Teresa L. Arrowood

    One of the most memorable Christmas songs for me, and today it's true. It's cold out and the snow has been falling since early morning. The sun is out bright and shinning now, but snow this time of the year is magical. It brings memories of Christmas long past. As a child it was one of the most magical things I can remember.     Christmas always found me having difficulty sleeping the night before. These days I have difficulty sleeping for other reasons other than waiting up for Santa. Most of the time it is from physical pain or just not being able to hut down the thought process. Certainly as a child we had much less to worry about. If it were just the mere thoughts of what Santa was bringing  life would be much simpler.     This year has been much different for me. With aging my body , even though mentally I feel like I am still a kid, my body tells me differently. From the worries of work  and lack of for my husband the co...

     This time of the year is unbelievably busy. Of course if you are Santa or an elf it is worse, but for me it has been increasingly getting more difficult to keep everything going as it should. In the midst of the Holiday season it has been hard to hold down a full time job, fight with a college on credits for graduation with a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and try to find time to decorate for the Christmas holiday and still have time to shop and to write. It has been maddening.     I am close to finishing my second Novel and hope to have it to a publisher by the first of the year. Assuredly it is going to be a struggle and with the impatience that I have it's worse. For a women that has never had any patience, being born two months early hasn't changed. I am still impatient and I have a problem I have found with control. I like control, obviously something I hadn't realized until recently. I also like the thought of success and seem to chase what e...

    Sorry it's been so long since I posted last. I haven't had a lot of time recently. Looking for my first accomplishment to spring wings and fly. My first book signing went very well and I hope the next few that I have set up will go as well. The Story of Isabella and Carter is down to earth and true to life. As an author I hope that by reading the book people will get enjoyment from it , but for those that are survivors of abuse, they will find healing through it. God uses people and situations to get his message across.     I hope to have the second book ready for the publisher before Christmas but if not it should be ready for purchase at the beginning of the year. Stilling the Thunder continues the story and what has happened in the two life's that ran a rocky road that should not be found by any person. In real life these things, unfortunately happen more often than we can imagine.     My next signing/appearance will be at The First ...

In the end, it's not going to matter how many breaths you took, but how many moments took your breath away - shing xiong      How many times in life have really taken your breath away? Not the bad things, but the good things? Things that make  your life worth living? Those are the only things that are worth having. You may never be remembered by many people but you will be remembered by what you did and how you loved and cared for others.     There are few things in this life that make it pleasant. A flower coming through a spring snow, A babies toothless grin, a child's uninhibited giggle, a tear that slides down your cheek at your child's wedding a cancer survivor that was thought would never survive the first treatment. The true battle of the human spirit is one of great determination and the love of life and what you do with it and how you live it.     God never assured us of our next breath. I ...

     Over a year ago I sat down in a cabin in Tennessee during our vacation, and on that trip to the beautiful mountain cabin I took my family , a laptop and 2 season of show I had not heard of before a month before we left. In the evenings after a day of walking to mother's nature's falls, which were beautiful by the way, and praying I would not be eaten by a bear, we would come back to out little rented sanctuary.      After a very heart bearing talk with my sweetheart of almost twenty three years, I told him of what I had in mind. The answer came as "What ever you want to do." Of course I think that he thought it would go no further. While he, my son and daughter-in-law to be to be sat watching the Reds ballgame I settled in the bedroom and took my T.V. Series  and watched an episode of the television show I fell with during a power outage in Southern Ohio that reached into West Virginia. The Vampire Diaries had been on two seasons and wa...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/167786389/CHAPTER-1-Standing-in-the-Eye-of-the-Storm       Want to see the first chapter of my premiere book? Follow the link above to see Standing in the Eye of the Storm. This is the edited published version. Hope you enjoy it and let others know. It is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Xlibris. You can also get a copy from your local book store. If you read it and love it please review it. Thanks everyone for your support. Thank You and God Bless Teresa

