled by those wanting to sell us everything from light bulbs to Hawaiian vacations. Several times a day we get a call asking for our blood. The last telemarketer calls us around 8:50 p.m. every night, and YES! we are on the DO NOT CALL LIST for all the good it does. If they ever get our cell numbers, we're doomed.

Everyone who matters (family and friends) knows how to reach us, so when the house phone rings, we usually just sit and listen--sometimes hilarious entertainment. Being the packrat that I am, I've saved interesting messages: I have sweet voice of my deceased sister-in-law saying she forgot to tell us something. I have five voicemails from my friend Barbara in Lafayette. She always starts the same way: "Hey, Jess... Hi Jess, Hey Gang, Hi Gang... Hey Jess..." I love hearing her energetic Louisiana accent. Former Prez Bill Clinton is on there too--certainly not because I voted for him but because it's just fun to have his voice on my answering machine. :)

But who is this stranger calling about my book? I investigated and learned it's not just my book she wants so beware!

Now for the record, I don't know if this is a scam or not but just in case . . .

The number she calls from is 877-207-1679 and here's a site you should check out to learn more: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-207-1679

This is exactly why I have a tee-shirt that states: Suspect Everybody. ~Dorothy Sayers

Be safe this Christmas Season. I hope you get exactly what you want under that tree.

Don't fall for any scams. There are a lot of them out there.

Blessings, everyone!
j

Season's Greetings and Answered Prayers

Merry Christmas. Gifts are flying around our house like crazy. Every time I turn around there's another one under the tree.

One special gift we've already received is answered prayer. You might be a friend who has lifted Alvaro Garcia's name to the Lord. He was in the accident in Houston on that snowy day a few weeks ago. The doctors gave the family little hope, but we stormed the heavens on Alvaro's behalf and begged God to heal our friend.

Alvaro’s daughter called with the latest report. Though he isn't completely out of the coma, he is responding to voices. His wife asked him to squeeze her hand, to give her a sign that he could hear her voice. He did squeeze her hand and he opened his eyes for just a minute. The doctor says he has all the good signs of recovery but it will take a long time and lots of rehabilitation.

Can you imagine how Mrs. Garcia felt when Alvaro squeezed her hand, when she saw his eyes flutter open for that brief second? Hope had to fill her heart.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Please keep praying for a complete recovery.

"Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?'" John 11:40 NIV

May Jesus be the light of your Christmas celebration -- and when the holidays are over, may He be the light of your life.

See you after the holidays.