When is Love Real?

USA Today recently posted results for its online survey of 1,000 people that showed how easy it flirt, meet people and follow up with new dates on social media sites. Results showed more than a third (34%) of respondents believed it's possible to have a romantic relationship on the internet, especially men (41% versus 28% of women). It went on to talk about how the internet makes it easier to meet or break up with new partners as well as start an innappropriate relationship the way the married, former Congressman Chris Lee did when he shipped off a shirtless photo of himself and a flirty message to a woman he met on a dating site on craigslist.

Makes one wonder if there is any need to meet anyone in person any more. Can you tell if you love someone online? Is it the thrill of the hunt without contact? Or the fact that you might not want the pain that sometimes comes with love. Whatever the reason for utilizing social media to meet your "dream" partner, remember this Valentine's Day, nothing beats real contact with a real love that can span the test of time. Happy Valentine's Day!

Enjoy this classic sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! -- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.


What GOD says about true love....

John 3:16..."For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosoever believeth in HIM, should not perish but have everlasting life."

Now THAT's true love!

Book Clubs

I read a wonderful article today about book clubs that are popping up like daffadils all over the country. These seemingly small groups of six to twenty people get together out of love for the written word. It's a social club filled with wonderful people who appreciate quality writing and good stories. It made me think of the Des Moines Book Club which consisted of several women who graciously read the first draft of my manuscript.

Just like the article in The Oregonian, (I'm in Portland, OR), the women of the Des Moines Book Club were brutally honest in their reading, which not only gave me a better sense of my story but made me totally rewrite parts of the book so the reader might better understand what was rolling around in my head. Lesson well learned.

So to book clubs across America, thank you for your honesty. Writers need it. Thank you for the generosity of your time as you make us better writers.

Here's a short tribute to those of you in book clubs whose importance cannot be denied.

Surprise
by Beverly McLoughland

The biggest
Surprise
On the library shelf
is when you suddenly
Find yourself
Inside a book-
(the HIDDEN you)
You wonder how
The author knew.



What God says:
Psalm 139:4 "Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely."

Internship with Etruscan Press

For the next few months I will be an intern with Etruscan Press in an effort to finish up my MFA. Although this will again limit my time to blog, trust me, I will still be here. For now, I am asking for prayer. Fervent prayer. The kind that pulls God's amazing power to earth and shatters whatever the Devil is trying to do in and around me. Pray specifically that his will be done in everything I am aiming for and remember, I am praying for you too!

I love the people I will be working with at Etruscan. The work will be challenging but I swear it couldn't be worse than what I have just come through! Hang in there!