READ: Review, LIFE WITH LORD BYRON by Peggy Nelson
A lazy Sunday afternoon, a golf tournament on television. Nothing special, right? This year, the Byron Nelson Tournament seemed extra-special to me. Yes, sixteen-year-old competitor Jordan Spieth and tournament winner Jason Day provided some great golf moments. But these only added to the interest sparked by my recent reading of a new book about the tournament’s gentle giant and founder, the late Byron Nelson. In Life with Lord Byron: Laughter, Romance, and Lessons Learned from Golf’s Greatest Gentleman, Peggy Nelson pens a charming personal memoir. Her detailed recall of conversations and situations seems so natural that I was amazed to read she hadn’t kept a journal. The deep love that marked the Nelsons’ relationship and nearly twenty-year marriage must have kept her memories fresh. Bryon married Peggy, more than thirty years his junior, at age seventy-five. Since her husband retired in 1946 after a career that included the famous “Eleven Straight” PGA tournament victory streak, Peggy experienced none of his career firsthand. What she did experience, however, was a man of deep faith, love, and integrity. These same qualities overflowed from the pages of the many letters she received after she wrote professional golfers and other friends to request stories about her husband. Life with Lord Byron contains plenty to satisfy golfers, including a bonus CD that features Nelson himself recounting the story of PGA Tour’s greatest single-year achievement. But the book also speaks to the many who, like me, appreciate the power of a life well-lived. Peggy’s warm, thoughtful style gives Life with Lord Byron an appropriately inspirational tone. Thoughtful readers will glean much from a man who loved his game—but loved God and other people more. If God grants windows in heaven, I know golf’s greatest gentleman is smiling down on his bride’s latest achievement. Nice...
read morePRAY: No More Prayer-Guilt, Part III
I hadn’t planned to make this a three-part series. The previous posts about prayer-guilt focus on the guilt we experience because we don’t pray or because our prayers may not sound as eloquent as those of others. This one fits a different pattern, but I think it belongs here, too. Not long ago, a friend wrote and requested prayer. When she did, she said “I guess it seems a bit selfish when there are so many more important issues, but. . .” and continued with her specific request. Of course it honored me that she asked for prayer. I had the blessing of cooperating with God in his answer, something that brings me joy. As I read her note, I realized that often we feel guilty about asking for prayer. Others’ needs often seem more urgent and thus more important than our own. We know people are busy, and we hate to bother them, so we remain silent. Sometimes, we don’t ask for the opposite reason. Our need is so overwhelming, so painful that we don’t want to dump it on anyone else. It already hurts us—why should it also hurt our friends? I know the answer: because it’s biblical. Scripture says we are to “bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Opportunities to carry physical, material burdens for others don’t come often. But opportunities to bear burdens of the spiritual kind—those come as often as we open our eyes, ears, hearts, and lives to those around us. Once again, the enemy rears his ugly head. He wants us to believe our prayer requests are unimportant or that we shouldn’t trouble anyone else. He’d love us to keep our needs, hurts, and problems to ourselves instead of sharing them with fellow believers. After all, if he can paralyze the body of Christ, he won’t have to fight as hard in his war against it. And since prayer is our power source, if he stops it or convinces us not to let it begin, he effectively pulls the plug. God’s funny. What’s biblical is also right. Not long ago, I witnessed a powerful, real-life example of this truth. The daughter of some precious family friends has been diagnosed with an eating disorder. After two weeks in the hospital, she’s undergoing therapy at a Christian treatment center. Many people would have chosen to hide the specifics of this situation. They would have made up a reason for her absence or told a half-truth to cover it up. Our friends and their daughter chose the opposite route. They’ve brought the problem into the light. They’ve shared the truth—and the prayer need—with friends at work, home, and at school. As a result, many others have had the opportunity to bear their burden through prayer. And as we bear the burden, we also share in the joy as we walk alongside our friends through their time of hurt, healing, and hope. I don’t remember Jesus ever turning people away because their requests were “a bit selfish.” Instead, he willingly allowed all kinds of hurting, helpless, needy people to interrupt him. Think about it—when you share a prayer request, you give others the opportunity to become more like Jesus. And the “law of Christ” you fulfill is the commandment...
