Mother's Day Without Mom

                   Mother’s Day Without Mom

by Janet Sobczyk, 2016ⓒ

There’s nothing like Mother’s Day

to remind me she’s gone.

Ads mock: Show Mom your love!

On TV: commercials of beloved women,

cherub grandchildren.

In stores: bouquets, cards, chocolates,

even in the grocery aisles.

Walk away from the sight,

grief follows me home.

No more gifts to send,

calls to make,

hugs to give her.

Phone interrupts my despair:

daughter calls, sister calls, son texts.

There are flowers and hugs to receive,

gifts to open.

Gratitude swirls through sorrow,

and tears flow.

WCW Conference thoughts

 
Click here for Wordsowers site

The Wordsowers Christian Writers Conference was definitely uplifting. I enjoyed all the workshops and interactions with other writers. My big take-away this time was from the keynote speaker Tosca Lee about "Burn the Fear, Release the Fire: Writing for an Audacious God."

She's a former Mrs. Nebraska, so it didn't surprise me that she is beautiful. The surprise is how down-to-earth she can be... as a new farmer's wife near Fremont, NE. It's so ironic that a sophisticated, big-city gal fell in love with a handsome farmer.

She opened up and spoke with honesty and passion about the challenges in her life, especially as a writer. She brought home the point that if she, (a New York Times best-selling author several times over!) can have major doubts about her work, then it's a totally normal state of mind for writers in general.

The main thing is to have the courage to write and to know that our words make a difference. God gives us ideas for a reason; we just need to follow His promptings and trust.

Thank you Tosca! We all needed to hear that.