tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98673182026-01-30T04:22:57.030-08:00<img align="right"height="100"width="150"src="http://www.shannonwoodward.com/j0178460.jpg"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;~ <i>A place for writers and thinkers</i> ~<br><p>shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.comBlogger412125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-74122515471725019072010-11-19T09:21:00.000-08:002010-11-19T09:25:13.384-08:00

I'll still post to Wind Scraps whenever the right post idea presents itself to me, but these days I'm hanging out regularly at my new site, Twig and Feather. This is where I'm posting my favorite recipes, craft ideas, and homemaking tips. I hope you'll come by and say hello!

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-36449402023759877702010-10-01T19:21:00.000-07:002010-10-01T19:37:04.864-07:00

I made a big batch of this for our women's retreat last weekend and have had a few requests for the recipe. Here's a post I wrote four years ago on an August morning when I had a hankering:You start, of course, with a giant bowl of oats.I don't mean "quick cook" oats, either. Those worthless flakes pose no challenge to teeth; they offer no satisfaction. Regular oats. Giant bowl.In a

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-75813283757399014372010-09-08T08:29:00.000-07:002010-09-08T08:53:54.315-07:00

"It is a moment of light surrounded on all sides by darkness and oblivion. In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another just like it and there will never be another just like it again. It is the point to which all your yesterdays have been leading since the hour of your birth. It is the point from which all your tomorrows will proceed until

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-45725821443761013082010-09-01T15:50:00.000-07:002010-09-01T15:54:20.954-07:00

Someone passed on the word that I love my animals ... a mysterious someone named Mike. So I received notice today that Wind Scraps had been given an award. Here's what they said: "A visitor named Mike submitted your website for our website award and he had some nice things to say about your organization.Our team reviewed your site and found it to promote the ethical treatment of animals as well

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-2824305051507710772010-08-01T06:53:00.000-07:002025-12-11T09:24:36.626-08:00

Here's a snapshot of July from a few years ago ...Really? Let's see now. How has my week gone ...Two of our goats, Bambi and Jimmy, had a touch of something or other. Dave gave them a wormer and I gave them two doses of penicillin. It occurs to me now that I'm the family injector. Dave doesn't say, "I need to give the goats (insert: cat, dog ... hamster) a shot." He says, "We need to give the

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-77228267179769842872010-05-29T09:40:00.000-07:002010-05-29T09:43:15.197-07:00

I spent yesterday with two of my very favorite short people. They're now four, but I remember when they first arrived ...Mark and Taryn's twins are only a month old, and already I have a favorite. It's whichever one I find myself holding.Wednesday night, I held Duncan. We stared at each other all during worship. I don't know what he was thinking during that time; I was marveling at how much he'd

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-82528856740907292612010-05-07T09:22:00.000-07:002010-05-07T09:23:10.433-07:00

Tera was cleaning her room not long ago and came downstairs with a bag full of recycling stuff. I almost had her take the bag out and distribute it herself, but at the last minute, I took a peek. And there, tucked behind an empty juice can and a rumpled piece of cardboard, I found my treasures: 21 Kismet score sheets.Kismet is a step up from Yahtzee, in case you don't know. The dice in Kismet are

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-68867151580961633592010-03-08T17:13:00.000-08:002025-12-11T10:07:19.109-08:00

"Can you make mine 'olky?" Tera asks.She's standing behind me, so she doesn't see my smile."I like 'olky eggs," she adds, for good measure.When will I tell her that eggs have yolks, and not 'olks? Never. Someone else will have to spill the beans, because I cannot bring myself to correct that word.I couldn't correct Zac, either, when he used to refer to his "forkhead." It was just too cute. Sure,

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-82361820026823793002010-02-22T11:33:00.000-08:002010-02-22T12:00:12.604-08:00

I've been reading a lot of Dietrich Bonhoeffer lately, and I find his thoughts about "cheap grace" to be both timely and much-needed in the church today. It's popular right now to talk about our "freedom in Christ," but so often that phrase is merely a convenient smoke screen behind which people hide so that they can indulge in their secret (or not-so-secret) sin. How we need to get back to one

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-55838636989376887002010-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:002010-02-19T08:23:00.250-08:00

Tonight, 20/20 will air an updated report on Hannah. Please watch! And then, please pray.Emma wouldn't let me hold her, at first.She let me stare at her. She smiled for this picture. She even tolerated the touch of my fingers running through her irresistible curls. But when I reached to take her from Noreen and she found herself in strange arms, she cried.Maybe she'd felt the weight of my gaze

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-12713762169448030282010-02-18T14:28:00.000-08:002010-02-18T14:28:00.084-08:00

The body of Christ is a beautiful thing.I saw glimpses of that beauty in Texas -- testimonies that stood in sharp contrast to the dark injustice of Hannah's ordeal.From the beginning, Pastor Rod and Noreen Carver, along with several other couples, did the dance of court-ordered guardianship for the Overton children. Larry and Hannah--then out on bail awaiting trial--were not allowed to be alone

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-83153539512840262742010-02-18T05:26:00.000-08:002010-02-18T05:26:00.185-08:00