read moreWRITE: Frequently Made Errors–Overuse of Passive Voice
“It’s amazing to me how such seemingly minor changes can make such a big difference.” My friend’s comment came after she made some of the manuscript changes I suggested. I smiled because I knew she understood. Minor changes often mark the difference between poor and good writing or good and great writing. My friend was teachable (as I wrote about in an earlier post). When I critiqued her work, she didn’t dissolve into tears, become defensive, or resist my instruction. Instead, she gleaned from my suggestions and applied them to her manuscript. Minor changes made a big difference. What kind of minor changes do I mean? When I review another writer’s work, I try to give some general suggestions and also mark specific concerns or problems. Inexperienced writers make similar mistakes. More experienced writers know these well, because we’ve made them, too. We have these and many more in our arsenal of errors. Over the next few “WRITE” posts, I’ll discuss a few Frequently Made Errors or FMEs. If you’re a writer, you may want to review your work to see which of these apply to your work. Minor changes can make a big difference. Today’s FME: OVERUSE OF PASSIVE VOICE When I began to write professionally, I read somewhere that passive voice marked a writer as an amateur. I stripped anything I wrote of all passive forms. However, I’ve come to understand that in writing as in life, balance counts. What’s passive voice? In a passive construction, the object of the action becomes the subject of the sentence. For example, which sounds better: “The ball was hit hard by you” (passive) or“You hit the ball hard” (active)? You saw it. The active construction reads better and sounds stronger. In general, active voice makes your writing flow and helps your readers want to keep reading. In another post, I’ll go over some ways to activate your writing and reduce the use of passive voice. Again, I don’t urge anyone to eliminate it altogether. Some events and people are or need to be. Attempts to avoid all passive constructions makes your writing sound forced and awkward. For now, check samples of your work for passive voice. Watch first for forms of the verb “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been). Passive constructions don’t always use one of these words, but many of them do. If you can’t find passive voice, you can’t fix it. Still unclear? Check this out: “Ways to achieve that fix will be discussed in the next WRITE post.” (passive)“I’ll discuss ways to achieve that fix in the next WRITE post.”...
read moreREAD: Review, Life’s Too Short to Miss the Big Picture: Making the Most of What’s Important by Steve Diggs
Financial counselor and life skills coach Steve Diggs offers bite-sized nuggets of truth throughout Life’s Too Short to Miss the Big Picture: Making the Most of What’s Important. Divided into seventy readable chapters called “Life Notes,” his book comes from the perspective of a fellow struggler rather than an expert. Each chapter shares personal and/or current illustrations, biblical solutions, and practical takeaways that allow the reader to move from principle to practice. Diggs’ warm, engaging style grants him ready permission to speak the truth to his readers. He consistently emphasizes his own shortcomings as he urges us to focus on life’s essentials, the “big picture.” But he also takes the next step and adds practical handles to that picture. A review of the chapter titles alone (“Help Meet Needs of Others,” “Cherish the Interruptions,” “Lay Down Your Pride,” etc.) reveals much about the caliber of their content. The book’s readable, accessible format makes it work well as devotional reading, one chapter a day. It can also be covered in a few sittings—the literary equivalent of a series of personal sessions with a caring life coach. At this time of year, a fresh graduation announcement arrives in the mailbox almost every day. Life’s Too Short makes a great gift for any eager graduate and would be equally appropriate as a Father’s Day offering. Steve Diggs has it right: Life’s Too Short to Miss the Big...
read moreREAD: Review, This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson (Revell, 2010)
Little things make a big difference. As a writer, as a parent, and as a Christ-follower, I believe and teach this truth. Eva Marie Everson’s shining new novel, This Fine Life, demonstrates it on multiple levels. Mariette Puttnam, a recent graduate of a proper Southern boarding school for proper Southern girls, returns home for the summer of 1959. Life’s inviting road stretches before her, with conflicting opinions from both her parents as to where it should lead. Her confusion becomes consternation, then delight when a chance encounter leads to a destiny-defining relationship. Little things make a big difference. As Mariette moves from pampered daughter to bewildered newlywed to reluctant pastor’s wife, she becomes an easy target for the more plain-spoken members of her new church family. Their public welcome gives way to not-so-private comments about the qualities which (in their minds) render her less than ideal. Will God use her weakness to show forth His strength? Little things—and people—make a big difference. And that’s the fine of This Fine Life. Vibrant, compelling characters; believable dialogue; tender, accurate setting; and a page-turning, heart-twisting plot prove once again that Everson can tell a story—and a beautiful one at that. She wraps this latest reader-gift with redemption, adds a ribbon of grace, and tops it with a lovely Southern bow. The only thing missing from This Fine Life? A sequel. Little things make a big difference. That’s why you’ll want to pick up your own copy...
read moreWelcome
I've asked God to use my writing and speaking to count for eternity. I'm passionate about relationships and creativity.
