Painfully Hopeful

It’s all about the likes

I guess I should have understood this a while ago, but there are times where I’m a bit slow on the uptake 1. I set out on this discipline of blogging every day simply because I thought it would be a healthy outlet for my wandering mind. To that end, this discipline has far exceeded…

You’re in my seat

There is a running joke 1 about “reserved pews” in many churches. People in a congregation could be welcoming, friendly, and genuinely kind – but sit in their pew and all Christian charity goes out the window. “This is my seat, you have to move!” I wish I could say it’s a worthless cliche, but…

Unpacking Passing through revelry

As has been the case the with the last several sections, “Passing through revelry” is almost as much about the setting and character development as it is the plot. In fact, I wish I could allow Jeremy and his friends to spend a week in Shelter. The place fascinates me, and there is much left…

Fiction Tuesday – Passing through revelry

The meal ended in near silence after Jeremy’s pronouncement. Walter and Ama smiled and were polite to their waiter, but he could tell they were deeply troubled. For a time Jeremy worried that his new friends may have changed their minds about him, and decided he was dangerous after all. Finally their dishes were cleared…

A vacation retrospective

I have my blog scheduled through Wednesday, but as we’ve just returned from vacation I wanted to share some reflections before I get back to my more “normal” grind. As folks who read Painfully Hopeful may have surmised, this second week of vacation took our family up to Massachusetts. During this trip we got to…

Finding the time, blogging on vacation

I must admit, I was quite concerned my Summer vacation would derail my “blog every day” commitment for 2015. Two weeks “off schedule,” and much of it traveling, caused me to ponder two problems. First was finding the actual time to write and post entries for each day I was away. Second was keeping track…