I’m No Superstar

I’m No Superstar is a blog for people like me who want to make a difference in the world but know they aren’t activists. Each post contains a social action idea that most of us could do, a book that’s worth reading, or a link to a website that offers other ideas. Oh, and it’s all introduced by a sometimes quirky story from my life.

Where’d You Go, Carol Cool?

It’s been almost four weeks since I created a blog post. Where have I been, you might ask if you happened to notice you haven’t received an email in a while. The easy answer is that my husband accepted a new pastoral position exactly one month ago, which he starts on July 1. His new

Found Money to Share

When Les and I got married, he was still a college student, working as the unglamorous “chicken boy” at a high-end meat store. I was working at Wanamaker’s department store as a mininum-wage saleswoman (probably salesgirl in those days—both age-wise and cultural-language-wise). We had no money. As we sped away for our honeymoon, I sat

When the Great Provider Doesn’t Provide through a Paycheck

Most of you who read this blog know me through my speaking. Or maybe we’re Facebook friends. What you may not know, then, is that I make most of my living by writing for businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions. I write websites, articles for magazines, blog posts, advertising of all sorts. I often say I

Add Some Generosity for Lent

A friend from church recommended a Lenten devotional series from the YouVersion Bible app on Facebook today. The title—40acts: The Lent Generosity Challenge—struck a nerve with me. I know Lent is often about denial, about giving something up, but the last few months have already required me to give up some things, to let go

Matthew 25 Resolutions

Are you a New Year’s resolution writer? I’m not much of one, mainly because they don’t seem to last long. But I always think we can do better at living more like Jesus and serving him well. I’m wondering what 2020 would be like if we adopted Jesus’s words from Matthew 25 as our resolutions.

My 2020 Word

I was driving the other day, and the word “peace” just popped into my head. Almost immediately it expanded to the phrase “an instrument of peace.” I hadn’t thought of the poem below from St. Francis of Assisi in years, but suddenly there it was in my head. Well, only the first three lines were

We’re All Spreading Something

I was cresting a hill and when it hit me—that noxious skunk aroma. It permeated my car—with the windows closed—and yet I couldn’t see a dead skunk on the road anywhere. Where was that odor coming from? About a half a mile down the road, I finally encountered the skunk carcass. And then the smell

The Gift of Laughter

Last Saturday, our friends Marsha and Kerry took us to the “Elvis Birthday Bash,” a program at the American Music Theatre that features two Elvis impersonators—Scot Bruce (as younger Elvis) and Mike Albert (as older Elvis). Now I would not consider myself an Elvis fan. I would have said before Marsha and Kerry took us

 

Have Carol Speak For Your Group

An accomplished and flexible speaker, Carol tailors her topics to fit the theme and timeframes of your meeting, conference, seminar or retreat.