I was feeling sociable this week, so I asked Michele if I could join Blogging Chicks. I’ve seen this cute little HTML on lots of your sites — and it piqued my interest. (Especially when I saw it on Gina’s blog.)

Are any of you Blogging Chicks? Well, what am I supposed to do now? I know there are writing Carnivals every now and then. Michele, who runs the site, describes herself as:

I’m a stay-at-home mom who is never home (I’m usually in my car). I have two daughters, a 14 year old and a 10 year old and a generous and longsuffering husband. I’m 45 but feel at times like I’m 19 and other times like I’m 80. And I’m a part-time student at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. I’m in the M.A.R. Biblical Studies program and I hope to publish Bible studies when I complete my degree.

She sounds like someone I’d like to get to know. How exciting to be learning Greek in seminary!

There are more cute graphics here, compliments of Gabrielle.

FYI, the Blogging Chicks blogroll is on the bottom left in my sidebar — I recognize several of you in there — but there are also lots of blogs I’ve never heard of.

[Edit: I have removed the P.S. from this post. I apologize for any misunderstandings my words may have caused.]

I’m very excited today that we have a guest visiting with us here on Mom 2 Mom! Award-winning author Deborah Raney enjoys mentoring writers, with a special desire to help women who long to carve out a writing career amidst the awesome responsibility of raising a family.

I was blessed to hear Deborah speak at the Blue Ridge Christian Writers’ conference a couple of years ago. Now she’s offering us a peek into her popular “Time Management 101 for Writers” workshop.

Deborah says, “I have a real heart for encouraging moms since I was a stay-at-home mom for 20 years before my kids grew up and my writing career took off.”

According to Deborah’s website, she’s now at work on her fourteenth novel. Her books have won the RITA Award, the HOLT Medallion, the National Readers’ Choice Award and the Silver Angel from Excellence in Media.

Deborah’s first novel, A Vow to Cherish, inspired the World Wide Pictures film of the same title.

Here are her tips for helping us manage our time:

TIME MANAGEMENT 101 FOR WRITERS

1. Lower your standards for household chores.
There is no law or rule in this world that says you have to dust every week, mow the lawn twice a week or clean closets twice a year. I dust about once a month. I have not lost one friend over it, nobody has come to arrest me, no one has developed allergies from all the dust. In fact, I opened up the newspaper a while back to discover that scientists suspect one reason people have so many allergies today is because we live in environments that are TOO clean, thus we haven’t been able to build up any immunities to dust mites, etc. (It’s no coincidence that no one in my family is allergic to ANYTHING!)

2. Delegate.
When I started writing, my family treated it as if I’d taken a full-time job outside the home. My husband started doing laundry (something he’d never, ever done before, except maybe when I was in the hospital having babies), and my kids picked up the slack with the housework and yard work. No, things didn’t always get done quite to the standards I would have preferred, but it got done, and they gained all kinds of good life-skills as a result. If you already work a full-time job besides writing, maybe you can cut back somewhere else and hire someone to mow your lawn, change your oil, clean your house, or send the ironing out occasionally.

3. Ban television from your life.
For ten years while our kids were small, we didn’t even own a TV, so it’s not much of a sacrifice for me to turn off the tube, but even today with two TVs in the house, the only time I watch is for 30 minutes each night while I ride my elliptical trainer, and occasionally on Friday or Saturday nights if my husband and I rent a movie. I simply do not have spare time to sit and watch TV. On the other hand, if you find inspiration in movies or sit-coms, or if watching TV is truly relaxing for you, then quit feeling guilty and count it as “work.”

4. Add a few good, nutritious fast foods and convenience foods to your weekly menu.
Or teach the rest of your family how to cook. My kids all learned to be good cooks, thanks to my writing career. We also started ordering frozen entrees and convenience foods from Schwan’s, a frozen food delivery service. Yes, it’s a little more expensive than home cooking, but we decided it’s worth it. If that’s not an alternative for you, maybe you could spend one day every couple of weeks cooking a freezer full of entrees. Then all you have to do is thaw something out and pop it in the oven each night. The Crock-Pot is also a writer’s best friend.

