Blog (OLD)

Light It Up

January 20, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 29 Comments

My girls were scheduled to do a few clogging numbers yesterday at a car show in our small town. Yes, you read that right. Trust me. When you live in the foothills of Appalachia and your town is named Bean Station, you’re bound to find yourself at a car show some Sunday clog dancing. I wouldn’t have it any other way. And despite the fact that the our hearts were broken this year when the girl’s dance school closed, we’ve managed to pick up the pieces as best we could and keep dancing here and there. (Thank you Tessa and Heather!) The love, discipline, hard work ethic and overall high standards of Lakeway School of Dance still lives on in my girls. We will be forever grateful.

Before heading out to church, we packed the green t-shirts, the tap shoes, and the cooler full of retro sandwiches. (I was in state of Sunday morning emergency and had to buy the sandwich fixins at the gas station, which meant white bread, somewhat sketchy sandwich meat and Kraft slices. My girls were thrilled at the softness of the bread, but I couldn’t get to the grocery store fast enough this morning to get some respectable meat. The six pack of Oreos, which cost more than a whole pack at the grocery store, totally made up for what was lacking in the throw-back sandwiches.)

We had to scoot out of the service a little early to make it on time to the car show.

When we got there, the sound system was blasting with sixties tunes. The souped up cars and the old men who love them reminded me that there’s something kinda quaint about both. My adorable nephew and my very talented brother in law restore old cars and I know the endless hours of meticulous work that goes into making a car look like that. I scouted the place for a car that might parallel Corey’s beautiful black Camaro, but I didn’t find one quite as stunning and perfect. Or anybody as cute him either!

The girls looked around with wide eyes. They murmured about the difficulty of dancing on that make shift stage to a handful of old men who’d rather be looking at cars.

They did great. They danced like it was a sold out crowd of their peers. They did as they’ve been taught so well by the best of teachers—don’t leave anything on the stage but sweat.

I wander how often we wish our work was for more than just our children, a few blog readers, or an ungrateful boss. How often we wish our time to shine would come—that someone would notice the hard work, the long hours, the faithfulness?

Be sure of this. Someone very important notices. And we’re not here to keep tally or to demand results from the work we do.

We’re just here to do good work, thankful that we have a job to do and someone to do it for—be it one tiny 3 month who can’t say thank you or a handful of men in Carhartt jackets who’d rather be talking carburetors.

Don’t wait until someone important shows up before you do your work well.

Just keep your nose to the grind and do good work.

Don’t do it halfheartedly. Go all out. Bring your A game.

The excellence and integrity with which you do your work will light a fire under those around you.

You will kindle something special in your circle of influence, not just by what you do, but by how you choose to do it.

So, Light it up.

Like it’s dynamite.

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And speaking of doing good work and not squandering our gifts away, did you remember that tomorrow, we’re gonna meet here at my place and share our {UN} words of the year? Whatever word you want to {UN}do in your life, declare it on your blog, or FB, or IG, and share it with us tomorrow, where we’ll link up our posts and share our stories, using the hashtag #unword2014. Hope you’ll join me, Nester, Darlene, and Angela as we kick some words to the curb!

Winter Reading and other randoms

January 17, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 10 Comments

{still} On the porch…… openhouse20

On the daily docket…..

oranges

On the weekend menu……(chocolate chip pumpkin muffins!!)

pumpkinmuffins

On the desk……..(and the night stand, countertops, purse, car, bathroom, and everywhere else I can leave them lying!)

winterreading

The Southerner’s Handbook: A Guide to Living the Good Life

God at Work (Redesign): Your Christian Vocation in All of Life

The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life

The Warrior Ethos

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership

The Business of Heaven: Daily Readings from C. S. Lewis

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants

Discipline: The Glad Surrender

Keep a Quiet Heart

The Imitation of Christ (Dover Thrift Editions)

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels

What’s Wrong With The World

Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies

All New Square Foot Gardening: The Revolutionary Way to Grow More In Less Space

On the horizon……

onthehorizon

In the mail….

melanie'sbook

(My friend, Melanie’s, new book, which is SO awesome and funny and makes me love her even more. Preorder here!)

