All posts by Ellen

Writing Process Blog Tour: Life’s Shiny Facets and Dark Pain

Thanks to B. A. Wilson for inviting me to be part of the Writing Process Blog Tour.

What am I working on? Last November, using NaNoWriMo as a much needed kick in the pants, I began writing Hartfield, a sequel to Jane Austen’s Emma. I did achieve my 50,000+ word count goal in November and then promptly shelved it in the face of other life events.

Hartfield focuses on Mr. John Knightley, younger brother of the male lead in Emma — he’s a minor character with a few key interactions. When introduced to John Knightley in Emma, we are told that “The extreme sweetness of [his wife’s] temper must hurt his.” In other words, Isabella — his wife — is blind to John’s occasional crotchedyness and does not call him to account.

And I wondered, What if Isabella were to die and John were to remarry someone not so sweet? Continue reading Writing Process Blog Tour: Life’s Shiny Facets and Dark Pain

Costly ADHD

Multiply Janine’s story by a few million, toss in some variations, and soon you’re talking real money–at least $67 billion and maybe up to $116 billion. That’s the estimated U.S. workforce productivity loss due to ADHD, according to a 2004 survey* conducted by two of psychiatry’s most widely cited researchers: psychiatrist Joseph Biederman, professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and head of the adult ADHD program at Massachusetts General Hospital, and psychologist Stephen Faraone, director of medical genetics research and head of child and adolescent psychiatry research at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University.

“ADHD is one of the costliest medical conditions that we have,” Biederman told the American Medical Association in a media briefing for the survey. “The impact on quality of life is extraordinarily profound, from marriage to friendship to ability to make a living.”

Continue reading Costly ADHD

Pop Quiz Time!

My eight year old son had this question on his mathematics homework yesterday:

“Kari has a red, blue, green and yellow shirt. She has a skirt and a pair of jeans. How many outfits can she make?”

What is the answer? Explain your reasoning.

A Better Reason To Go To College

My online friend, Bronwyn Lea, invited me to write for her Words That Changed My World series. When I read her invitation, I knew exactly what to write about.

I have generally been a mediocre student. Clever, but… my teachers would often say looking perplexed at me. But… the motivation was often difficult to find, I might have supplied had I known myself better.

My parents were each the first generation of their respective families to go on to and graduate from a university. My mother is now a retired pharmacist and my late father was an electrical engineer for Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Northrup Corporation in Southern California. The FACT that each of their five children WOULD acquire a university education was in the air we breathed and the water we drank. It was an of course in my mind. Life without a university degree was inconceivable. Being the youngest of five, I watched as each of my two sisters and two brothers graduated from high school and went on to area California State Universities.

I somehow squeaked through my senior year of high school and graduated low in the class. Finished with high school, poor grades in hand, and no driving career ambition led me to enroll at the local City College. There I merely took some acting classes my first year.

Read the rest of the post at Bronwyn’s Corner

The Way of the Hermit — When Pursuits Become Idols

Made For More“The beauty is that loving relationship becomes both the means and the end of personal identity. It is both how we exist and the goal for which we exist.”
—Hannah Anderson in Made For More

I know the way of the hermit. It has surprised me to learn that to be a hermit, one need not live alone. I am a wife and a mother of two, and yet, I am also a hermit. I interact with people face to face or over the phone only when it is necessary. And sometimes not even then.

Continue reading The Way of the Hermit — When Pursuits Become Idols

Heath Lambert Combats Pornography

“My prayer is that we will leave here motivated to do something about this problem [of pornography].” –Heath Lambert

As I wrote earlier this week, Heath Lambert gave the opening sermon at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) Leadership Summit of the Southern Baptist Convention. I applaud the ERLC for opening the summit with a pernicious problem residing within our churches which is easy for perpetrators to hide. The videos from the summit are now available. Continue reading Heath Lambert Combats Pornography

Pornography, your name is Woman?

During a live broadcast of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission today, Heath Lambert spoke about the grave problem of pornography in our churches. I applaud him for shining light into a dark, dark secret within our churches. I became aware of this event through the #ERLCsummit hashtag on Twitter.

However, I question some of how he relayed his message. Continue reading Pornography, your name is Woman?

Building God’s Temple: Bring out your talents!

Think your skills and talents aren’t of the spiritual persuasion? Au contraire! Whatever God has blessed you with can be used to build His kingdom.

Moses told the Israelites, “See, GOD has selected Bezalel … . He’s filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill ability, and know-how for making all sorts of things, to design and work in gold, silver, and bronze; to carve stones and set them; to carve wood, working in every kind of skilled craft. And he’s also made him a teacher, he and Oholiab … . He’s gifted them with the know-how needed for carving, designing, weaving, and embroidering in blue, purple, and scarlet fabrics, and in fine linen. They can make anything and design anything.

“Bezalel and Oholiab, along with everyone whom GOD has given the skill and know-how for making everything involved in the worship of the Sanctuary as commanded by GOD, are to start work.”

The Daily Message Exodus 35:30 – 36:1