Subscribe to our email list
Share this:
Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat
Do you need a Christmas gift for a writer in your life? How about giving the opportunity to attend the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat at Blue Lake Camp in Andalusia, Alabama? The retreat is March 22-25, and you can take advantage of a special early-bird 10% discount if registered by January 1.
Cec will be there to keynote, take one-on-one appointments, and teach three workshops (The Secrets of Ghostwriting, Memoirs/Autobiographies, and Writing About the Hard Issues). 
When Someone You Love No Longer Remembers
November is National Family Caregiver Month. When Someone You Love No Longer Remembers and When Someone You Love Has Cancer make nice gifts for caregivers and loved ones. They both offer Cec's warm writing and beautiful illustrations by Michal Sparks.
When Someone You Love Has Cancer
“You’re Not Alone”
How many times have you heard “You’re not alone” when things weren’t going well? How many times have you said those words to others?
I’ve said them more times than I want to remember.
And I was wrong.
Every human hurts in a different way. We can make comparisons, and we can offer sympathy, but grief or distress is deeply personal. No one else fully understands how another person feels.
The worst responses I receive when I'm in pain are from those who tell me about someone who suffers worse than I do. In the midst of my misery, I don’t care about another’s anguish. I’m too focused on me.
The most condescending and patronizing thing we can say to someone in any level of trauma is, “I know just how you feel.” We don’t know. We may care, offer sympathy, and hurt because of their terrible plight, but their pain is strictly their own, and no one—other than God—grasps their feelings. It’s almost as if they say, “Get over it. It’s not so bad.”
When someone compares my difficulty with their own, it doesn’t offer much consolation or comfort. In fact, it diminishes my feelings. It’s as if they’re saying, “Yes, I know all about that. I’ve felt the same way and I got past it.”
Sure you got past it. So will I.
But like the old song goes, “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen. Nobody knows but Jesus.” For me, as a serious Christian, those simple words remind me that the God I serve is the only one who truly understands. 
I am alone in my pain.
Personal News
  • Don Piper told me that our book 90 Minutes in Heaven is now in 46 languages. 
  • Another book I wrote with Don, Daily Devotions Inspired by 90 Minutes in Heaven, is in its 7th printing.
  • I’ll speak at homecoming events at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, November 4–5.  
  • I wrote an article for the winter print issue of More to Life Magazine. 
  • I’m writing a monthly column for The Book Club Network’s Book Fun Magazine.
  • Although I’m juggling work on four books, three for others and one of my own, I’m still enjoying life at a slower pace. 

Cec had the delight of celebrating Anne Dunivin's 100th birthday in October. Anne (center) was the first female elder of Riverdale Presbyterian, the church Cec pastored for ten years. On her right is Susan Cothran, who was an elder at the same church and later became a pastor and campus minister in Virginia. Her husband, Skip (back row, orange shirt), was also an elder. In the back row (center) is Sara Upshaw, a longtime member. The man in blue is Buck Maxwell, another elder at the church. His wife, Annelle, is on the far left.
The Twila Zone--Words from My Assistant, Twila Belk
I wrote a short article titled “A Grateful Heart” for the November/December issue of Positive Note Magazine. It’s about a man I had the privilege of meeting who received the gift of another man’s heart.
My agent has the contract in hand for my next book with BroadStreet Publishing—The Power to BE: Be Still, Be Grateful, Be Strong, Be Courageous. The manuscript is due February 1, and the publisher plans for a summer release. I’m excited about the project and its potential.
I finished chemo treatments on October 14. Yay! Now it’s time to get a load off my chest. I'm scheduled for surgery this Friday morning, November 4.
If you’d like to follow my breast cancer journey and get periodic updates, you’re welcome to visit my Care Pages site. (To access the account, you'll need to log in.)
Here's my latest Care Pages update: Twila's Latest News.
Gotta Tell Somebody, Inc. | 5672 Appleton Road | Bettendorf, IA 52722



powered by emma