Also, I’m so excited to tell you my friend, Amy Greene, author of NYT best seller, Bloodroot, and one of my very favorite writers, is releasing her 2nd novel in late February. The novel, Long Man, is sure to become one of your favorites this year. She’s kindly agreed to meet for lunch and chat, so if you have any questions you want me to ask her, let me know! I can’t wait to see her again and talk books and life and Long Man!! Here’s one of many starred reviews of her this highly anticipated novel:

“Unforgettable. Like a classical myth, Greene’s second novel, set in the summer of 1936, transforms a period of cataclysmic history into a gorgeous, tragic tale filled with heroes and heroines . . . Greene’s enormous talent animates the voices and landscape of East Tennessee so vividly, and creates such exquisite tension, that the reader is left devastated.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Potato Corn Chowder {and my love affair with bacon fat}

January 16, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 87 Comments

Potato Corn Chowder via lifeingrace

A dear reader, Robin, did us all a favor today. She reminded me of the deliciousness of Potato Corn Chowder (the recipe of which was first posted in my Hospitality ebook, but never on here) and so I thought I’d share the recipe with you, since my originally planned post went haywire and will have to wait until Monday. Also, the first 10 people to comment on the following statement will get a free copy of the ebook. “Bacon Fat: How It Changed My Life.” After those ten comments, (and surely you dear lovelies have lots to say about bacon fat?), I’ll pick of few more at my discretion. Don’t forget to read my Ode to Bacon Fat, at the bottom of this post.

On to the recipe.

I’m a huge fan of one pot meals. One pot meals are a beacon of light in a dark, dark world. One pot meals make life worth living. Okay, maybe that’s overstating it but still.

One pot to clean=one happy momma.

Potato corn chowder= one happy family.

This corn chowder is so easy, so delicious, and is even a crowd pleaser among the youngsters.

Here’s what you need:

1 onion
1 32 oz bag frozen corn (could certainly use fresh corn when it’s in season but the frozen works great too)
1/2 to 1 red pepper, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
3 yukon potatoes, peeled and diced 3-4 springs of thyme
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper
2 boxes of chicken stock
2 T. flour
1 T. bacon fat
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 T. honey

What you’ll do:

Melt the butter and bacon fat in a large stock pot and then add the olive oil.
Add the chopped onion, red pepper and celery, a pinch of cayenne pepper and then salt and pepper. (You’ll reseason at the end but make sure you start the process now for depth of flavor.)
Cook these on med high so that the onions will brown a little.
When those have sautéed for 4-5 min, add the flour and cook it about a minute.
Add all the chicken stock, along with the frozen corn.
Add the thyme (you can either put the whole stems with the leaves on them and then remove the stems at the end or pull the leaves off the stems and just add the leaves) and potatoes and cook for 30 min on med heat until the potatoes are tender.
When they are tender, add the honey and cream and then reseason as needed. Since there aren’t many seasonings in this soup, I add lots of pepper.
Enjoy the some crusty bread!

Ode to bacon fat

Every good Southern woman I know has a jar of bacon fat somewhere in her kitchen.

It’s just as natural as having butter or bread. Usually it’s stored in a mason jar, but I’ve seen other lovely methods.

Do not ever underestimate the power of bacon fat, and by all means never throw it away.

It adds so much to your cooking and to your personality. I know my Southern friends won’t leave out this precious step of adding bacon fat to this recipe, but if you’re from Connecticut, you’ll be tempted.

Don’t do it.

Bacon fat rules the world. Corn chowder just isn’t corn chowder without bacon fat.

I am not me without bacon fat.

Love your family well.

Use bacon fat. Amen.

potato corn chowder3

My {UN} Word for the Year

January 14, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 51 Comments

Every new year, I find myself planning and scheming for a better liturgy to my days. Because before you know it, your days become your life. And as a mom privileged enough to work from home, I get a pretty huge say in what goes on within these walls everyday. And I don’t just want the days to line up in a pretty row, as something to admire. I want them to count for something. So, while I pondered the meaning of life and enjoyed much Christmas cheer, I unplugged and took a much needed respite and retreat. Then, we got a polar vortex and then I got sick. (Don’t worry a bit. Right before I got sick, I made a few batches of homemade bagels, so all wasn’t lost.)

bagels

As it currently stands, minus a very few outings, I’ve been in my house for 3 weeks straight, and aside from the general demise of my presentation, I’ve been so productive. I think I’ve read 8 books. I’ve written probably 10,000 words. I’ve cooked dozens of meals, totally reorganized my kitchen and office, and spent a lot of time with my peeps. In other words, the forces of life have all converged to send me a New Year’s message—stay home and , do your work and do it well. (If I continue in this current streak, I’m gonna need to invest in some more professional looking pajamas.)