A little knowledge can paralyze you.In one of our early conversations about the retreat, Noreen had shared the story of one of the women in their fellowship--a woman named Linda whose daughter had been murdered five years earlier. I could relate to that situation because we'd gone through that ourselves, and at nearly the same time.Then, just a few days before I left for Texas, Noreen told me

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-83919233838586559832010-02-17T21:25:00.000-08:002010-02-17T21:25:00.438-08:00

After the first session, I came back to my room and found this picture waiting for me in my inbox. My cousin, Tracy Willms, had sent it to me--a memento from my visit last September.That reunion was 26 years in the making. Though much time had passed and we'd walked very different paths, when he called me out of the blue one morning last April, we talked for three hours and caught up on key

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-43623939311408109652010-02-17T05:06:00.000-08:002010-02-17T05:06:00.120-08:00

Pretty much the moment Noreen and I settled on the retreat theme, months earlier, my internal debate began. I remember ending that phone call thinking, How do you speak for four hours on the subject of joy to a roomful of grieving women? They need joy, the optimist in me said.But you can't push them there, the pessimist argued.Would my illustrations be insensitive? Would my admonitions be too

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-44819275676889441052010-02-16T05:02:00.000-08:002010-02-16T05:02:00.054-08:00

The plan had been to grab a latte after dinner before heading to the resort. I have to point out here that Corpus Christi, population 300,000, has two, count 'em, two Starbucks ... whereas my little town of 30,000, situated as it is in the shadow of Seattle (otherwise known as the birthplace of Starbucks), has nine. For a time, we had ten, but that was back when someone thought it would be wise

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-77067384072153123502010-02-15T11:54:00.000-08:002010-02-15T11:53:37.386-08:00

This Friday, February 19th, ABC will run an updated profile on Hannah Overton on 20/20. This woman means a great deal to a great many of us. I hope you'll watch this week ... and I hope you'll pray. Here's part one of a series I wrote after visiting with Hannah's church family, husband and children two years ago: I've traveled to many places and spoken to many groups of women, but I've never

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-60913192443365188262009-11-07T15:20:00.000-08:002009-11-07T15:29:35.696-08:00

It would appear that I'm not satisfied spilling all my deep thoughts here and on Facebook. Now I'm also twittering ... or is it tweeting? Here's a link to my page:Let me know if you're twittering/tweeting too.

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-37808513617193545102009-10-10T23:52:00.000-07:002009-10-11T09:48:07.073-07:00

I'm in Craig, Colorado right now trying to find a way to say good-bye to a man I've loved for 41 years. How does one do that? I don't yet know. But here's a glimpse into why he means so much to me.Apparently, all Oklahomans fish. It's not an optional activity. Even new, gangly-legged transplants are expected to pole-up and do their part. Shortly after our move from my home state to his, my new

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-74043548996507515882009-09-26T15:22:00.000-07:002009-09-26T17:01:49.580-07:00

If this day could be condensed into a few brief, bright flashes; if I could gather a handful of September sun-warmed vignettes and put them in a memory box marked "today," here's what I'd tuck inside:--a flock of white homing pigeons that burst sunward over our neighbor's trees as though sharing one single thought, only to dip left, drop abruptly below sight, and rush skyward again ... winged joy

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-27393402389524849002009-08-11T11:58:00.000-07:002009-08-11T11:59:27.243-07:00

I've been toying with the idea of focusing--at least for awhile--on my little town. I know my profile says I live in Seattle, but that's because I figured I'd lose you if I said Marysville. But now you know the truth. I could probably blog for an entire year about the characters in this town. And up till now, the only reason I haven't done so is because I couldn't choose which story, which

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-66066420917533788372009-07-03T17:07:00.001-07:002009-07-03T17:48:25.180-07:00

Last year, I thought I'd figure out how to make a movie on my Mac. This was the result. Songs by Brett Williams and Paul Baloche.

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-42916024935406345812009-06-07T17:51:00.000-07:002009-06-07T17:55:03.293-07:00

Such a good reminder ...

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-6430763489303289682009-05-29T08:45:00.000-07:002009-05-29T08:46:27.363-07:00

My friend, Shannon Gallatin, sent me this video clip after her husband, Scott, sent it to her this morning. The subject line to his email was: Are women born this way?Good question, Scott. I'd say yes.

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-35640797522990453792009-05-20T07:54:00.000-07:002009-05-20T10:13:44.311-07:00

My oldest friend in the world (oldest as in longest-lasting, that is), Andy Estrada, periodically sends me really thought-provoking emails. All the rest of the time he just sends me jokes and funny videos. But yesterday, this came through. It's a quote from C. S. Lewis that I have read and pondered before. I know that elusive "something" that Lewis describes--a hint of something not quite

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9867318.post-13604669496257392562009-04-13T03:13:00.000-07:002009-04-13T03:29:19.532-07:00

My husband sang this song--one of my very favorites--at our Easter service yesterday. I didn't tell him I brought the camcorder and he didn't notice when I flipped it on and started filming. I'm glad I did.Dave Woodward (accompanied by Jerry Roberts)

shannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06979169490651455277noreply@blogger.com5