GENTalks Episode 14: Stop and Smell the Wildflowers

Beginning today with a huge shout out for local singer/songwriter and author, Deanna Wood, who wrote and sings the song "No More Secrets" for the community site, Ourcityonahill.net. Below are links to the full song, as well as Deanna's testimony as shared with Our City. Deanna is also the author of "Unintended Target", a Christian mystery and suspense novel. Check it out here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0163BAWK2/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

https://twitter.com/dlwoodonline

"No More Secrets" by Deanna Wood https://www.facebook.com/OurCityOnaHill/videos/567070513430438/

"I Will Rejoice" by Deanna Wood
http://www.ourcityonahill.net/i-will-rejoice-by-deanna-wood/

Kaitlin and Katie have another great morning chatting over coffee and inviting you into their conversation. "Stop and smell the wildflowers" is a topic that came from a recent excursion Kaitlin and her fiancé had. It is a celebration of the spontaneous moments in life and the importance of not missing the sacred sidelines "on the way".

FINDING MEANING IN THE MARGINS!

http://www.mentonewildflower.com
"Enjoy a great meal in our hippie-chic dining areas while being entertained by talented ​local musicians! The Wildflower Café's dedicated staff treats you like family and is committed to providing you with an enjoyable dining experience."

Life is a journey, a long windy road, you might even think you are lost when you start out, it will be exhausting at times SO make sure you take the time to pull over! Life is so much more than just "trying to get there."

Check out Naomi's blog as she shares her stories of faith, courage and adventure along the Appalachian Trail and wherever God chooses to take her!

http://naomimoseley.com

Kaitlin and Katie share some "good reads" as well:

"Wild" by Cheryl Strayed http://www.cherylstrayed.com/wild_108676.htm
One woman's story of finding healing in the "hike."

Katie shares her new reading plan:
Keeping a non-fiction, fiction and craft(as in books on writing or creativity) book going at all times.
Her "good reads" for now are:

"Beautiful Outlaw" by John Eldredge (non-fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Outlaw-Experiencing-Extravagant-Personality/dp/1455525707

"How to Write Short" by Roy Peter Clark (craft)
https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Short-Craft-Times/dp/0316204358

"Stories of Art and Artists" -Everyman's Pocket Classic (fiction)
https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Artists-Everymans-Pocket-Classics/dp/0375712496

Additional books mentioned and ones you "gotta get that":
https://annvoskamp.com/thebrokenway/

http://lovelivesherebook.com (Maria Goff)

http://rebekahlyons.com/updates/youarefree

Katie also shares a podcast, The Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey, that she listens to regularly and an interview you will not want to miss with Julie Manning:

http://jamieivey.com/happy-hour-128-julie-manning

Katie adds a couple of words to her vocabulary tool box and generously shares them. Her "interesting word search" stemmed
From "How to Write Short": Clark shares the writing short secret of the "effect of a single elegant word- a grace note- in an otherwise straightforward composition."

Definition of xenophobe
one unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin
(used in a sentence: America began as a melting pot of immigrants but appears to be turning into a crock pot of xenophobes.)

Definition of marginalia:
marginal notes or embellishments (as in a book)

"Marginalia" was the perfect bow to wrap up their conversation. Leaving margin means we leave room to take notes, to notice, to stop and smell the wildflowers!

As always, the hope behind this podcast is that it will encourage, maybe make you laugh, cry, and relate, and then go out and start a conversation of your own with someone from a different generation. We need each other; we have much to glean from one another and we are most definitely #bettertogether!