by Ann Marie Stewart | Oct 13, 2024 | Encouragement, Faith, Goals, Winter
The New Year arrives devoid of December’s color, clutter, and chaos. The holidays are over. Life is quieter. Muted. Barren. What is to come? That split second between December 31 and January 1 was merely a change in year, marked only by a new number. And yet, what is...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Feb 6, 2021 | Encouragement, Relationships
What language of love do YOU speak? I love you. Let me vacuum out your car. Here’s the necklace you’ve always wanted. Let’s sit by the fire and talk. Do you need a hug? Gary Chapman lists five love languages: Words of Affirmation Acts of Service Receiving Gifts...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Dec 1, 2020 | Family, Farm, Relationships
“When you get a puppy, nobody tells you about that day,” my daughter said, petting her beloved English Shepherd, as we reminisced about the dog that had “raised” my girls. Almost sixteen years before, our tri-color puppy flew from Arkansas to our farm in Virginia....
by Ann Marie Stewart | Oct 17, 2020 | Encouragement, Goals, Relationships
When a friend dedicated his one-minute #sorrynotsorry outtake reel to me, I considered it the highest honor, because Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest subscribers rarely show their fails. Instead social media enthusiasts present a filtered version of life. The best...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Sep 18, 2020 | Goals, Writing
Growing an online platform presents a challenge for most authors who prefer writing books to self-promoting and following social media. And yet publishers count on an author’s platform for marketing. How do authors balance this responsibility when, as...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Apr 12, 2020 | Faith, Farm, Relationships
One Saturday before Easter, my husband heard baby lambs mewing in the corner of our barn. Their first-time mother accepted one but not the other twin. Perhaps it was because the second appeared premature, its eyes unopened, its mouth too weak to suckle. He was a...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Mar 5, 2020 | Encouragement
When I’m feeling DOWN and I need an UP. I take FIVE. It’s a simple RX for when you’re low. It won’t cure chronic depression, but it interrupts a sadness that might slide into something more. When I offer it to friends, I jokingly sign the RX as...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Feb 17, 2020 | Encouragement, Family, Farm, Goals, Parenting, Relationships, Teaching
My husband tried shearing a sheep. Only once. He claimed, “It looked like the sheep’s fleece went through the blender.” Now each spring our sheep are sheared by a professional; it’s an entertaining event. The shearer hoists the ewe on her bottom so she’s...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Dec 24, 2019 | Encouragement, Family, Marriage, Parenting, Relationships, Teaching
In Kindergarten we learned to raise our hands to ask a question. We couldn’t swear, call each other names, intimate kids on the swing set, or swear. We were taught to be kind. “Kinder” actually means children in German, but maybe it’s also a good...
by Ann Marie Stewart | Sep 29, 2019 | Encouragement, Goals, Teaching, Writing
I have an UPside-Down Bucket List. It’s everything I avoid or put off because it demands a steep learning curve or stepping out of my comfort zone. This UPside-down Bucket List demands I put on my big girl panties. So what’s on my list? You’ll probably laugh....
