Posted by: Susan Lower | February 5, 2010

Inspiring Romance #26- A Box Full of Kisses

A few months ago, during the holiday season I heard a story shared one Sunday morning.

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight. He became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree.

Never the less, the little girl brought the gift to her father the next morning and said, “This is for you, Daddy.”

He was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared again when he found the box was empty. He yelled at her, “Don’t you know when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside it?”

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Oh, Daddy, it’s not empty, I blew kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness. It is told that the man kept that gold box by his bed for years and whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us have been given a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, friends, family, or God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

With Valentines’ day drawing near, why not exchange that box of chocolates for a box full of kisses, and give it to that special someone you hold dear. Maybe they too will keep their box near and take out an imaginary kiss when they are feeling discouraged.

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 25, 2010

Letter Composing from the Heart

It’s hard to believe that three little words, can mean something huge to a person.  It’s often not the easiest thing to say to someone, and often can become tongue-tied at just the moment they try to say “I love you”. 

One of the many things that has always helped me and continues to be a blessing in my life is the ability to compose words and create letters that express thoughts, feelings, and action.  Many times I find myself writing little notes to myself and my spouse all day long as reminders.  I even stick them in my oldest daughter’s lunch box for encouragement when I know the day before wasn’t going exactly the way she’d hoped.

When I’m writing and I’ve created the characters I can find myself lost in their emotions, thoughts, and actions.  However, when I sit down and try to express to my spouse, my children, my family how I am feeling, it doesn’t come out so eloquently and flowery as I intend it.  My mind draws blank.

Composing a letter from your heart starts with a rough draft.  Like any piece of writing, start with a small sketch or outline of the points you wish to make.  For example, in composing a love letter I might jot down, “I love you”, “You make me feel…” , “I really appreciate when you______________for me. (cook supper)”, “I admire how you can always ____________________in a situation.(stay calm, find the right words, be level headed).”

With Valentines so near, think of the one person you hold dear and compose your own letter from the heart.  It doesn’t have to be flattering and flowery at first, and maybe you know all the things you want to say, but are unsure of the order.

Try it and see what happens.

If you need help, a friend of mine at CPWrite is offering a Valentines’ exclusive.  For the month of February, CPWrite is offering help to enhance your love letter, while keeping your sentiments, and impressing him or making her heart melt.

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 18, 2010

It’s That Time of Year Again

For the past few weeks I have been devolged in girl scout cookie sales.  It’s that time again.  But, for my oldest daughter, it’s a first.  This is her first year as a Brownie in our local girl scout troop. 

Most of us will set our goals small, that way they are more achievable, but not my daughter.  She thinks big and goals and reaches high.  She set her cookie goal at 1500 boxes, the reward for selling all those boxes is to go to girl scout camp for free.  It’s a tall order, for such a little brownie.  So, we’ve broken the goal it boxes of 50, having almost reached for first “50 goal” this week.

At my daughter’s age, I too was a girl scout.  It was some of the best times of my childhood.  We learned new things, made new friends, maintained old friendships, and took away many good memories – like camp. 

One time we went to camp, it was so cold, none of us were able to go swimming, and the bunny trial was so slippery with mud, we literally skated down the hillside.  We spent a few nights in our tents, but then on our last night there, we stayed in a large doomed shaped building and camped out on in our sleeping bags on the wood plank floors.  We spent more time giggling and whispering all night than we did sleeping, that was for the car rides home.

Ah, but it is that time of year again isn’t it?  One I’m sure my daughter will come back to reflect on as she grows older, as I have.  One of Cookies, and camp, and other memories to be made.

Not only because they freeze well, but because my daughter insist, we’ll be stalking our freezer full girl scout cookies this year.  Samoas are my favorite!  What kind will you be ordering?

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 15, 2010

Inspiring Romance #25 – Make a Wish

Today’s inspiring romance comes from a book called, Ways  Say I Love YouTo Those You Love The Most ,  by Stephen Arterburn, Carl Dreizler & Jan Dargatz. 

