Month of May in 2015 Devo and My Own Book Coming Soon!

The 2015 Daily Wisdom for Women devotional by Barbour Publishing will be out in stores soon. I wrote the month of May!

My first solo book by a publisher, also by Barbour will be released in 2015 (I don't have the date yet). The title isWhen Jesus Speaks to a Woman's Heart. I can't wait to see it!

If you want a copy of either for a discount let me know. They don't pay me much to write but I do get the books a lot cheaper and am happy to pass that along to you! : )

October's Column in Boomers Living Magazine

Photo by Trevor Lee @trevlee on Instagram

Gotta Love A Man’s World

Tree Climbers

by Shelley R. Lee

If you have kids of any age you have been their first responder in a number of situations to be sure. I’m not sure if having four sons increases the rate and frequency of these incidents, but judging from the way people look at me when I tell some of my stories I’m thinking it does.

One day when my four boys were all school age I heard a faint but urgent “Mommmm!” coming from the little woods next to our house. The gully, as they called it, was a boys haven, laden with scrap wood, rusty nails, and Dad’s missing tools. An utter dream. Unless of course you find yourself dangling by your ankle from a tree screaming at the top of your lungs which is the state in which I found Wes after I tore out of the house in search of the frantic cry that could barely be heard from the house.

Standing under his struggling little frame and big tears, I could give him just enough slack to loosen the rope around his ankle and then he fell down onto my shoulders. On other days their panicked runs to the back door with a trail of dripping blood behind them may have been less scary than this one. Wes had gone out to the gully alone to move a part of the zip line landing to help his brother who was afraid to go down the zip line. Yes, there was a zip line. Excuse me, but I feel like you’re giving me that look I was talking about.

Well anyway, we had a good talk afterward, again (just in case you were judging me), about safety and thinking a few steps ahead of yourself.

Now all in their 20’s three of them are into extreme hammacking, slack lining and climbing things that the average person would naturally avoid with the use of common sense. I’m sure glad I had those safety talks with them.

But all mishaps aside, fall is a such a great time to hang out in the woods, but maybe you’re like me and prefer a simple hike with less potential for being a first responder.

Shelley R. Lee, previously the lone woman in a rambunctious  family of four 20-something boys is happy to also have a daughter-in-law these days. Author of three books, numerous articles and book contributions, she resides in northwest Ohio with her husband of 28 years, David, a wrestling coach, of course. 

August's Column in Boomer's Magazine

Some of my guys practicing their knife throwing skills on
a roadside stop for tea with an ocean view.

Gotta Love a Man’s World

Guy’s Road Trip

by Shelley R. Lee

At home in Ohio, an urgent phone call from my husband, Dave, seven states away stranded with three of our sons jolted me out my happy place. I was done with work and awaiting my flight to spring vacation in San Francisco where I would meet them later the next day. “Shell, can you look up repair garages around here, we’re in Rock Springs, Utah…my reception is horrible. Maybe we need a rental…I don’t know, pretty sure we blew the transmission.”

These guys love a road trip and most of their adventures end up with a story something like this. We often travel with the title of our vehicle, and if you saw our fleet you would understand. But this journey was the first time we actually had to scrap the old beater in the middle of the country.

When I called that nearest repair garage and explained the situation a kind man talked slowly to another guy who we later learned was his brother. His voice echoed across the room, “Oh yeah, I saw those guys pulled over at the exit. I’ll go back and pick ‘em up.” Sort of a small town, apparently.

The nearest car rental was in Salt Lake City, over an hour away. One of the brother repairmen offered to take them the next day, and meanwhile directed them to the only motel in town for the night. My men decided to do what they usually do for a night’s sleep on the road, use the van as their room, usually with Dave sleeping on the roof. I should mention here that the van was locked inside a chain-link gated yard, There was probably a dog. It seems like there would be a dog. 

Their next night’s sleep was in a stunning 2012 Subaru Outback where they stopped late at night in pure exhaustion at a park in San Francisco. When the sun came up they realized they were at the Palace of Fine Arts, the Subaru windows were all fogged up and the neighbors in this upscale neighborhood were getting concerned.

Our time together at Alcatraz, the walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, and all of our wanderings in this spectacular city were great, but in retrospect, not as entertaining as all the travel antics. I hate to admit it though, because I typically whine quite loudly and get thoroughly depressed when I see the rental bills. But hey, we saved a boatload on hotels those three nights I wasn’t with them.

Shelley R. Lee, previously the lone woman in a lively family of four twenty-something boys is happy to also have a daughter-in-law these days. Author of three books, numerous articles and book contributions, she resides in northwest Ohio with her husband of 28 years, David, a wrestling coach, of course. 

This Boomers edition online: http://www.frontporchpublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BT-Aug2014FINALFINAL.pdf