A monthly newsletter to support and inspire your #HeartspokenLife. May’s theme is “Bloom where you’re planted.” [Reading time under 5 minutes]. May 11, 2019 What’s going on at Riverwood Wildflowers are popping out everywhere here in the northern Shenandoah Valley! Every time I take a walk, I see something new. Above is a collage of […]
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Coconut Cake: A Taste Of The Tropics
Coconut always reminds me of the tropics: warm breezes, blue waters, white sand, and lots of coconut palm trees. This recipe is one of our family’s favorites—perfect after a light summer supper. My mother, Betty Herbert, copied this coconut cake recipe down from a radio show she heard, so we dubbed it “Radio” Coconut Cake. […]
Book Review: Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens is the perfect pick for a delicious summer reading experience. Here’s my Heartspoken book review. Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Reviewed by Elizabeth H. Cottrell 5 stars out of 5 This amazing book checked all the boxes of top-quality fiction for me: exquisite writing vivid, well-drawn […]
Connect With Nature To Make A Better World
Nature is one of the four keys to unlock the #HeartspokenLife. I want to shine a spotlight on the work of Paloma Teppa, a young Argentina-born entrepreneur who is making the world she wants by connecting her clients with Nature. Paloma Teppa harnesses the power of nature Even though this video and interview with Paloma […]
Faithful Writers Toolkit April 2019
Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: less than three minutes. April 29, 2019 My Faithful Writing friends: Spring greetings to you from the Shenandoah Valley! I’m sorry I don’t have a Faithful Writer spotlight this month. Between Holy Week and Easter activities and some eldercare issues, it just […]
Introducing Heartspoken’s Reading Room – A Quick Video Guide
Reading can be such a powerful portal to the #HeartspokenLife that I’ve just created a brand new page on my website called Heartspoken’s Reading Room. I hope you’ll check it out. The short video below is a quick guide to what you’ll find on that page, including links to my personal reading list/spreadsheet and to […]
Heartspoken Moment: Be Yourself
“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” ~ Oscar Wilde Wanting to be liked is a powerful temptation At my age, it’s a lot easier to follow the “Be yourself” advice than it was when I was a young woman, but I continue to be surprised how powerful and tempting it is to want to […]
“He’s Alive!” — Easter Morning’s Powerful Cry
After the horror of Jesus’s crucifixion, suffering, and death, as the disciples huddled in fear and disbelief, imagine how they felt when they first heard the joyful cry, “He’s Alive!” From abject fear to utter joy and liberation Our churches don’t often dwell on the awful time between the suffering and death of Jesus on […]