Deanna Doss Shrodes

Recently on our family cruise my husband and I were waiting in a long line for the breakfast buffet. I began to get rather frustrated with the people in line. They were moving as slow as molasses. I’ve never tested how fast molasses really moves, but you know….  What   irked me was that this line as long as an anaconda did not have to stay that way!   People moved in slow motion as they reached for a grapefruit or selected a box of cereal. They seemed to be giving serious thought to selecting a sausage. I wanted to scream, “What’s wrong with you people? It’s sausage. This doesn’t require an executive decision. Grab and move! Grab and move!” I quipped to my husband, “For a person who is on the move, this line that is not on the move but could very easily be is rather frustrating.” He gently said back to me, “Babe, you’re not supposed to be on the move this week. This isn’t the week to rush anywhere. Just relax.” I will admit that was hard advice although ...

Selecting a personal word of the year has been my custom for many years. The word is my theme of the year and something for me to focus on, to build my faith and to grow. Each year I look for ways to remind myself of the theme…everything from a decorative sign with the word, to a piece of jewelry. This year my word is resilient.  All my life I have had to be resilient, and some years more than others.   I know it is this way with everyone to a degree. No one is immune to pain or problems. But frankly, some people are more resilient than others.   I have been studying those who are most resilient and trying to learn from them. With 2017 coming to a close,I have things to bounce back from. There are parts of my life I’m absolutely slaying and other parts that are out of my control. If I could control it, I would have already given everything I have to slaying it.   The challenges remaining are out of the realm of me being able to change them asid...

Years ago I was in a place of deep depression. I was reading my Bible, maybe more than ever, because I was in such a desperately low place. I was praying daily. I was seeking God. I was not only seeking Him, I was begging Him to help me, to speak to me, to do something that only He could do. In the midst of this, I was the speaker at a women's conference. I've never stopped working or serving for the past thirty years, even when I've been in a low place. Some people might say, "Well, that's your problem, right there!" I guess one could look at it that way. I just see it that even on my worst days I get up, dress up and show up.  And believe me there were plenty of days I didn't feel like doing any one of those three things. On this particular occasion I was the keynote speaker, but the host of the conference was also speaking in one of the sessions. As I sat there, I experienced something that was common for a women's conference or church servi...

Sightseeing for two days led to a craving to do nothing and everything at the same time, yesterday. Sleeping in. Staying in jammies. Reading. Watching movies. Cuddling. And all that's great about spending a quiet day together. When evening came, Larry said he wanted to try a spot that was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives . It's a place called Sherman's with locations in Palm Springs and Palm Desert. Something hilarious happened soon after we arrived. The server overheard Larry and I having a conversation about the selections on the menu . We were just talking in the same manner that we always do, but she took something more from the conversation. Something we never said!  Larry overheard her tell her co-workers, "These people are food critics!" She thought we were there to scope it out and write a story about the place. We decided to say nothing and let them think what they wanted to. You know what they say about assuming. Staying quiet w...

"You learn something new every day!" I wish I would have coined that phrase but of course I didn't -- it's an old one. Each day I look for opportunities to learn and usually learn more than three things. Yesterday was no exception as Larry and I spent the day at Joshua Tree National Park, taking in the sights. I had no idea what I was in for. I mean, I knew it was a desert, but oh my lands, it's the mother of all deserts! It's a desert on steroids. The first thing anyone needs to do is get yourself a Big Gulp before you go, because it will take you a minimum of two hours to drive through it. Don't let the word PARK fool you. This thing is the size of the state of Rhode Island. No, I'm not kidding. And it will take you two hours only if you don't stop at any of the exhibits along the way, which of course, we did. Speaking of a big gulp, the first thing I learned is this: 1) If you want to know where you should eat or drink, just watch where ...

For sentiment sake, I'm writing a post about my birthday because I'll read it in a few months or years and look back on it fondly. Bloggers love reading our own stuff whether other people do or not. We're actually obsessed with our own words. We love seeing ourselves write as much as some people love hearing themselves talk.  It's the thrill of the post. I woke up and got a cup of coffee and read some of Isaiah as well as I Samuel, and some teaching on leadership by John Maxwell. (In my house I have a painting of Jesus on one wall and John Maxwell on the other.)  While I was reading my husband brought me breakfast in bed. He's awesome like that. I try to reciprocate in ways that make him happy. After savoring the breakfast I didn't have to cook, I began checking out the information from the first day of Revelation Wellness . It's a new program I'm trying at the invitation of my friend, Jodi Garvin. I started doing this partly because I believed ...

For a number of years now , I have selected a word for the year as a theme. This year, I was delayed in settling on a word. Evidently I'm not alone. I have talked to several friends who said they didn't have their word of the year by January 1. After much deliberation, my word for 2017 is grace. "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9   Pastor James McDonald says: "You never really experience the grace unless you see the need for it—and even that realization comes by grace. The power of Jesus' grace is not fully seen until weakness is fully acknowledged. The moment you are overwhelmed with your absolute helplessness is the moment you are ready to hear Jesus say, I’m all the grace you need." Without God we'd all be sunk, in general. But there are ...

Writing about some things can cause you to lose everything, or nearly everything. I've written a lot, and I've lost a lot. I've also gained. But the losses tend to stick in your mind more with anything. So we avoid loss if possible. It's called "loss aversion" and it's real. Reading about some issues is rare simply because people are scared out of their mind about what will happen if they write openly about it. If you dare to write about some challenges in a public setting, the consequences can include loss of relationships, job, income, and a lot more. I'm going through a challenge at this time in my life that is quite common. Although it is normal, I hear it is one of life's greatest challenges. Due to not wanting to experience further loss that what I'm already experiencing, I'm not going to share what the issue is. But I will say this. I've combed through Amazon to find even one book about it. I have surfed the interne...