In March my grandfather passed away. While emotionally trying, I have to admit, the frequent and blatant God Moments assisted the grieving process in a way that made the entire time, dare I say it – pleasant. KNOWING that my grandfather was with God and the rest of my family; my mom, my aunt, my […]
National Poetry Month – Be Great!
April marks the month where schools, libraries, publishers, poets, and booksellers celebrate the importance of poetry in our lives. …So I didn’t want to let the month go by without posting at least one poem. Did you know there are 55 types of poetry forms? There’s a ballad, a couplet, an epitaph, free verse, haiku, […]
An interesting story – The Painting Book
It amazes me the people who are drawn to “The Painting” and how it affects them upon reading it. I’ve received some incredible email responses, inspirational stories, memories the book drew up – it’s nice to know the story is doing good for others. Below is a message I received from a lady who read my […]
Come Home – A God Moment on a Plane
I’ve been meaning to write about this magical moment for nearly two weeks, but what can I say? I hadn’t been home in almost two months and I had some very precious time to make up for. For those who didn’t know, I was tending to my grandfather who needed to enter hospice. It was […]
Sitting at Jesus Side Part 2: Reincarnat...
In a previous post, I was thinking about the idea of sitting at Jesus side, or at the very least having some time to socialize with Jesus upon arrival to heaven. Mathematically, I determined that 1.8 people die every second which led to an average of one person per side, per second for all eternity. […]
Which came first God or the Believer?
Like the old phrase which came first the chicken or the egg, this idea came to me earlier today. It made me really think because there are so many ways we can go with this question. God came first – he made the universe. We wouldn’t exist without him. The Believer came first – without […]
Labyrinth 2: Finding Peace
Lately at church, I haven’t been feeling ‘it’. I tend to leave feeling emptier than when I arrived. That is the exact opposite of what church used to do for me. There are many reasons for that – excuses… working harder, following my dreams, leaving others behind, lost loved ones, oh and that darn biological […]
Discussion Questions for “The Painting”
Book Clubs Bible Study Youth Groups Personal Growth “The Painting” tends to yank out emotions long ago suppressed by older individuals and incite conversations and deep thoughts long after the cover has been closed. To assist in engaging in discussion whether book clubs, youth groups or even bible studies, the author has put together an […]
Designed to do Good Deeds
Ephesians 2:10 God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. I have been working on “The Painting 2” and this scripture jumped out at me with the exact message I […]
Cancelling Christmas | A Poem
It was two days before Christmas and all through the square, people were shopping like they hadn’t a care. Ripping through racks of toys, clothes and shoes, pushing past others, “You gave me a bruise!” They didn’t see the beauty, the lights in the trees, they didn’t sense the magic, the love or the freeze. […]
The Painting – Watch the Trailer
The Painting is Now Available! The long awaited novel by author Kathleen J. Shields is here! Watch the Book Trailer Video below: BUY NOW: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kathleen’s Books
Why God gives you trials.
The other day I was reminded of something from my past and I thought I could use it as a teaching tool. A long while ago, I worked for a small business owner. I was very good at my job and he knew it. He left me in charge of his business, as manager because […]
Is prayer, perception?
Today at church our pastor was teaching us about prayer. It led to a conversation with someone after church, whom I only know in passing. A conversation that stayed with me through lunch, through folding laundry, vacuuming and through writing this post. What I learned may only be for me, but I felt it was insightful […]
Who am I to write this story? – The Pain
Who am I to write this story? That’s the question I kept asking God for about a month after the idea came to me. During my discovery of the story’s plot, formulation of the characters and outline creation, I felt I couldn’t possibly be the best fit for this project. This story idea came to […]
What if God never painted the humans?
That was a question that was posed to me in a dream and it led me on the most amazing journey… My dream was about a boy named Gerald and he was feeling quite lonely (as was I at the time). I awoke after he completed painting an entire world on a blank canvas from […]
About The Painting – My Latest Novel
We start our lives as a blank canvas. It’s our diverse experiences that add color and definition to our painting. Gerald’s world was often harsh and challenging. Feelings of loneliness and isolation were normal for him. The people in his life didn’t understand him and as a result, often ignored him, or refused to […]
Do I matter?
The other day I was revisiting old pictures of my late dog Smurphy and I came across a few that took me aback. Pictures that, by themselves wouldn’t have had any significant meaning – were reminders of past sighs and disappointments. You see our entertainment system cycles through hundreds of family pictures and whenever I […]
I am not home
There is a song by a Christian group called Building429. The song is called “Where I Belong” and I love singing with it on my way to or from tradeshows every weekend. My favorite verse is “I’m not home yet”. This song is upbeat and fun. It reminds me no matter what kind of day […]
Electrical Faith
So last week our pastor did a sermon that at one point connected electricity to faith. She gave a few examples that definitely got my creative juices flowing. So I wanted to share some of what she said and a bit of some I came up with. Electricity You can’t really see it. You don’t […]
It is too easy to not listen to Jesus
This morning our pastor gave quite a powerful sermon. The story may be “Jesus is coming,” but her message was “He’s already here.” At the end she asked, would you kneel before Jesus… And she knelt down. I thought, “I should kneel down too.” God put it in my head and twice I ignored him. […]
Stop Waiting for Life to Begin
It occurred to me the other day, that we are all waiting for something. When we are younger we are waiting for the next day. We’re waiting for school to end, waiting for the week to end, we’re waiting for the year to end. Then we wait for the summer to end, wait until junior […]