5. Multi-task.
If I do watch a movie or a newscast in the evening, I try to clip coupons or fold laundry, sew on a button, or clean out the junk drawer while I watch. If I go for a walk, I brainstorm the scene I’m working on. If I’m playing cards with my kids or Scrabble with my husband, I have a writing magazine beside me to skim while they shuffle. (I can usually get through three magazines while my husband tries to spell one word in Scrabble! Of course, he beats me every time, too, so…)

6. Practice the art of “just say no.”
When I started writing, I tried to stay active with all my volunteer work, clubs, church activities, etc. I finally realized that I just could NOT do both. In the past three years, I’ve turned over the church newsletter to someone else (I still teach Sunday School with my husband), gave up freelance proofreading for our weekly newspaper, dropped out of one of my women’s Bible studies, and retired after my second four-year term on our city’s recreation commission. Writing takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and commitment. If you’re serious about writing, you will probably have to give up some other things you enjoy. But oh, to be able to say, “I am a writer” makes it all worthwhile.

Thank you, Deborah, for these awesome tips! What fascinates me most of all is that she was a stay-home mom for 20 years before her writing career took off. God has truly blessed her for choosing to put her dreams on hold and put her family first. For those of us who are still home with little ones changing diapers, Deborah Raney’s story shows us how it can be done!

Deborah’s newest book is an updated and expanded version of her first novel, A Vow to Cherish, published by Steeple Hill. A sequel, Within This Circle, will come out next June. And in January her first novel with Howard Books/Simon & Schuster will release. It’s titled Remember to Forget and is an allegory of new life in Christ. Be sure to stop in and visit her website to see pictures of her family, including her new little grandbaby!

I’m eating an apple right now, and I thought this blogworthy enough to tell you about it.

I went to the kitchen to get a snack, and every ounce of me wanted something munchy. Something crunchy and crumbly, loaded with carbs. I’m stressed because I’ve got several writing deadlines this week, and let’s not even talk about all the millions of places I need to be with the kids.

But I remembered something I wrote a couple of years ago, Soul Refreshment, about how making big changes in your life starts with little decisions. The decision to eat an apple instead of potato chips, for example. So I cut up a Golden Delicious apple and am working on it right now. (Couldn’t resist that gorgous photo of those luscious red apples.)

This is my accomplishment for today. Yesterday, my big accomplishment was FINDING the lost button, FINDING my needle and thread, SEWING the button on the uniform skort, and WASHING the skort so that my daughter had something clean and buttoned to wear to school today.

In the grand scheme of life, eating an apple and sewing on a button may not seem all that significant, but for me … well … it’s a step toward something.

P.S. In case you live near me and have any questions about local food banks or Christmas parades and candlelight tours, I’ve unfortunately become the expert on these two topics, using my best phone voice. When I’m not munching an apple.

What were you doing on 9-11-01?

Five years ago, we were living way out in the country, on a dirt road. Since I didn’t have the TV on that morning, I left the house to drop off my oldest daughter at preschool without knowing anything had happened.

My next stop was at a church, where my kindergarten-aged son joined in with our homeschool chorus. They were practicing for an upcoming musical. When I dropped him off at the door, the director, Julie, looked worried.

“I guess we’ll still have our chorus practice,” she said.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked her.

“Well, when you get back in the car, turn your radio on,” she told me. “A plane just struck the World Trade Center.”

My stomach dropped. I didn’t know what she meant — but I was too embarrassed to ask questions because I thought I should know more.

I listened to the radio on the way home, with my one-year-old babbling happily in the backseat. I couldn’t believe it. The other plane had struck by then, and the radio announcer said another plane had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. I felt for sure we were under attack, and I was scared to death.

My husband called as soon as I got home, and he said it was all over the news. I turned the TV on and joined the rest of the nation in shock, afraid to step away from the screen.

Later in the morning, the Lord put an old friend on my heart, and I wondered what she’d been up to lately. The urge to talk to her was so strong that I called her up. What she told me was even more devastating than what I kept seeing over and over on TV.

We talked briefly about the tragic news in New York, then I asked how she was doing.

“Not too well,” she told me. Her voice began to waver. “I found out my babysitter’s 14-year-old son was molesting my four-year-old daughter.” We both started to cry on the phone. Honestly, that news affected me more than anything on TV.

