faith

From Country Roots to New Dreams: A Spiritual Reflection

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

This post was previously published in October 2024 under Sweaters and Knee Socks.

Today I’ve added an update to the original post to share how God has directed my path.

Sweaters and Knee Socks

I grew up in a family that didn’t have much money for extras. We didn’t buy name brand clothes. We shopped at garage sales before it became popular. Mom made sure we had a couple of new outfits for school each fall and new dresses for Christmas and Easter. Sometimes they were homemade.

Fashion was all about Izods and Calvin Kleins when I was in high school. I don’t think not having name brand jeans and shirts really mattered to me. But one trend I wanted to have so badly was a wool skirt with a wool sweater and knee socks. That outfit was really popular and something I yearned for.

My senior year, a cousin bought me a wool sweater for Christmas and my aunt paid me in wool skirts for babysitting her boys. When I went off to college that fall, I was ready to be in style.

Only people in college didn’t dress that way.

I had missed out on wearing the trend. Now my clothes were out of style at the small college I went to.

My country roots were showing.

(Things got better at the end of my freshman year when a settlement from a driver’s ed car accident came through, giving me spending money above what my college costs were. I bought parachute pants. {Cringe} I actually wore them!)

However, the outdated style didn’t stop me from making friends and experiencing some of the fun the conservative college offered.

One experience I remember well early on in my freshman year was a spiritual retreat. I don’t know where the campground was, but the girls’ bathroom were all open-stall toilets. Needless to say, I didn’t feel the urge to go.

There were also really tall, old growth trees. When we all took a walk through the trees, the leader told us to lay down on the ground and look up. I still remember how majestic the treetops looked from that point of view.

Experiences like this spiritual retreat helped cement the faith that I had experienced in high school and made me a stronger Christian. A sophomore year trip to Mexico gave me new confidence.

I began to walk my own path. Things that had mattered before weren’t important anymore. I had new plans, new dreams.

Forty years have gone by since my college days. (Yikes, I’m THAT old!)

I felt recently like I have finally “come into my own.” I had confidence in myself and in my plans.

Then news I hadn’t expected put a roadblock in my path and I’m not sure what the future holds for me.

I love this verse and have had it memorized since I was a teen:

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

As I have done for most of my life, in these moments I put my faith in the Maker of Heaven and Earth, the Father who created me and loves me. He will direct my paths. The NIV says, “He will make your paths straight.” I like that translation also.

I am praying and waiting to see what He will do, even as I take each step that I know is right for that moment. No, I can’t see ahead, but that’s okay. He will make my way straight and clear.

Now thinking back to that long-ago retreat, I realize I am not the same person. I have a deeper, abiding faith and more life experiences to know that God will, indeed, fulfill the promise in Proverbs 3:5-6. As I trust in Him, He shall direct my path.

And I realize that if I were to lie on the ground and look up at the treetops, I wouldn’t be able to get back up! (Not gracefully, anyway).

Update: February 9, 2026

More than a year has passed. I wasn’t shown a direct path after I posted the original. I tried a couple of things that didn’t work out to my benefit. One endeavor was partially responsible for a mental health crisis mid-summer. It took 3-4 months for my mental health to stabilize. I didn’t work on anything during that time.

In December, I set up a booth at a local event in the school I used to attend. From the sales that day and contacts made that month, I sold 32 books. The most I’ve ever sold in one month.

The New Year didn’t start on a very positive note, but my mental health had improved. I spent two lovely days with my sisters. Then I started to feel the depression and the wait of some of my grief coming back. I made an appointment with my counselor. However, a few days before I saw her, inspiration came to me for my writing projects.

It feels good to be inspired and even better, to see some of my dreams for my writing come to fruition.

I will publish 4-5 new books in 2026. Maybe more as God directs and finances come through.

My faith in God is stronger than ever. I feel very blessed.

Balancing Writing and Life: Tips from Allison Pearl

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

Good morning, today I’m interviewing author Allison Pearl.

Allison, thank you for being a guest on my blog.

Let’s start with you telling us a little bit about yourself.