I’m finally settling into an important truth of being a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom—if you want to be productive at home, you must be home. And, then you have to do your work. I know it’s not rocket surgery, but do you know how many barriers there are to this simple formula? SO many.

We are restless people, seeking fulfillment in the next big thing—whether that’s an event, or a new movement in the church, the next spiritual high, a shiny new vacation, or whatever the next, new thing of the hour is. And that thing— that we thought would bring us so much purpose and meaning, never makes good on its promises. And we certainly don’t want to be left out of anything important, so, we’re off to the races, doing what we do best—finding the next new thing. And so the cycle begins again. Our frantic search for something lasting and meaningful is exhausting us and robbing us of the beautiful gifts of everyday life that we are so trained to look past.

In an attempt to fill a perceived void, we often search for “spiritual” fulfillment in the wrong places. Christ has redeemed our work and so right now, the most spiritual thing you can do is your work. Fix the guy’s car who just came into your station, study for your exams, nurse the baby, answer the phones, write the computer program, make dinner, and so on to infinity. You don’t need to search for “spiritual” work. God will redeem the everyday work you do. You are spiritual because of what Christ has done for you.

cherrypie

Sadly, most of us have lost the ability to just do our work and enjoy it. We’re so prone to hurrying half-heartedly through our everything we do in order to get to some sort of leisure—that we forget we are a people who are meant to find meaning in work. Our bodies need to work as much as our spirits need to work. And more importantly, the world needs the work we do. When we do our work, for the benefit of someone else and not just for selfish gain, we are living in our true vocation. And THAT, my friends, is a fulfilling way to live, no matter what your actual job is.

I think if we really valued and learned to enjoy our daily labor—remembering that Christ hides Himself in our vocation—we would see the miracle that He works, as He takes the meager offerings of our daily grind and turns them into blessing and nourishment for the world. Maybe if we could see it all as He sees it, we would do our work with a sense of purpose and honor, and pride. Perhaps we’d even be less prone to all the vices that suck us dry. Most of us seem to neither work, nor rest well. We live our lives in the murky middle, running to and fro from activity to activity or clicking to and fro from site to site, in some desperate kami kazi search for anything that means something. When in reality, the thing that means something—doing our work to serve our neighbor—is the thing we’ve so dismissed and belittled.

It’s just to earn a paycheck.

It’s just what pays the bills.

It’s just until I find something better.

We’ve done this same load of laundry a hundred times over. We’ve washed the same dishes, cooked the same meals, wrote the same sermons, doctored the same patients, and walked the same worn path for so long, that we’ve forgotten to see the miracle that happens when we give ourselves over to hard work, for the sake of someone else. This is not just your job. This is your sacred calling. This is holy ground. Lord, give us eyes to see it!

I’ve been writing out my thoughts on vocation to remind myself that this work I do everyday is blessed and ordained by God when it’s done in service of others. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it’s monotonous, at times. Yes, I try everything in my power to get out of it sometimes. But, ultimately, this work is not for my benefit. It’s for the benefit of others. God has provided everything I need in Christ and the only thing left to do is meet my neighbor’s needs. My vocation is just me, doing my daily work, to serve and bless others. And in God’s economy, there are no meaningless jobs or chores—only the work of our hands, redeemed and sanctified by God, to bless those around us.

So, do your work and do it well. Don’t hurry through it. Don’t dismiss it. And most of all, don’t squander it, by wishing that is were more important or glamorous.

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Which brings me to my {UN} word for the year. My friends came up with this great idea to pick a word that we want to ditch in 2014. A word that haunts us, that we want rid of for good. A word we want to {UN}do in our lives.

I love my friends and I love a good challenge, so I picked SQUANDER. I’m tired of squandering—my gifts, my days, my relationships, my joy. I’ve done it so much in my life, that it’s shameful. So, be gone with squandering in 2014!

I want to make everyday count. I want to do my work well.

What are some things we squander?

money
time
resources
talents
gifts
opportunities
friendships

What about you?

Think about your {UN} word for the year and meet us back next Tuesday for a fun little link up!

Visit my friends, Myquillin, Angela, and Darlene as they share their {UN} words, and then join us next week, with your {UN}word!

Unword2014badge_rough draft

If you’re new around here? Thank you for visiting my blog! I’m honored you’re here and I hope you’ll find some encouragement (and some laughter!) for your days. Visit my about page, which highlights some of my popular posts or will at least show you a peak into my crazy people. You can subscribe to this blog by email here. I am currently addicted to Pinterest, so follow at your own risk. I also post updates to Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter.

