Tidbits and Pearls by Ladonna Shanks:Interview with Celebrate Lit.

About the Book

Book: Tidbits and Pearls

Author: Ladonna Shanks

Genre: Non-Fiction, Christian personal growth

Release Date: April 15, 2019

How often do you truly see that life is full of everyday blessings from God? Our Creator is present in our lives—even when we don’t realize it—and it is part of His plan that we have friendship and relationship with Him. So how does one live life with God, the omnipotent, omniscient Creator of all?

In Tidbits and Pearls, Ladonna Shanks shares incidents from her life, recounting them in a way that touches the heart and enriches the lives of those who read these personal stories. Her insights and lessons learned offer profound yet simple wisdom, gleaned from her seventy-plus years of life experience. Many of her essays focus on her family—her children and “grandgirls”—as well as her personal gardening business. Her faith shines through the narrative as a shining light for others to follow.

Humankind was created to have a relationship with their Creator, and everyday life presents the opportunities for that to occur. Tidbits and Pearls is one woman’s record of how God manifests himself in daily life, with the challenge to look beyond the physical and seek the spiritual aspect of life. So take the first step in this journey and be honest with yourself and with God, for you are His instrument, and without Him you can do nothing.

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Author Interview:

What is your writing Kryptonite?

My writing Kryptonite is self-deprecation, a lack of self-confidence, and comparing
myself with others.This is my first writing venture, I have no professional training as a
writer, and it has been daunting to be thrust into a literary world of skilled, experienced
writers. Self-doubt sits at the door.

What about writing do you love?

One of the things I love about writing is when a message is given me to share, the words
flow onto the page and, at the end, I hear myself say “This is good.” My hope is always
that the message will make a difference in people’s lives—not only for living life but for
all eternity.

What is your process for coming up with a title?

I tend to write mostly essays and often the title is given to me in correlation to a personal
experience, a concept I have been shown or a lesson I have been taught.

What is the best thing writing makes you feel?

The humbling reality that God has entrusted me with the opportunity to share Him and
His message—That is the best thing I feel when I write.

When you’re feeling down in the dumps, what book do you read because it makes you feel better?

I am not a reader of books so reading is not something I do when I am disheartened.
What I do, though, is plant myself before God and the two of us sort through the garbage
in my life until a resolution takes place.

About the Author

Ladonna Shanks was born and raised in Oregon. She graduated from Lebanon High School in 1962, married, and became mother to a son and three daughters. After more than thirty years as a stay-at-home mom, she began working in a garden nursery. That led to establishing her own gardening business. Now in her mid-seventies, she continues to operate the business as it enters its seventeenth season.

More from Ladonna

When people ask me how long it took to write Tidbits and Pearls, I usually tell them, “It took a lifetime.”  As a senior citizen, I had to live it before I could write of it–of life and the living of it; of God’s desire for friendship; of His presence in everyday life; of the opportunities given to learn, to grow, and to experience Him.

Tidbits and Pearls began as a blog several years ago, based on my personal experiences as God walks with me and teaches me. My desire is to share Him–with those who believe and those who don’t; to those in a church and those who aren’t; to many, to but one. In this compilation of posts, my goal is to challenge the reader to think beyond the physical into the spiritual, to consider the brevity of this life when compared to the eternal, to think of things in a way perhaps never thought of before, to look Godward.

My walk with God began as a very little girl with no concept of the reality of Him and His love. As a seventy-something woman, He is a part of my daily life, my anchor, the foundation of my being. He is my reason for living.

I am honored to deliver His message—God is love; He created humankind for friendship and relationship; there is a point and purpose to all things.

Book Review:

This collection of blog posts and essays really touched my heart. The author’s tone and ability to combine lessons with personal experience took me back to days spent around my grandmother’s kitchen table. I’ve often wished I had wrote down all the little nuggets she gave me over the years since I know I’ve now lost more of them than I can remember.

There’s an honesty to Tidbits and Pearls that speaks of real life experience and allows the reader to connect on a personal level. Ladonna Shanks’s insight into her own life and the stories she brought away from day-to-day living are an inspiration.

I read this book as part of a Celebrate Lit tour. I was not required to leave a positive review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.