Posts

Owning Your True Value

Posted March 7th, 2019 | Mona Hodgson

I’m excited to introduce you to my friend, Sharon Jaynes. I’ve asked my sister from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) to share truths with us regarding the disparity between how we see ourselves and owning our true value, our identity in Christ.

Don’t miss the giveaway at the bottom of the post.

Do you remember the day you came to saving faith?

Perhaps you’re still considering a relationship with Jesus.

Or perhaps you can’t even remember a time when you didn’t know Him.

For me, it was on a summer night when I was fourteen years old.

When I think about how God brought me out of a home filled with alcohol, rage, and hostility into this wonderful relationship with Jesus, I’m amazed. The sheer wonder of it stokes my passion for Jesus and gratitude to God every time I tell it.

But here’s what you need to know. Just because I became a Christian when I was fourteen, does not mean that my feelings of inferiority, insecurity, and inadequacy went away. I was still a girl who felt worthlessness. When I made the decision to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, those feelings did not dissolve like springtime snow. (more…)

Writer Interrupted

Posted February 28th, 2019 | Mona Hodgson

Hi, friends!

After a ten month hiatus, I’m writing again and I’m back on social media more regularly. I missed connecting with you.

May 17, 2018, I was on my way to Kona, Hawaii, where I teach for YWAM (Youth with a Mission). For two weeks. Tough gig, I know. And one I count as a big blessing and look forward to every year.

The week of the 21st I would teach on writing children’s literature. The following week, my students would walk with me around the world of fiction writing.

I tucked my rolling computer case full of teaching supplies between the two purple suitcases in the back of my car. I’d slipped the file folder of notes for my nonfiction book for women between my laptop and course files.

Family members in transition lived with us the first three months of 2018. This getaway to Kona, though a business trip, would be the reset button I needed to concentrate on my own writing during the windows of downtime before and between my weeks of teaching.

As I drove the highway between my house and I-17 toward Phoenix, my plans for the day played in my head. First stop, Starbucks in Camp Verde for a chai latte. On to Olive Garden for minestrone soup, salad, and breadsticks before settling into a hotel room with my work-in-progress writing project. Several hours of uninterrupted writing stretched out before me. I sighed with delight.

We all know plans can change. We get interrupted. (more…)

9 Psalms to Bolster You on a Bad Day

Posted May 7th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

Hello, Friends!

Bad days happen. To all of us.

Days that show up as magnets for mishaps and misunderstandings. The kind of days that can launch us into emotional ups and downs.

You might be smack dab in the middle of that kind of day.

You are not alone. David and the others who wrote psalms knew days like that and recorded their emotional roller coaster rides in the Bible. From pouring out their hearts to God to pondering His ways. From petition and pleading to praising God.

The book of Psalms is a go-to for me when I’m battling a bad day, a day of emotional ups and downs. Here are nine Psalms and truths that help bolster me on those kinds of days. I’m hoping these truth encourage you, too. (more…)

Hope Building Facts About Forward Looking

Posted April 16th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

Hope Building Facts for Forward Looking www.monahodgson.com

I’m excited to introduce you to my hope building friend, Michelle.

Dr. Michelle Bengtson, a board certified clinical neuropsychologist, is also a wife, mother and friend. She knows pain and despair firsthand and combines her professional expertise and personal experience with her faith to address issues surrounding medical and mental disorders, both for those who suffer and for those who care for them.

In today’s post, Michelle talks about looking back versus forward looking.

By Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Have you ever done something that made you feel bad about yourself and kept you trapped in the mistakes of your past?

Have you ever been criticized by someone, and felt guilty, ashamed, or inferior?

Words of another can sting. So can the words of our enemy who seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy us (John 10:10).

Words of another can sting. So can the words of our enemy who seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy us. Click To Tweet

Often, we don’t recognize Satan’s taunts for what they are: lies. (more…)

Are You Living Connected, or Only in Close Proximity?

Posted February 19th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

I struggle with wanting to give in to our society’s endorsement of individualism. My natural tendency is to make life about me and my tidy comfort zone. Maybe you do too.

Expressing love from a distance is oodles easier and less awkward than responding to up-close and personal opportunities to reach out to others. You with me?

(more…)

What a Bone Rattling Bobsled Ride Taught Me

Posted February 5th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

Let me introduce you to my friend, Loree Johns.

Loree, a Write Brilliant buddy and one of my iron sharpeners, is an interior designer who offers inspiration for your heart and your home, earning her the title Decorating Devotional Gal. Loree and I met in person in Park City, Utah, last summer at the Write Brilliant live event for online academy participants.

