Published on Mormon Mommy Blogs

Exciting news! My article To Be? Or Not To Be? That Is The Question was published on Mormon Mommy Blogs August 20, 2013. Read it here

The Right Words

Exciting!
Awesome!
Oh, No!
It's a Girl!
It's a Boy!
That's creepy....
Congratulations!
I got the job!
We regret to inform you...

Some words are wonderful, stirring and meaningful to hear. Others are terrible, sad, and scary. We use different words throughout the day to describe what we are feeling, tasks that need to be accomplished, small and large personal triumphs, frustrations, and communicating with family, friends and co-workers. They can be used to describe our character, our skills and our talents. We speak them, write them, read them, listen to them on the radio and CD, and we occasionally misuse them. None of us are perfect, but there are words that are better left unsaid, unwritten and unread and unheard.

“Put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.”

~Colossians 3:8

“And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking.” ~Doctrine and Covenants 20:54

 

Let us choose carefully the words we use. You never know who may be listening. The words we think, say, hear, listen to, write and read can have an impact on our future choices and the people we interact with.

 

William Edward Norris said:

“If your lips can keep from slips,

Five things observe with care:

To whom you speak; of whom you speak;

And how, and when, and where."

 

"How forcible are right words." ~Job 6:25

Awakening - The Dragon Valley by Nadja Spath

Book Review 

Awakening—The Dragon Valley by Nadja Spath

The Awakening is full of adventure, magic, elves, dragons, visions, time travel and a hero/heroine combination that you’d never expect! Kathy and Aaronn didn't plan on running into each other at the Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention. In fact, they’d met only one time before and she knew that he definitely didn't remember her. Becoming separated from her friends she wandered around the booths. One of them in particular sparked her interest. The banner above said that there was an artifact on display. As she made her way through the crowd, she heard a man describing an artifact made of an unknown piece of bone. Looking up to see what he was talking about, she was surprised to see Aaronn.  He was listening to the man and holding the artifact.  Then Aaronn noticed Kathy standing there looking at him. When she realized he was looking at her she tried to back up. The man behind her pushed her forward and into Aaronn. Touching the artifact with her outstretched arms was the least of her worries as they were suddenly transported to another place in time—another world. Danger, supernatural abilities, and finding out they were brought to this strange place to save it were not things they had anticipated. All they wanted to do was find a way back home. When that didn't happen they decided to immerse themselves in their quest. Fighting evil, deception, help from unexpected allies, and finding out who they could trust kept me engaged as a reader. I loved it!