Hi! I’m Allison Pearl, a Romantic Suspense and Cozy Mystery writer. I love writing about close-knit worlds in both small towns and big cities inspired by the many different locations in which I’ve lived. When not plotting fictional crimes, I run an online book club (https://allison-pearl.com/allisons-book-club/) and regularly release a newsletter (https://allison-pearl.com/home/newsletter-signup/) with bookish blog posts, giveaways, and reading updates.

What is your book about?

Battered & Torn centers on Nora, a woman hiding from a murderous family while working at a billionaire’s estate, and Archie, the guarded heir who can’t ignore his growing attraction or the secrets surrounding her. As their connection deepens and danger closes in, trusting each other could lead them to the truth or cost them everything, including their lives.

Do you have a day job? If so, how do you find time in your day to write?

During my non-fiction writing hours, I write executive resumes and social media content for professionals looking to transition to a new role. Finding time to write fiction is not easy, and based on my progress balancing both, I only have bad advice 😉 I’ve tried better scheduling, getting up earlier, and more, with unpredictable success. What works today often doesn’t work tomorrow. At the end of the day, I just try to write when I can.

Are you a night owl or morning person?

Definitely not a morning person, but not the most successful night owl either given how much I love an early bedtime. I have some concentration and attention issues that make consistency a challenge which means everyday seems like a new game plan. The older I get, the more I realize that the harder I try to put myself in a box or rigid schedule, the quicker I fail. Ultimately, I’ve learned to give myself permission to adapt day by day.

That’s great advice for all of us.

Are you a plotter or a panster?

Definitely a pantser. I have so much respect for writers who plan and wish I could be them when I grow up, but I just end up turning story plotting into procrastination and avoidance. The only reason my books get finished is because I sit down, start writing, and see what happens. Honestly, my plot twists shock me as much as they shock my readers.

Do you experience writer’s block? What do you do to get through it?

All the time. How I get through it changes case by case, but one strategy I always try when I’m really stuck is good old pen and paper. I close my laptop, sit down with a notebook, and just start writing something. I don’t know why it works for me, but something about writing that way always helps me find my way out of whatever maze I’ve trapped myself in.

Another great tip!

Do you reward yourself when a book is finished? If so, what is your favorite treat?

Sometimes, I reward myself for finishing a chapter 😉 Some days the words come easily, while other days you have to fight for every one of them, so rewards feel like a necessity. I’ll usually go grab a treat or a coffee, or sometimes even take a walk around the store.

What does your family think of your writing?

I think their reactions usually fall somewhere between pride and confusion. Let’s just say a snarky, sailor-mouthed woman revealing a career writing faith-based romantic suspense may have seemed a little inexplicable, but despite the confusion, my family has been incredibly supportive and the best marketing team a person could have.

Allison, it was really great chatting with you.

What’s next for you as an author?

Right now, I’m working on the start of a cozy mystery series about a Pittsburgh-based mobile bookstore owner who has a knack for continually finding herself in trouble.

And before we go, where can readers find you online?

Readers can find me online at allison-pearl.com, where I share book updates, blog posts, giveaways, and newsletter sign-ups, as well as on social media under my author name, Allison Pearl.

Finding Hope After Heartbreak

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

A while back, I thought God was doing something new in my life. For months I was excited about the possibilities, until I discovered that what I wanted was not in His plan for me.

Today I cried over the loss of a dream. Then I prayed in earnest to my Heavenly Father, who brought me peace.

After that prayer, I sat down at my computer and opened a file for a story I’d begun last winter. I’d actually started two different versions of it. Today I copied and pasted it into one document. I began line by line edits as I read back through what I’d already written. It isn’t finished yet but I made great progress today.

My heroine struggled with feelings of being unloved and unwanted, and it led her to make poor choices as a teenager. Then she spent the next decade trying to bury her feelings of regret, and continued to make terrible decisions in relationships and life in general.

At the beginning of this story, she is 30 years old and facing the consequences of her actions.

A broken heart, a lost dream, a fall into depression —

While I can relate to this heroine in some ways, God protected me from making the choices this heroine made. Throughout my life, I’ve tried to stay true to my faith. God honored my choices with an amazing husband who was faithful to both myself and to God. Losing him was my life’s worst heartbreak.

But there have been a few times in the past 15 years when my heart has cracked. And each time I feel like I am falling apart, God puts the pieces back together.

I am never quite the same as I was before the heartbreak, but God always does something better when He restores my hope.