I opted out of the bobsled ride, but not Loree. And I couldn’t think of a better time to share her story than the week the 2018 Winter Olympics kick off.

by Loree Johns

How bad could the bobsled ride be?

If the Utah Olympic Park let the public sign up it must be safe, though the list of health warnings on the ticketing site hung half a page long. When anxiety threatened to tangle with my peace, I stuffed anxiety into my back pocket.

At our Park City, Utah, writer’s conference, the Write Brilliant mantra was, “The answer is always YES!”

The Write Brilliant team encouraged us to step away from our norm during the afternoon breaks and seek adventure.

The adventure that kept jumping out at me was the Olympic bobsled. (more…)

Practicing the Art of Paying Attention

Posted January 22nd, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

On the last day of 2017, my twenty-something girlfriend leaned toward me. “Do you have your one word for 2018?”

I gulped. “Not yet.”

“Well,”–Kara’s brown eyes still glimmered with anticipation–“when you do, I want to hear about it.”

“Uh. Sure,” I sputtered. “We’ll get together.”

In the freshness of 2017, Kara and I had huddled at the island in my kitchen eating chicken salad. Our conversation centered around the concept of prayerfully considering one word or phrase that sums up a spiritual practice or posture for intentional focus.

I’d shared my 2017 word and related Bible verses, and talked about the applications stirring in my heart. Next, Kara asked about a focus word for her. When one word raced into her mind, the excitement nearly toppled the kitchen stool supporting her.

That was then.

Not yet, my answer for 2018, stood out as a stark understatement. The idea of one year ending and a new one starting the next day hadn’t sunk in. Until Kara posed her question.

December 31st marked the absence of any real reflection on 2017 or goal setting for 2018. (more…)

Victim of Grace: An Amazing Truth Every Woman Should Know

Posted January 15th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

Victims of Grace: An Amazing Truth Every Woman Should Know www.monahodgson.com

I’m excited to introduce you to my friend, Robin.

Robin Jones Gunn is an award-winning storyteller, the much loved author of the popular Christy Miller series for teens and Sisterchicks® novels as well as non-fiction favorites such as Victim of Grace: When God’s Goodness Prevails. Robin and her hubby live in Hawaii where she writes from her lanai, sipping iced tea with a fresh slice of pineapple. What? Me? Jealous?

Follow Robin on Facebook or Twitter.

I asked Robin if she’d share an excerpt from her book, Victim of Grace. She said “Yes.” Thanks, Robin!

(more…)

Choosing Clutter Free: 7 Steps for Getting Started

Posted January 8th, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

Choose Clutter Free: 7 Steps for Getting Started www.monahodgson

I’d like to introduce my friend, Kathi Lipp. I’ve known Kathi for several years, and then had the privilege of getting to know her better when we worked together for a couple of years at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference in California. The author of Clutter Free: Quick and Easy Steps for Simplifying Your Space, Kathi excels in simplifying and organizing. That’s why I asked her to share an excerpt from her book with a few basics steps to help us declutter in this new year.

By Kathi Lipp

Since starting Clutter Free Academy, we’ve had many people ask, “Where do I start?”

We all want to be more organized, more disciplined when it comes to dealing with our stuff. This excerpt from my book Clutter Free offers a beginners’ guide to help you jump in and get results quickly.

1. Pick a major source of pain. Get mad every time you go into the garage? See red when you try to relax in the living room? Is your office where papers go to die?

Whatever area of your home is causing you the most pain, that’s what needs to be addressed first. (more…)

12 Bible Verses to Live By in 2018

Posted January 1st, 2018 | Mona Hodgson

12 Verses to Live By in 2018 www.monahodgson.com

Happy New Year, friends!

December 31, 2017 snuck up on me, but I wasn’t sad to see the old year end. The New Year will bring one of our two daughters and her family back from Africa for a visit. We have much to look forward to in 2018.

Whether you’re cheering on the New Year or not, let’s you and I press pause for a few moments to begin 2018 with ready hearts, resting in the light.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Psalm 119:105, NIV (more…)

Posts

Owning Your True Value

Writer Interrupted

9 Psalms to Bolster You on a Bad Day

Hope Building Facts About Forward Looking

Are You Living Connected, or Only in Close Proximity?

What a Bone Rattling Bobsled Ride Taught Me

Practicing the Art of Paying Attention

Victim of Grace: An Amazing Truth Every Woman Should Know

Choosing Clutter Free: 7 Steps for Getting Started

12 Bible Verses to Live By in 2018

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