On Giftedness and Calling {5 Clues to Your Calling}

January 13, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 70 Comments

workdesk

This is where I do my work everyday. I love my desk. I love my computer, my journal, my favorite pens. I love my books. I am in my element when I sit down here to write. But it took me most of my life to settle in to what I was made to do. I hope this post will encourage you to wrestle with your calling and finally, to answer yes.

I was in my first year of residency on surgical rotation. Think vintage Grey’s Anatomy and I’m Izzy. I loved my surgical rotation and convinced myself during those two months that I should be a surgeon. Never mind that I had already decided that year that I wanted to be a family doctor, but had changed my mind on every rotation, because I loved them all so much. In other words, I’ve never met a vocation I didn’t like.

I was scrubbed and gowned and ready to assist in a pancreatic resection. The chief resident was doing the case and my favorite third year resident was first assist. I was probably somewhere down by the foot of the bed, after the all the scrub nurses and other residents took their place. I knew this patient better than anyone in the room. He was my first *real* patient. He was a veteran of the Korean war and he felt like one of my relatives. I had spent long hours with him and his family, during his month long stay at the VA to figure out what was causing his pain and weight loss. The day I told him about his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, I promptly left his room and began sobbing. Maybe that was my first clue I wasn’t surgeon material.

“You’ve got potential as a surgeon, but you get too attached to the patients,” my attending told me. “We’re here to cut out the bad stuff, that’s all. They’ve got family doctors and psychiatrists to deal with all the other problems. Here, we just do our job and don’t worry about the rest.”

I went home that night and wrote in my journal something like this.

“I don’t think I’m cut out to be a surgeon. I don’t think I can ever just do my job. And I’m hopelessly attached to people. This is true.”

Early on in my life, there were two important clues to my calling. The first clue I should have picked up on is that I need to write to process things. Writing and a love for words has been a constant theme in life, but I only see that now that I have enough distance and perspective. The second is, I get too attached to people. So, I should have known that my calling would have something to do with writing and people. Many years later, here I am, sitting in my sweet spot, using my love and gift of writing in hopes of encouraging and inspiring others. I didn’t see the clues then, but I see them clearly now.

We’ve talked about Finding God’s Will for Your Life, and we’ve even defined Who The Neighbor Is and How Vocation Frees Us to serve our neighbor. It’s easy to see that I’m a mom and need to serve my family, or that I’m a accountant and need to figure my client’s taxes. But, what about those things that you’re passionate about, that you do when you finally have free time? Could those actually be part of our calling as well? If so, what are the clues that will help you to discern what you were created to do?

Here are 5 practical clues that might help you find your calling.

1. You’ve actually been called to do it.

A calling implies a caller. Ultimately, God has called us to Himself as believers in Christ and He is our first and most important Caller. But, there are secondary callings. True callings choose us, more than we choose them. What I mean by that is that someone has actually called on you to do something. The word call comes from the latin word vocatio, which means a verbal call or a summons. When I started practicing my hobby of writing, people asked me to do more of it. They don’t ask me for help with their taxes or legal problems or web design. Do people ask or call on you to photograph their family or help them decorate their house or teach them to cook or bake them a cake? Those are clues to what your calling is—people actually call on you do to it. They see your gifts and talents and they summons you to do more of that thing that you’re good at doing.

What do people ask you to do for them on a fairly consistent basis? I love to sing karaoke, but no one is beating my door down to have me come entertain at their parties. As much as I love singing Coal Miner’s Daughter at full throttle and think I’m good at it, it’s probably not my calling in life. (And that’s a hard pill to swallow for a girl who loves karaoke night!) But,writing has been different. The more I write and practice my craft, the more opportunities I get to write. I work hard at improving my craft, and people take notice and ask me to keep doing what I’m doing. That’s when you know you are close to your calling.

2. You are passionate about it to the point that time stands still when you do it.

When I was actually calculating the hours that I spend writing and blogging, for the post I wrote on The Nitty Gritty of Running a Blog, it astounded me. I would have guessed that I spent about 15 hours a week doing it—which is about half the time I actually spend. But, when you’re doing what you love, you lose track of time. What is the thing you do, that when you do it, time stands still?