Chapter 1 The day was cold not to mention the fine mist of rain that fell. Sitting there among family I felt numb, the pain dwelled in my heart was beyond anything that I had ever felt. I was oblivious to everything that surrounded me except for the flag draped casket that lay before me. The piercing sound of the gun salute was the only thing that had caused a reaction from me. Grayson sat with his arm around me as did my own father but I had little thought of anyone supporting me. I felt desperately alone and troubled without any chance of anything being normal again. Molly sat on my lap unmoving with her blanket wrapped around her. Her long dark hair flowed down her back in rings of curls. With her thumb in her mouth she clung to me and I to her. The child I carried and Molly were my only solace, they were the only part of him I had left, I hadn’t even cried, I couldn’t. I had promised him to take care of the lives entrusted to me. They were precious to him and if I didn...

     A few months ago most people unless they were family or friends had no idea who I was. Well for those of you who just started following me on blogger, Twitter, Facebook or my site at WordPress. you are about to hear a little about me.     I am a Critical Care Nurse in a small rural hospital in Southern Ohio. I started in nursing around 30 years ago. That is a long time when you start as a teen still in high school. It is part of who I am, I have been a care giver since I was 16. Believe I have seen some strange and unusual things. Things that most people would never think of.       While was going to school for nursing I also took extra time in my English class as a junior in high school to write short stories and poetry. There were few people that saw them or had opportunity to read them. I think I had one boyfriend that read most of them and a high school English teacher that would take them home with her on weekends a...

http://www.scribd.com/doc/149431125/Sample-Chapter-4-Standing-in-the-Eye-of-the-Storm    Follow the link and get a peak at my first Novel Standing in the Eye of the Storm. Happy reading.

     Catchy huh? Not exactly meant to be amusing. My topics have been based on the same line and I intend on doing them. Abuse is not pretty and neither are the facts on it. There are a lot of storms people go through and most are lucky enough to avoid them, but there are others out there that deal with them on a daily basis. Are you one of them?     None of us live in the perfect world although some think they do. They are just kidding themselves that abuse will never happen in my family. How do you know? Someone may already have been. Victims of abuse aren't outspoken and neither are those that chose to abuse them. It's a don't tell situation for both. It doesn't matter who you are or how old you are. Victims are in all socioeconomic and age groups and is not discriminatory. If you can't see what's coming then the fog of the storm has overtaken you. Put on some Fog lights and fight your way out.      Abuse can start out slow or ...

      Looking into the mirror what do you see? Do you see who you are or a mere reflection of what you want to see? Snow White's stepmother seen what the mirror told her only. Looking into a mirror she found the reflection of a woman that wanted something she could not have. The beauty that her daughter possessed was something she would never have because of the evil that lived in her heart.      Do we give off a reflection to others as a false image or do we reveal who we truly are? There are times when most hide behind a reflection of what they think the world wants to see or only what they want to be seen by others. A false image is often seen on most people. That goes for family as well. It's sad when you think of it, especially when you grow up in a generation that family meant everything because that was all that you had. That reflection is left to their children and they learn from it. When the next generations sees what happens they ...

Have you ever stopped to think of the power or the uncomfortable feel the ruby slippers must have given to Dorothy as she made her way to OZ? As most women I love shoes, if there is a shoe store with in ten feet of me I can smell it. I love shoes, even my son when he was a little boy loved for me to take him to get shoes. But have you ever set your feet into a pair of shoes that you loved but found they were uncomfortable, they were just to tight? Well think of it this way, Dorothy received the beautiful shoes she wore because of someone else's demise. They were beautiful yes but they held power I guess according to the book, but as beautiful as they were to look at they brought her way to much attention from an evil witch that wanted to destroy her. The same is true when you step into the light of God. God with his beauty is good and perfect and wants nothing but good. And like the promise of the Ruby Slippers of a way home so does God give that picture, he offers a way home. Whe...