As many of us are aware, there is a wonderful program called “Make a Wish Foundation“.  This foundation makes dreams come true for kids with terminal illnesses.  Isn’t that just a great way to say “I love you”?

So, today’s idea is based on the same principle – make a wish come true for someone you love.

Have you ever sat down with someone and talked about your dreams and what you wanted to do in the future.  A goal, perhaps, or something you’ve been saving up for?

On my fifth wedding anniversary, my husband took me to Hawaii.  Okay, not really.  A couple we knew who had been married a week before us were going to Hawaii, my husband and I couldn’t afford such a lavish trip, so instead, my husband decorated our bathroom with lais, fake palm trees, and wrote and drew on our bathroom mirror.  He filled the tub with water, and while our oldest was napping we put on our swimsuits, sat in the tub, and snacked on pineapple, Mandarin oranges, and laughed. 

It was the most special anniversary gift my husband had ever done for me, one that I shall cherish for a very long time.

Your goal is to find out one wish of your loved one and creatively make it come true.  Don’t be discouraged if it is something you can’t give them, but remember you can support them.  If your loved ones wishes, for example, to write a book – buy them a pen and journal to get started.  If their wish is to go to europe someday, start a savings account, or like my husband create the next best thing.

Have fun, and give it a try.

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 11, 2010

The Heart of Romance in 2010

I’m excited as we enter a new year a new decade about all the great changes going on in the inspirational romance market these days. 

As you may have noticed, with the change of a new year, I’ve also changed the appearance of my blog.  What do you think? These were my wedding colors, light blue and silver.  The banner picture comes from my wedding reception.  The heart in the center was our wedding favors and the tea cups where center pieces.

My husband and I spent many hours working on those little heart shaped boxes.  Inside we placed candy hearts with little sayings.  Of course none of our tea cups matched, we spent a year collecting them from various venues. But then,the treasure hunt of finding them all was half the fun.

Today, that little heart still symbolizes the unity of my marriage – two hearts become one. 

As relationships grow, I have found that at the center of every romantic relationship is a heart.  And I believe when God is present in our hearts – that is when the  true romance begins. Sometimes we forget that in most all relationships there is someone else standing there beside you. Your not in this relationship alone. 

Perhaps that is why I love getting to the heart of romance within my own stories.  My characters never leave me, they’re always there in the back of my mind, whisper what if, and when is it my turn to hit the page again?

I hope you continue to join me this year to take our love relationships to the heart of romance and follow my journey as an inspirational romance author.

Happy 2010!

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 8, 2010

Inspiring Romance #24- Compliments Count

Compliments don’t come our way quite as often as we’d like. 

You can say, “I love you” almost every time you see someone, but a compliment says you’ve gone out of your way to find something especially special about another person to comment about it. 

A compliment need not always be about someone’s appearance.  People also like to hear compliments about their work, humor, talents, and their intentions.

Today, compliment the one you love.  This not only helps affirm the bound of your relationship, but sprouts new conversations and heartfelt smiles.

Some compliments you may want to consider giving the one you love:

  • the way they always make you laugh
  • their ability as a spouse
  • their ability as a parent
  • the outcome of a task or project they completed
  • their genuine concern for others
  • their kindness
  • their hospitality to others
  • their cooking
  • the way they always smile
  • the way they react to a situation
  • how they are always there when you need them

When you give a compliment, give it in sincerity.  Sometimes the tone of our voice says more than the words from our mouths.   In all your relationships with the people you love, be encouraging and accepting of their return praise. 

How will you complement your love one today?

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Posted by: Susan Lower | January 2, 2010

Inspiring Romance #23 – Leave the Mistletoe up

Now that the parties are over, the house is quiet again, and the process of cleaning up has begun – leave the mistletoe up.

