Dear Reader,

Welcome to my blog! Recently, one of my friends suggested that I share a little more about myself and about my blog, so I thought about it and decided to write this letter. When I first began pursuing a writing career in the early 1990’s, I was excited about writing bestsellers and finding just the right publisher for my jewels. Well, over the years, the reality of the writing world began to sink in. Although I had several articles published and did some commercial writing,  by the late 1990’s, I knew I needed to earn more money and started tutoring and filling in as a substitute teacher for our local school district. My change of direction led our district to offer me a position as a high school English teacher in 2002, so I laid down my writing to focus on becoming fully licensed as an English teacher. After completing four undergraduate English courses, my master’s degree (in curriculum, instruction, and assessment), and six Praxis tests, I felt I needed to get back to writing. So, I began working on a book proposal earlier this year and decided to attend a Christian writer’s conference in June. That conference convinced me to lay aside writing a book–it is extremely difficult to find a publisher–and to venture out to starting my own blog. So, here I am!

Since I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, when it came time for me to decide where I wanted to go to college, Ohio State University seemed a logical choice. As I daily commuted to campus on the bus, I did something that changed my life forever. To pass the time, I began reading the Good News for Modern Man New Testament. When I reached Matthew 24, I found something I knew nothing about. Jesus was talking about the “abomination of desolation”–when I read those words, I asked God my first question ever, “What in the world is the abomination of desolation?” I was hooked on finding out what the Bible really means. As the years have passed, I have spent countless hours with my Bible, a concordance, and dictionary all the while asking God for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. In this blog, I am sharing out of the treasures that I have received from God. I am in no way claiming that what I share is truth–only God can give each of us the truth that sets each of us free–I am just sharing what I understand.

To sum up some personal information, I graduated from OSU in 1973, taught for two years, and then started our family. I was privileged to be a full-time, stay-at-home mother to our seven children for around twenty years, and I loved every minute of that time. All seven of our children are grown with five of them married and two still in school. Including my husband’s first daughter’s children, we have ten grandchildren. So, family gatherings are big and loud, to say the least. Also, as I shared earlier, I am currently teaching English to juniors and seniors in high school–I love my job!

As you read through my posts, please feel free to comment. And, if you would like to e-mail me, you can send a message to phzell@charter.net.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.

Patricia Zell