Cynthia Mendenhall is an author, speaker, and adventuress. She is an Administrative Assistant (2022-present), coach, and devotion writer for VineWords: Devotions and More, and a contributing author to Love Knots: Stories of Faith, Family, and Friendships, Volume Two (VineWords Publishing). She is the author of Spunkify Your Life: 8 Secrets to Living with More Focus, Fascination, and Fun; Spunkify Your Life Growth Guide, and Spunkier Yet!: 8 Secrets to Living with More Fullness and Freedom. Cynthia regularly sneaks away on adventures, taking notes as writing material inspiration. Her favorite activities include riding her cruiser bike, sunset floats in her lime green kayak named Earl, indulging in literary novels, sipping coffee, and sampling dark chocolate.
I took a small break and a deep breath as I looked at the mall map, searching for that circled star that would clarify my location, but I was lost. I had walked in circles, looking for the one store that was the purpose of my trip. Somehow, I had become twisted and distracted, and before realizing it, my quick stop at the mall ticked toward a second hour. Nagging questions swirled in my mind: “Had the store moved? … Continue reading →
Little did I know I was living a yellow-pen life. “Aww, these are nice.” One daughter had gifted me my favorite journaling pens, and my oldest presented a full set of eight Bible marking pens. I held up a yellow one from each set and said, “Interesting.” They both knew I enjoyed a lot of color in my life, and, quite honestly, yellow is one of my favorites. But, yellow pens? It only took one trial run to realize … Continue reading →
I’m sure my grandmother thought she smelled delightful; I did not. My opinion never stopped her from spritzing it on with abandon…
Continue reading →I stepped outside my comfort zone, stepped into a Soul Dancing class, and discovered that wallflowers can dance. Twice each week, I showed up in comfy shoes and a big smile, along with twenty-five to thirty other folks with varying levels of dancing ability. I’ve never thought I had natural rhythm, and I have had few opportunities to prove it. It was all I could manage to keep my right and left straight while counting continuously. I laughed a … Continue reading →
Ready or not, January is here, and often we want a new you for the New Year. …
Continue reading →“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 NLT). …
Continue reading →I started that annual practice before they were even old enough to write well. …
Continue reading →Apparently, the reading glasses on the end of my nose, my ear buds, a stack of printed pages on my tray table, and an uncapped marker in my right hand, were not strong enough social cues for Nina to get the message: I am not a friendly flyer. …
Continue reading →I headed toward the kitchen to check out my mother’s exclamation. She thrusted the saltshaker toward me with a scowl. The tall glass container was half-filled with salt, but as I twirled it, five or six large pepper flakes appeared. …
Continue reading →Wet wood does not a fierce fire make. …
Continue reading →