3. You’d do it for free.

Your calling in life often begins as a hobby. You do it because you love it. How else do we find out what we love, other than trying things that interest us? So, we pursue our passions and often for a long time, and often without ever making any money from them, before we finally realize that this is what we were made to do. And maybe be never get the chance to do that thing for a living, maybe it’s always our hobby. That’s okay too. But the difference in hobby and calling is that your calling is done in service to your neighbor. Your hobby is usually done for you.

4. You are in your element when you do it.

I first heard this from a talk Tsh gave at Allume when she quoted Eric Liddell.

I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.

What is it, that when you do it, you feel God’s pleasure? What is that one thing that, when you’re doing it, you know you’re in your element? Now, is there a way to do that and also to serve your neighbor? You may have found your calling.

5. You have been gifted in this area.

You probably know what you’re gifted at. People have been telling you for years about how talented you are at suchandsuch. But, here’s where calling is different from giftedness. In our modern world, giftedness is a kind of buzz word, and when we follow our giftedness alone, it can lead us down a path of selfishness. Calling is different. Calling asks you to lay your giftedness down on the altar in service of your neighbor. And when you use your gifts in service of others, you’ve found your calling. I love this quote from Os Guiness’ book The Call. He says,

“God normally calls us along the line of our giftedness, but the purpose of giftedness is stewardship and service, not selfishness.”

Having a plethora of gifts and talents is great, but they are not something you dreamed up yourself, and they are not even really yours. They are given to you by God so that you can use them to bless others. Yes, you have been gifted, but more importantly, you have been called. And your calling is the means by which God works in the world to strengthen and bless His flock in every imaginable way.

A job is a vocation only if someone else calls you to do it for them rather than for yourself. And so our work can be a calling only if it is reimagined as a mission of service to something beyond merely our own interests. Thinking of work mainly as a means of self-fulfillment and self-realization slowly crushes a person. ~Tim Keller

Helpful Resources on Vocation

God at Work, Gene Edward Veith—by far, my favorite book on vocation, very practical and easy to read
The Call, Os Guiness—looks at the historical aspect of vocation and is a little more philosophical
The War of Art, Steven Pressfield—not a christian and not even really about vocation, but more about overcoming the barriers to doing what you’re called to do, offensive language at times, but short and brilliant
Listen! God is Calling—a book of Luther’s writing on vocation
A host of wonderful podcasts on the topic. Just keep listening and scrolling!

The Nitty Gritty of Running a Blog (And Why I Can’t Do It For Free)

January 12, 2014 by Edie Wadsworth 118 Comments

This may not interest some of you, but this is the underbelly of what it takes to run a blog. This post contains my personal revenue and expenses information—and might help you understand my vocation as blogger a little better—along with how much work goes on behind the scenes.

I’ve been blogging for six years, which, these days, is a long time to do anything consistently. It started as a online scrapbook for me—a way to journal the life and times of our family. Within a year, I knew I had found my sweet spot—that place where you know you’re doing what you were made to do. And it began to feel less mine and more His and yours. I’ve been writing about vocation and in some ways, I was 38 years old before I settled into mine. I am a writer/blogger, seeking everyday to use my gifts to serve my neighbor.

I started blogging a few months after I quit working. It perfectly filled the void to do creative, meaningful work. It has changed my life in so many ways and I am eternally grateful for the chance to speak into the hearts of thousands of people everyday. I know how unqualified I am and how much I must depend on His grace. With this honor comes tremendous responsibility.

I spend, on average, 30-40 hours a week here at lifengrace. More than that some weeks. Way more. Less than that other weeks. It takes a LONG time to consistently generate fresh, relevant content and present in a beautiful way. Just ask anyone who has tried it. I work hard at what I do. I get up early, work diligently most days, struggle with balance, and often wish there were more hours in the day to do what needs to be done. I probably read and researched for 15+ hours on the posts I’ve written so far on vocation. I take this chance to speak seriously and I do it with fear and trembling.

As a lifestyle blogger, here are some of the activities I do regularly:

writing
editing
reading/researching
brainstorming/planning content
developing recipes
planning and buying supplies for projects
taking lots of photos
editing photos
photography classes to improve my skills
writing workshops to improve my craft
developing and nurturing relationships with other bloggers
facebook/twitter/instragram/pinterest to connect with you and find other kindred spirits
answering emails and comments
supporting the work of other bloggers/artists
maintain/update all the tech equipment I use everyday

And that list isn’t even exhaustive. There’s so much that goes into doing this and doing it well. I have the utmost respect for my other artist friends who pursue creative work. As creatives, we love the work we do, and often do it for free, for years, knowing that most of the reward is in the act of doing what we do and sharing it with others. It’s a privilege and I am so blessed to be able to do it. This is my dream job and I pinch myself everyday that I live at such a time as this, where nearly every opportunity is available, for those who are willing to work hard, be patient, be generous, and be authentic.

