Easter is never deserved.

I grew up hearing words like snakeroot, sassafras, mullein - things that had wondrous, mysterious sounds in their names.

Let's just say that I was raised by my grandparents.

Let me say that I absolutely loved writing 'A Common Life,' because it was a book about love.

When the trees and the power lines crashed around you, when the very roof gave way above you, when the light turned to darkness and water turned to dust, did you call on Him? When you called on Him, was He somewhere up there, or was He as near as your very breath?

I've put everything I had and I've given my readers 120 percent, and that's the truth.

Give me faith, Lord, to know Your Presence as surely as I know the beating of my own heart. I've felt so far from You.