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." Eleanor Roosevelt Wise lady, no matter how bad a day gets, tomorrow brings the promise of a renewed life. It doesn't matter what goes on in your life today but you can try to change tomorrow with what has made you the person you are. Today will soon be gone and tomorrow you can't change no matter much you would like to. For those that suffer from abuse can't see beyond the grief that has been thrown upon them, it lies on them like a thick heavy blanket not allow them to move on. The pain and shame that comes from abuse, rather it is mental, sexual or physical. It leaves behind pieces of shattered lives that aren't easily put back together. Trust is broken with essentially most people. It leads to self-destructive behavior such as self-inflicted pain, drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, anxiety, panic disorder and suicide attempts. One in three women are affected and one in six men. That is staggerin...

    It's funny how a day can go , starting out in perfection and then ends in a torrential storm. Just as the sun comes so does the rain. It's no choicer of person nor does it take on any particular gender, race or age.  I see the storms in peoples life on a daily basis , some so bad you think it will sink them. It's amazing the strength of the human spirit and also how fragile it can be. Two sides of the same coin you might say. It depends on how each storm is approached and how you go through it.    Having friends and family that have been through every storm that you can imagine along with the patients that I have taken care of. Storms of infidelity, pain, loss, devastating diagnosis's of Cancer, ALS, heart disease and others unmentioned. From the young to the old it effects them all.    I have watched each one and how they work they way through the pain not to mention some that I have been through and still deal with from time to time. The m...

Looking into those blue eyes, I hadn’t seen it before. My own grief had shielded what I had known in my own life. The idea that I wasn’t alone in the fight was a comfort, but the shattering feeling filled me when I came to the knowledge that my gentle husband had shared in the same nightmares, the same hauntings bringing me to my knees. My knees buckled as he held me by the arms and we both sank to the floor. He hadn’t said a word but it was evident in his face. My breaths shortened as I sat looking at him, he looked lost and broken. What had happened, why hadn’t I seen it before? I was so in tune to others that had been abused. I could spot a victim most days before they ever spoke a word, it hadn’t occurred to me that he too had been in my shoes. He had understood because he had been there. He hadn’t told me, for some reason he hadn’t told me. "I’m okay," he whispered. "I didn’t want you to know, you had enough to deal with. It was a long time ago."...

    " The real lover is the man who can thrill you just by touching your head or smiling into your eyes - or just staring into space." Marilyn Monroe.     One of the most misunderstood women in  the world was on the money here. A person who can make you feel affection by just being there has accomplished a magnificent feat. The main one thing that most can ever hope to find is someone to love them for who they are and not someone can offer them.     The time spent with another human being can be pleasurable if it is the right one. Just being on a front- porch swing may be just enough to satisfy being together. People get to caught up in what they can do or where they can go when the simple things are remembered and appreciated more. Don't get me wrong, I love going places and doing things. I have wonderful memories of travel and going out on dates, but it wasn't until I met a man who stepped into my life and had only himself to of...

"You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." Dr. Seuss        Remember the first time when you finally realized you were no longer in control of your feeling for someone else? When it came to thinking of someone else was better than thinking of yourself? That's when you know you have found your God given soul-mate. When your life is no longer your own and you want to share what you have with someone else the love of a life time is born.     Okay, so I am a romantic, I never said that I wasn't. The main thing was that I waited on God to point me in the right direction. I can't say the path was always perfect but God's time was perfect. God's timing is always perfect, rather we like the time frame or not.     Love is a human emotion that is a powerful force that all have found at one point in their life. Love itself is one of the areas that no human can live...

    For those of you who know I have written a book may not know what it is about. I wrote the book because of the abuse and the affects of it in my friends and family along with some of my patent's over the last thirty years. It's hard to look at without it making you ill. The one that had hit me the hardest was when I was sixteen. One of the best friends I ever had suffered through abuse in his young life along with his sister. We were sitting on a railroad tie where we attended trade school. I hadn't noticed before then until I looked down an had held his hand when I happened to see the scarred areas on his wrists. When I asked him what had happened he had pulled his hand back toward him. When he told me his story it killed me inside. He was hard to get to know and now I knew why. He had been physically and mentally abused before he was adopted into another family. He had lived through his sister being sexually assaulted  and trying to protect her. Both of th...