I told her how sorry I was, then she shared with me a few details of how they found out and what they’d had to go through — taking their little girl to the hospital for tests, getting a court order, the complete devastation and anger her family felt. They had trusted this family who ran an in-home daycare service. These were church-going people, and it came as a shock to everyone.

My heart was heavy all day; as I watched images of the two planes crashing over and over again, and the Twin Towers crumbling, I also thought of that little four-year-old girl whose childhood innocence had been destroyed.

Well, I’ve never written about that before — but in the five years following that day, I find that I don’t trust any teenage boys around my children. (Sorry, no offense, if you have teen boys!) I really have a hard time trusting ANYone around my kids. Thankfully, I can be home most of the time, and we also live near both sets of grandparents.

Anyway, that’s how 9-11-01 affected me personally … and profoundly.

We stayed glued to the TV for several days, at first praying there would be survivors, and then praying for the victims’ families. We read and listened to the many inspirational stories of heroes, looking for a glimmer of hope amidst all the terror. As our country united against evil, we bowed together asking God for His mercy and peace.

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is compiling blogger stories about 9-11, and Trish Berg’s column at CBN.com, The Day When Terror Met Love, includes tips on how parents can teach their children about this tragedy.

I learned something new today — there is a Green Tea flavor of Pocky!

You Are Green Tea Pocky

Your attitude: natural and zen Peaceful yet full of life. Deep and thoughtful. You’re halfway to tantric bliss!

I read about this on Iris’ Sting My Heart blog — her son is preparing to go live in Japan, so she’s interested in Japanese culture. She is Strawberry Pocky. What flavor are you?

I’m surprised I wasn’t chocolate — because actually that’s my favorite flavor of Pocky. My mom sometimes goes to a Japanese store in Atlanta and buys some of my favorite Japanese snacks — like those adorable Koala Bear cookies that are delicious!

When I taught English in Japan, my little elementary-aged students knew that I loved Pocky, and they’d buy some for me. The strawberry kind is good too. I miss Japanese snacks — especially the “fast food” I’d eat before I taught a lesson. I’d jump off my bike, dash into a little shop, and buy some nori (seaweed) wrapped around rice and tuna. I’d eat that along with an iced green tea or a “Georgia Coffee” and be good to go for a few more hours.

Thanks, Iris, for bringing back those fun memories.

Tomorrow is the 5-year-anniversary of 9-11. There are several blogger projects going on to help us remember, such as Project 2,996.

If you’ve been blessed by a blogger lately, here’s your chance to tell everybody. Just write something on your own blog, and send the link to Christian Women Online. Or if you don’t blog, then you can comment here.

I’ve been blessed by so many people, but I have to highlight two bloggers who really made me go, “Wow!” this week.

Carol of She Lives
This week, my local Jr. Woman’s Club sent out our monthly newsletter, and as I looked over the list of upcoming fall projects, I saw the Memory Walk coming up in October. This event raises money for the Alzheimer’s Association, and last year, our city raised $15,000. Our club has been asked to help staff registration and set-up.

It will take up several hours of my Saturday, but as I gave it some thought, I remember a post Carol wrote back in June about her father, She Takes a Walk. Carol wrote about how her father passed away from Alzheimer’s Disease when he was 65 years old, and that it’s hereditary in her family. Every time I read her post, I get tears in my eyes.

Before her father died, Carol worked very hard to make her dad a scrapbook to help him remember the special people in his life. But she went beyond this — she signed up to be a Creative Memories Consultant and taught workshops to help other people create their own memory albums. She was asked to keynote the Memory Walk kick-off luncheon in her hometown, and her team won an award for raising the highest amount of funds. You can see a picture in her post.

So, thanks to Carol’s passion for Alzheimer’s patients, I feel that I have a personal connection to this association, and now I’m getting involved locally. And of course I have a story to tell people. I hope you can read She Takes a Walk, if you haven’t already.

Jenn of Secular Transcendence: The Random Adventures of a Recently Born Again Messianic Jew
I didn’t realize Jenn had a new blog until this week. Our “paths” crossed during the Beth Moore Living Beyond Yourself online study — Jenn and I were both members of this group. I have to say “Wow!” a million times when I’ve read about her transformation — what joy to have a new sister in Christ as a result of this study!

I read Jenn’s post of August Book Reviews, and I had to jump over to her old blog to read her review of Watching the Tree Limbs, by Mary DeMuth. I read that book too and reviewed it for CWO last month.

