I had the privilege of interviewing country music legend, Charlie Daniels, for my first book, How Do You Know He’s Real? He was so sweet and humble that I felt like I’d known him all my life. Even though we aren’t related by blood, Charlie and I are still in the same family, the family of God, and I can rightfully call him my brother. During our interview, Charlie shared some powerful insight into his faith: One of the hardest things for people to understand about the gospel message is that it is so simple; it’s not the very complicated thing we tend to try and make it. There is nothing you […]
Read more...Tag Archives: Amy Hammond Hagberg
The Tick Magnet
We adopted our little Fitzgerald a few months ago from Underdog Rescue, a nonprofit pet rescue, rehabilitation, and placement organization. He is one of the best things that ever happened to me (more on that in a subsequent post). We are together pretty much 24×7. I don’t know what it is about him, but he is a real tick magnet – even with preventative meds from our vet. Maybe it has something to do with him being a stud at a puppy mill for two years… get it… chick magnet… Anyhoo, last night I was innocently watching “Shark Tank” and petting Mr. Fitz when lo and behold I found a tick stubbornly […]
Read more...Remember My Voice
The human voice is the organ of the soul~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow On my six-hour drive down to visit my daughter and her family, I listened to a wonderful documentary on Minnesota Public Radio: The Vietnam Tapes: Letters from a Willmar Soldier (http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/04/30/mpr_news_presents). Dan Kleven and his family from Willmar, Minnesota sent cassette tapes back and forth while he was deployed during the war. He drew vivid word pictures about life in combat and they kept him tuned into daily life on the farm. One of Dan’s best friends also sent him audio letters to stay connected. The documentary was fascinating. Not only did the tapes keep a family sane and connected […]
Read more...Forever Counting Sheep
Hi, my name is Amy, and I am an insomniac. Now, I’m not talking about occasional sleeplessness that can be overcome by an over-the counter or herbal remedy; mine is the chronic, never-sleep-a-wink-without-a-prescription kind of insomnia. For more than thirty years I have taken prescription medication to induce sleep, but insomnia was a problem long before that. My dad and I regularly stayed up until the wee hours watching TV together – mostly prizefights and Dirty Harry movies — because we both had trouble catching zzzz’s. Somehow I muddled through college, but by the time I married and settled down in the early 80’s I hit the proverbial wall and […]
Read more...FREE Kindle Copy of “Facing the Dragon!”
Nope, I’m not kidding. the Kindle version of Facing the Dragon: How a Desperate Act Pulled One Addict out of Methamphetamine Hell is FREE from May 28 – June 3. (If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still take advantage of this offer. There is a free Kindle app available for smartphones, tablets, and PCs.) In Facing the Dragon, you will witness the slow, agonizing metamorphosis of a good-looking high-school athlete into a violent, drug-dealing, psychotic wife-beater whose children were terrified of him. After more than twenty-three years addicted to methamphetamine and other drugs, David Parnell put an SKS assault rifle under his chin and pulled the trigger. The […]
Read more...Spring Has Sprung… Hopefully!
Every spring I innocently recite a little ditty upon the first sign of winter’s departure: Spring is sprung, the grass is ris. I wonders where the birdies is. They say the birds is on the wing. Ain’t that absurd? I always thought the wing was on the bird.* I say innocently, because it is always wishful thinking. I live in Minnesota, after all, and the third week in March is still winter in the frozen tundra. Author Henry Van Dyke clearly knew what I was talking about when he said, “The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is […]
Read more...Ch-ch-changes…
After looking at my freshly minted, totally redesigned website you might be thinking: What’s up with this new look? Why did you change everything? Well, I’m going to tell you. A website is a little like a hairstyle; it must evolve over time or risk being out of it, uncool, passe, even dweebish (good luck with that one, spell check). My old site was absolutely gorgeous, thanks to webmaster extraordinaire, Sandy Juettner, but it was a little too…yesterday. It was like having a bi-level haircut when the other girls sported an inverted bob. The biggest reason for the re-do, however, is that I longed to rebrand myself. I wanted my visitors, friends, potential […]
Read more...A Letter to My Daughter
On the one hand, we’ll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, we can open all our own jars. ~ Bruce Willis Twenty-five years ago today, a stubborn little person fought her way out of my womb as I lay whimpering in a hospital delivery room. After more than 20 hours of back-breaking, toe-curling labor, my brilliant (I use this term loosely) medical team tore themselves away from the World Series and decided perhaps the monitors suggesting you (who had been in distress for the umpteenth time) might need to come out of me ASAP. Well, DUH! There was no way this beast of a baby was coming out […]
Read more...Slandering God
Why do the powers that be in Hollywood think it is acceptable to use God’s name as a curse in so many films? “GD” this and “JC” that. Sadly, I believe the fault lies with consumers. We may be disgusted with onscreen sex and violence and offended by the language, but we still look the other way flock to theaters. The Trivia Question of the Day I posted on my social media sites today read as follows: WHAT IS THE THIRD COMMANDMENT? It was actually a random question chosen in the wee hours of the morning, but it really got me thinking. “Thou shalt not take the name of the […]
Read more...GRAMMAR GEM: Preposition Placement
Most of us were told in school never to end a sentence in a preposition. If that’s true, why do so many people do it? When I hear somebody end a sentence with “at” it is like I’ve just heard fingernails screech down a chalkboard. “Where are we having dinner at?” ACK! In this case, “at” is a completely wasted word; it would be much more correct to say, “Where are we having dinner?” Lose the “at” … please :)
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