In this Season of Hope, I pray that you will find comfort in the Loving God who can fix broken hearts and broken relationships.

Good Monday Evening 9-15-25

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

Autumn is my favorite season. We call it “fall” around here. Living in the rural community in Michigan where we experience four very different seasons, there is a thrill in the air when the temperatures cool at night, the trees begin to show their colors, and pumpkins and squash are at all the roadside stands.

It’s too early to fret about blizzards and icestorms.

If the heat is unbearable during a few hours in the day, we understand that cooler weather is right around the corner.

Gardeners are reaping the last of their harvest and preserving it for the winter.

The season is changing.

This summer I struggled with my mental health. With a medication adjustment, counseling from a Christian therapist, and the support of family and friends, I have come through the hardest season I’ve experienced since my original nervous breakdown and hospitalization in 2003.

The past few days I’ve wrestled with depression. Earlier tonight I cried on the phone with a friend over things that happened 30 years ago. (Thankfully I go to an appointment with my therapist tomorrow.)

Now that evening has settled and the house is quiet, I am remembering and meditating on truths that I learned in the early days of Christian counseling.

One of the first things I learned about in therapy was that Scripture gives us rungs of truth to help us out of the pit of depression and despair.

Some of my truths:

  • God loves me.
  • God accepts me.
  • God forgives me.
  • I am a child of God.
  • He has a plan and a purpose for my life.
  • He has never left me nor forsaken me.
  • He is with me now.

Instead of looking back on the past and remembering failures and disappointments, tonight, I choose to look forward, not backwards. I’m not going that way. I’ve been there, and it’s time to put everything behind me, tie up my shoelaces, and step into the next season in my life.

The photo above was taken by a friend of mine. The Light of God is shining in this fall season, just as it is shining in my life.

From the Archives: Rungs of Truth

/ Carol Underhill / Leave a comment

It’s been a few years since I wrote this post.

I first learned these truths during counseling session #1 in October 2013. Tonight, I needed to reread this and remember these steps. I thought sharing it again might be helpful to others.

Week 1 of my Journey out of the Pit

I started going to a Christian counselor in October 2013 to help me through the grief and depression I was stuck in.

I’m certain God led me to this counselor, as she and her husband were missionaries in Saltillo, Mexico, around the same years that I studied there. Not only that, but she studied Spanish at the same language institute that I did there in Saltillo, just not at the same exact time. It was enough of a connection to believe that God brought her into my life to help me heal.

One of the first things my counselor did was share with me Psalm 40:1-2.

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.

The verses describe what it feels like to live in depression and grief.

My counselor gave me the word picture that there is a pit of depression, but there are rungs to help us climb out of it.

The rungs are truths that we know. For a Christian, those truths are founded in the Word of God.

My late husband had made notes in the margins of his Bible. I had come across these words he’d written in the book of Ephesians:

God loves me.

God accepts me.

God forgives me.

These were three truths that I could count on. They were rungs that I could use to help myself climb out of the pit.

I added a truth of my own:

I am a child of God.

My counselor agreed with these truths. She also added some.

I am who I am by God’s design.
God gave life to dirt. He made us in His image. My value comes from being made in the image of God.
God sees us as His children.
He delights in us.
He loves us for who we are.
Whether we believe it or not, it’s still the truth.
As a person thinks in their heart, so they are.

These are the rungs of truth that I could use

to climb out of the pit of depression.

Before I could grasp hold of a rung, however, I first needed to catch myself thinking negative thoughts.

I had to picture a stop sign.

Once I caught myself thinking a negative thought about myself, I could stop the thought from taking root.

The the next step was to replace the negative thought with a positive truth. After a while, these truths became a part of who I was.

The process of climbing out of the pit did not happen overnight. Sometimes it was two steps forward and one step back. But I continued to go to counseling and built on that foundation.

Over time and through much prayer and determination, I can say that I am safely on the topside. Occasionally I slip towards that pit, but God has helped me to remember what I’ve learned and keep from falling back in.

Edited to Add:

I haven’t read this post for quite some time. I was amazed at how much I’ve forgotten about it. God wants me to remember that He is my heavenly Father, that He loves me and accepts me just as I am. I am His child. And so thankful to God for His faithfulness in my life.