Here are the sentences in Jenn’s review that took my breath away (if she doesn’t mind me quoting):

Stopping at various passages to meditate on an idea or little snippet of dialogue that touched me I felt the hand of God reach down and cup my face up to tell me, “Now, do you remember child? You are Mine. You need not worry about anything because I’ve got it all under control.”

See, I had forgotten. I had shut my eyes to Him everywhere, to His whispers in everything. I got wrapped up in this Earthly mess we call life and just plain forgot to stop thinking for myself. I forgot what it felt to be free. I forgot to let the Spirit take over. It happens to me. I don’t know why, but it does. How quickly everything just falls to pieces when that happens. But how quickly it all comes together when I remember.

I thank you God for leading me to this book. I thank you Ms. Demuth for not being afraid to share your story, for reminding me that I have a purpose in life, probably not unlike your own but more importantly for reminding me that I’m His and He loves me and will never, ever forget me.

After I read that, I emailed Jenn and asked if she’d ever visited Mary DeMuth’s blog — and she wrote back that she didn’t even know Mary had one! So I sent this review link to Mary, and they’ve connected. Mary wrote about it here.

There are more bloggers who’ve blessed me, but I guess this is long enough for one post. I’ve never met any of these ladies personally, yet we’re connected through our faith and our words.

Confession time. Did you exercise yesterday? Uh. huh. How about today? Are you making excuses like me?

If you want to read my Top Ten List of why I can’t seem to get my rear in gear, you can join me at the b5 media Science & Health Channel theme day. Christina of MRSA Notes is hosting today’s topic, and I’ve joined in, along with my other bloggity friends at b5. Leave us a comment and let us know what top ten list you can relate to most.

The new September issue of Christian Women Online is out. Once again, it’s full of inspiring ideas to help us gear up for fall. This issue also contains a visit from a celebrity — you’ll be surprised hearing how this beautiful woman lives out her faith, along with her famous (and I must add, adorable) celebrity brother. Click here to see who.

My Book Buzz column this month lists my favorite books for getting toned up this fall — in your home, your marriage, your finances, your spiritual walk, and your friendships.

There’s always something new going on at CWO. Editor Darlene Schacht sent out a note to the Blogring members that there are over 500 bloggers now who have joined up. It’s a great way to “meet” other like-minded believers — so, have you signed up yet?

Starting tomorrow, we’ll have the chance to post how we’ve been Blessed by a Blogger. If you’ve read something amazing lately, or you’ve been encouraged by a blogger, here’s your chance to let the world know. Then send your link here, and join the crowd. I’ve been saving up all week for this.

Our children’s choirs at church are already practicing for their Christmas musical, which will be in early December. I’m so impressed with what they’re working on, I just had to tell you about it.

If you’re in a huge church, it’s probably too late to start looking for material to put on a children’s Christmas performance. But if you’re in a smaller church or homeschool, then this musical might be the perfect solution for something you could do.

The author, Nancy Brant, has a website that shows pictures of the children performing “Joy Story” in costume. She’s the director of one of the largest children’s choir programs in the country, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida. Her program has a whopping 700 kids ages 4 through 5th grade, and she’s been doing this for nearly 30 years. She also helped direct the children’s choirs for the Billy Graham crusade in Jacksonville and Nashville, along with Diane Dawson.

Here’s the information about it from the website:

“Joy Story” is a Christmas Musical Fantasy set in a wonderful place called “The Joy Store.” It is the ultimate toy store where the toys are priceless and the joy is free!

As the story begins, Miss Joy is worried by news that her lease has been bought by a “mega” toy store owner, FAO Schmaltz, who can’t wait to make LOTS of changes – and LOTS of money! As he arrives to begin his renovations, the “toys” step “down from their shelves and into his heart” to teach him about “the Scarlet Thread” that weaves its way through the Bible, tracing a path from God to man.

Along the way, the toys show him the real reason for Christmas. With each song, FAO and your audience will discover another piece of “the tapestry” as God’s picture of Jesus is revealed.

At the end of their journey is the manger. As FAO comes face to face with Emmanuel, he discovers that “in every heart there is a longing” to know Jesus. Come along with the toys on an unforgettable musical adventure and discover that God always gives power to those who will tell His Story!