For 4 years, I ran this site for free—paying hosting fees, design fees, etc myself and working hundreds of hours with ZERO monetary gain. And if the circumstances were the same, I’d still do it for free.

But, here’s what changed.

My traffic grew and so did my hosting fees. I needed technical and design help in various areas, in order to keep the site up and working properly. The site outgrew my ability to keep up with it all myself.

Currently, running my blog costs me about $500 per month, with hosting fees, email service fees, design and technical support fees, and occasional part time help.

In April of 2012, I joined my first ad network and made about $300 per month for the first few months. It has grown consistently and I’ve joined a few other ad networks. Last month, after taxes, and after I paid all my bills, I was able to pay myself $1000—which works out to far less than minimum wage. They don’t call us starving artists for nothing. And, December is always the highest revenue month for bloggers, so in January, I may not pay myself at all.

Compared to other bloggers who monetize and have been doing this as long as I have, I’m probably on the lower end of income. I have at least twenty friends who make a full time living from their blogs, many in the six figures. Mine is not one of them. But, my goal is to make enough blogging, so that if I ever needed to go back to work to help support my family, I wouldn’t need to do that because my blog would be making enough to allow me stay home.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m so thankful for the money. I get to do what I love, from home, and make a little money doing it. Still, we have five kids that we’re helping through school, and I’m feeling the need to contribute as much as possible, to help our own kids and to support other ministries that are important to us.

Because I’m committed to good, original content, I turn down almost every offer I get to do sponsored posts/paid advertisements/guest posts, etc. I am very protective of my posts. I want them to be helpful/encouraging/inspiring/challenging. I want the photography to be the best it can be. I guard that little space like crazy. I could make a lot more money if I monetized my posts more, but that’s not my heart and passion.

The bottom line is this. I’m so grateful to be able to make some money, while doing what I love from home. But, it’s work—a lot of work. And I’m not getting rich. And I left a six figure income to be home with my kids before they all left for college. So, my income, while much appreciated and helpful, doesn’t come close to what I made when I worked (even less hours) as a physician part time, and it isn’t enough yet to really make a dent in the money we spend each month helping our kids all get through school.

So, when I get feedback that is critical of ads on blogs, I wish I could sit down and explain all this. I’m not being greedy by having ads. I’m just trying to keep this site up and running and full of great, helpful content.

How can you support your favorite creative entrepeneurs?

I’m so glad you asked. So many of you are so supportive of the work I do here and of many of your other favorite creatives. You faithfully read, send the best emails, share the work with others, and link to me on your own blogs. I couldn’t do this without you. So, thank you. Keep doing that for all the bloggers you love, so that they can keep doing good work for all of us. These things help so much to encourage and support people who do most of their work in isolation, day in and day out.

Ways you can and do help—

At least occasionally, let them know you appreciate what they do. Send a note, a text, an email, a card, a comment.
Support their work by sharing it—via email, on Facebook, on Twitter, or Pinterest.
Put up with the ads, because it pays their bills, allows them to do what they do, maybe even pays their kid’s college tuition.
Donate to them directly. I would love to go ad free, but I would need your monetary help to do it. If you’d like to donate directly to lifeingrace, I’d be honored. I have a million ideas that I don’t have time to implement, so I’d love to increase my revenue so I could afford to hire more help! If you’re interested in direct donation, my paypal address is livinglifeingrace@gmail.com. (I give directly to one site I love because I so believe in the work. If we all did this, maybe our favorite creatives could drop all their ads?!)
Click on their affiliate links, because a portion of that money gets to them. I usually link to things on Amazon that I use all the time. If you buy something through one of my links, those pennies add up to dollars by the end of the month and year.
Love a blogger? Buy their books or their products. Like their Facebook pages. Follow them on Twitter or Pinterest. Help them get their message out! You are so important in their success and in whether or not they can keep doing what they do.

Thank you for supporting writers/artists/bloggers and thank you especially for supporting me.

I am so honored to do this everyday.

I am thankful to you and to ad companies for making it possible.