    "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." William Shakespeare     Have you ever thought yourself as a player in a bigger picture? Most do not but other's look at your life and read you like they are reading a novel some of them their minds more on a cheap novel, Either way we play a part each day in someone else's life. It may make a good influence on them or a bad depending on how react to any given situation. These days people are overly sensitive and it makes that stage a whole lot harder to live with.     Each man, woman or child steps into the life of someone else each day. As a child you play that role to a father, mother or grandparent that cares for them. The act as a child and play as a child and love only a child kind n that of a pure and simple child like, that we forget as we get older. We become teens and think of cours...

  "The most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller.     How true is this? If were unable to see the beauty and could only see with the heart what a much better place it would be. Being taught as a child that we aren't to judge others by appearance or character I remain guilty from time to time. Those of us who, lets say are pleasingly healthy from what we devour are looked upon as outcasts at times. Not only that but we judge ourselves by our appearance.     The quote "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," was wrong. Words do hurt and often times cripple us. Not only others but the way we think of ourselves. I have heard words of others  that were said to me and others that I know, that are hurtful even though they aren't meant to be, and others are just plain destructive. How often I have heard, the girl with the pretty face, I wasn't alw...

    For the last few days I have wondered what it would take to boost my first book and as usual nothing has come to mind other than what I have already done. I was never one for the spot light and I guess stepping out of my comfort zone isn't going to be easy.  Tonight I thought I would post a short portion from Standing in the Eye of the Storm for you to see what the book is like allowing to see what it is about and what type of work that I have been doing. So without further ado, here go. “Oh, I can’t believe it. You’re going on a date, with Carter Blake, for heaven’s sake. We have to find the perfect outfit for you. Maybe we’ll even stop in and get a manicure, might as well do the whole thing.” “I want something feminine, something pretty you know?” “Yeah, I get the picture, understated but glamorous. We’ll find something just right.” “Come on, let’s go.” We spent the day at Bateman’s, one of the best local stores we had, and Tangles, where we both ended up gett...

     It was a school assignment that caused me to step out in faith of something that I have always wanted to do. A simple lesson on bullying was something that I took to heart. A young man that had become a motivational speaker that looked like he was in his early twenties inspired me to do something that was outside my comfort zone.     He stood before a crowd of high school and college students and asked the simple question, "What would do if you were not afraid?" That had me thinking, what would be the worst thing that could happen if you did this? The worst thing that came to mind was that all any one could say was no. No one likes to be rejected but then God is in control of everything in our life and every pursuit. Why should we worry? We have no control of what happens any more than how the wind blows. We can't get in our own way instead of letting God have the control.     Letting God take the wheel is the best thing that anyone can do. Besi...

     Your never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. A little over a year ago I decided to step out in faith on a new journey not knowing where it would lead to. Today I am a new author, struggling at it but a new author. The journey still leaves questions in it's path each day I continue on. I have never been a patient person. Being born two months early you can understand I was bound to end up that way. The older I get I find the more inpatient I can be.     It took me a little less than a year to finish my first novel and of course I thought I could have it pounded it out in a few months. I loved to write and had been doing it off and on since I was a freshman in high school. Now a 49 year old wife, mother and grandmother of five , along with a full time Critical Care Nurse  leaves little time to be creative. The thing is once you start getting older you have all the life experience and none of the time to sit down and write about it. I ...

God can show up at the most unexpected times and give us a gift that we never thought possible. Through the anguish of another family in our immediate circle my husband got a glimpse of what heaven is and the miracles God can create.     A family member that has been ill for some time told his family that he had seen my husbands father and that God had sent him to be with him. He talked of the flower gardens that had lain ahead of him and it blessed my husband to know that his father after all these years was home and had come back not once but twice for a family member.     I know that in my own experience that God gives us these gifts not to let him know that he exist but because he can and he has the control do it anytime he wishes we just have to be receptive. In the years that I have been a critical nurse God has given me a glimpse of heaven more than once but it wasn't until I saw my grandmother and my unborn child that I appreciated what God had done for my ...