Strategically, you placed a piece of mistletoe somewhere above a doorway, hoping to catch someone standing beneath for that chance to give them a kiss.  However, now that the opportunity seems to have ended with the passing of the season, there is no reason to keep it up right?

Oh contoriar my friend, leave the mistle toe up!

They say January is a blue month compared to all the other times of year.  So why not spice up your relationship, and your mood during this month by surprising the one you love with a kiss every time he comes near?

If you don’t have a mistletoe, they are still on sale as stores purge their left over holiday surplus, or change your mistletoe into a bow, and hang them in every door way.  You’ll be sure to be puckering up soon.

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Posted by: Susan Lower | December 23, 2009

TinyWorld, USA

This weekend, the family and I took a trip to TinyWorld, USA.

It was the first time we’d ever heard of Tiny World, and was pleasantly surprised to find it located near Shippensburg, PA.tiny world

My first thought about TinyWorld, was that it would look like the picture above.

But as you can see, TinyWorld was much “larger” in retrospect than  proclaims.

Tiny WOrld, USa

And what place wouldn’t be complete without their very own fire station?

 Most of the building of TinyWorld were about waist-high to the average height adult, and just the right size for little ones too look into the windows of many of the town buildings.  My family and I were quite fascinated with the moving carolers in the church, the dairy barn with cattle in the paddock outside, little homes fully furnished, and the schoolhouse - complete with the photo graphs of former students.

Each house was lit up in a allure of christmas lights and pathways.  As small flakes of snow began to fall, the sounds of awe eyed children, laughter, and good humor flowed through the air.

But if the giant inflated snowmen and santa were not enough, this barrel sized rootbeer was enough to have everyone in the family craving a rootbeer float!

After we were back inside our warm and cozy vehicle the kids were asking if we’d come back again soon.  So, we promised that next year we’d return and may it just might become a tradition for the Lower family to visit TinyWorld each year around the holidays.

Besides sharing the excitement of this unique and wonderful place with my family, I have to admit the miniature stables was my favorite part of TinyWorld.

They say you can take a farm girl from the farm, but you can’t ever take the farm resides inside a girl’s heart away.

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Posted by: Susan Lower | December 18, 2009

Inspiring Romance #22 – Build a Gingerbread House

 Inspring romance can easily get pushed to the bottom of your Christmas list during the holidays.  It is easy to lose track of one another in the hussle and bussle as you shop, wrap, and decorate for the upcoming days. But while you’re out looking for the perfect gift for that special someone, it’s a good idea to touch base with your beloved often.

A relationship is like a gingerbread house, you have to work to keep it together - piece by piece.

As you can see by the photo (gingerbread houses my husband and I put together with our two youngest) that building a gingerbread house doesn’t have to be perfect.  Neither does our relationships.

This evening gather up some graham crackers, icing, and search the kitchen for cereal, twizzlers, gum drops, m&m’s, smarties, and other candies to decorate your gingerbread house.

Sit down together and start building a gingerbread house from foundation up.  While you’re hard at work, take time to discuss the expectations of your current home, future home, or dream home.  It’s okay to dream, but try not to complain, but to find the positives in building both your gingerbread house and your relationship.

So now that you’ve seen our little gingerbread houses, how did your’s come out?

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Posted by: Susan Lower | December 14, 2009

Orchestrating a Night Out

 Once a month my husband and I slip away from our kids, leave them with a sitter, while we head off for a nightly adventure.

This months adventure took us to the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

As a professor, my husband is often caught up in grading finals this time of year, this year being no exception.  Our December adventure usually consist of me wrapping presents and him sitting beside me with a stack of ungraded tests.

We were given tickets to the show, and so we sat idle things aside, and everything else fell nicely into place.

Here I am standing with my husband at our local community arts theater at intermission.  The first half of the symphony, they played “the nutcraker”  – it was captiviting .  Great seats in the high rise, and a wonderful time spent with a wonderful man.

Wishing you all the merriest of seasons.

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