Doesn’t this sound awesome? It’s exciting for me as a parent to know my children will experience the Christmas story in a fresh way this year. Sure, we could sit at home and read it out loud from the book of Luke, which we’ll do as a family, but this allows them to also experience it with their peers.

Which reminds me, have you read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson? Oh, I loved that book growing up, and I read it again last year with my son who was in 4th grade. Those Herdman kids teach me something new every time I read it.

I know it’s still September, but I felt a breath of the Christmas spirit blow over me today. The church sent home a CD for us to listen to the music and practice it. Hopefully, as we move closer to Christmas, this will help our kids see the real reason for celebrating the birth of Christ.

As a writer, I thank God for people like Nancy Brant, who took her creativity and passion for music and wrote something and made it professionally available for others to enjoy. If you have a love of music, writing, and children, maybe God wants YOU to write something to share with the world.

Nothing is more important than leading a future generation to KNOW God in a personal way!

Today represents a huge change in my life — it’s the first day of preschool. My 3-year-old has felt left behind since school started a month ago for his older siblings. He’s been carrying his little backback around the house and asking me, “Can you give me some homework?” He is SO ready for school.

He’ll be going three mornings a week to our church preschool. This is the seventh year in a row we’ve had a child enrolled. Hard to believe! I don’t think he has the jitters at all because he’s so familiar with everything. He has a new teacher and new classmates, but the playground is familiar territory.

To be honest, it’s me who has the butterflies. Why in the world can’t I outgrow being nervous around people I don’t know all that well? Every year, I have to get to know a new group of moms. And I can’t help it — I wonder where I fit in.

There are some moms who are easy to categorize — there are the tennis moms, who drop off their kids in their perky tennis outfits, barely covering their tan, muscular legs. I don’t like them very much (just kidding.)

Then there are the entrepreneurial moms, who greet you with a new catalog of whatever they’re selling, and you wonder if they’re being nice to you because they like you or because they want you to buy something or host a party. Those shopping parties stress me out, so I don’t do them very often.

Then there are the work-outside-the-home moms, who dash indoors wearing suits and pumps, their ear cocked into a cell phone. They make me feel underdressed and wonder if I’ll ever be able to have enough time and money to get a decent hairstyle that’s NOT a ponytail.

There are also the PERFECT SAHMs, who look beautiful and put together at 8 am, always on time, their kids the same. They’re the ones who volunteer for everything and make all the cute crafts for holiday gifts. (Unlike me — I show up with juice boxes … late.)

And there are a few dads, who sometimes look haggard as they rush to get to work on time.

New backpacks, ribbons in curly pigtails, smocked jumpers and overalls, hugs and tears, everybody snapping pictures — this is what the first day of preschool has been like for me seven years in a row.

So where do I fit in? I’m not one of the easy-to-categorize moms. I work at home, though few people ask what I do. I’ve been around long enough so that I know a few familiar faces, but most of my friends are either busy homeschooling or have gone back to work outside of the home.

This week, I’ll start my new Bible study, which will meet upstairs from the preschool. I’m very excited about that — we’re doing Beth Moore’s Living Beyond Yourself — YEA! I talked it up since I loved our online group — but I’m starting over again. This time, using a workbook like everyone else.

I’ve got a few butterflies about our Bible Study too. And I’m also the new girl in my exercise class. I still can barely keep up. There are no classes for “Tired Moms Who Just Want a Break.” No, I’m sweating to rock/rap music in the “Body Combat” class, learning how to “punch, kick, jab, and hook” because — hey, you can’t be too picky when there’s good childcare provided.

I did run into an old friend yesterday at the gym — and it seems too good to be true. We’ve been “birthday party” friends for years, but haven’t really seen each other without kids around. It turns out our daughters are in class together at the same school, and we’ve got kids in the same preschool as well. “This is the first time in TEN YEARS that I’ve been able to get out of the house without having to find a babysitter, ” she told me, after dropping off her youngest at preschool.

She invited me to start working out with her. So, I’ve got butterflies. A new friend! Please, Lord, please help me be a good friend to Mary. Help me to be encouraging and go beyond the surface. I really need a friend this year!

If any of you feel this way — you get nervous at stepping out of your comfort zone — maybe you can read this post and know you’re not alone. We’re all misfits this side of heaven!