Dear Reader,
Please welcome today’s guest author, Kendra Broekhuis. Kendra lives in the city of Milwaukee. For her day job, she stays home with four of her children and drives them from one place to another in her minivan. She's written, spoken, and created non-fiction content for over a decade, and now is excited to be publishing two novels. You can find most of Kendra's sarcastic ramblings and serious encouragement--including the grief of losing her baby at 33 weeks pregnant--in her newsletter and on social media.
Between You and Us is her first novel. It's about a grieving woman who unexpectedly steps into a different version of her life and must choose between the husband she loves and the daughter she lost.
Sneak Peek at Chapters 1-3: http://www.kendrabroekhuis.com/byau-sneak-peek
Kendra is giving away five copies of her book Between You and Us. To enter the drawing, send an email with your preferred shipping address to: [email protected]
What Makes You Sparkle?
"Mom, what makes you sparkle?" my ten-year-old asked from the back of our minivan.
The question took me by surprise. I'm more used to driving to the soundtrack of sibling wars than thoughtful conversation. "Can I ask why you're asking?"
"I heard it on a TV show," she answered. "They were talking about things they really like and are really good at. Now, I want to figure out what makes me sparkle."
I thought back to the ten years of my life when putting on kneepads and spending entire Saturdays inside gymnasiums playing volleyball made me sparkle. And then there was the decade right after I became a mom when I was passionate about blogging and posting on social media. Currently, I find reading and crafting novels to be quite exciting. See also: custard.
I shared those with my daughter, and she agreed with me on the custard part. But she still seemed discouraged at not being able to come up with her own. So, I tried sharing a little encouragement for her sweet brain to ponder.
First, I said: You don't have to pick one thing that makes you sparkle.
While there's a few geniuses in the world who know what they're passionate about by age three, it's normal for people to enjoy a variety of skills, arts, hobbies, and jobs. (If your job isn't what makes you sparkle, that's okay too!) Don't limit yourself or try to define yourself by one thing.
Then, I reassured her: Whatever makes you sparkle might not feel so sparkly all the time.
Sometimes, you won't even realize you're passionate about something until after all the effort you put into making it shine. Sparkling requires curiosity, practice, frustration, and even the risk of not knowing what will come of all your work. It's good to remember though, that a mindset of lifelong learning emits a more consistent glimmer than a mindset of "Insta-Famous" arriving.
After, I added: Something might make you sparkle for only a season.
But rest assured, even if the thing that makes you sparkle changes, all that time you practiced and persevered is never wasted. In fact, it probably taught you skills and values that can be applied to the next thing adding glimmers of joy and excitement to your life.
Finally, I had to say out loud to her: The world is better with your sparkle in it.
-- Kendra Broekhuis
Kendra is giving away five copies of her book Between You and Us. To enter the drawing, send an email with your preferred shipping address to: [email protected]
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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