River of Thoughts

Christine Royse Niles — Changing the world one word at a time

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Being a writer can get overwhelming, can’t it?

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I can’t go back

by Christine | Leave a Comment

On a steamy August night, a scared little girl in a purple sweater stepped through the door and changed our lives. In a dusty Ukrainian steel-town, another compassionate little girl in hand-me-down clothes offered me berries and wrapped her arm around me as I cried. These girls had nothing.   No ipods or cell phones or TiVos or laptops. No clothes of their own. No home. No family. How could we not help them?   My comfortable life has come face to face with need and loss and emptiness. I can’t go back to life the way it was before. I’m […]

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Back to School

by Christine | 8 Comments

Hairspray and perfume hang in our hallway like the Black Smoke from Lost. The girls scurry around…”Where’s my bobby pin?  Not the green one!  The blue one!” The first day of school. It’s go time.   One year ago, I shared a few thoughts about the first day of school for the girls: Today, they embark on a new season of classes and homework, of football games, of friends and opportunities and choices. They seek independence, yet the glue is still drying between us as a family. For kids raised outside their family of origin, or in a family with […]

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Learning to Dream Again

by Christine | 10 Comments

Today’s guest post is by Tammy Helfrich. Tammy is a wife, mom, and writer. She has a passion for writing about life, marriage, motivation, and telling the stories of people who are making a difference.  Tammy is learning to live a healthier lifestyle, and live a better story. You can connect with her at her blog here or on Twitter @tammyhelfrich I can’t really remember a time when I had a huge dream or vision. I didn’t have something that I thought I was destined to do. I didn’t want to become a missionary or a doctor. I just wanted to be successful and […]

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Reunion

by Christine | 5 Comments

Welcome to Fiction Friday.  Each Friday, I’ve shared with y’all a glimpse into the mind of Zach the Zombie and some of his friends.  Today, an old friend returns. You know the drill–this is only very minimally edited.  I still appreciate grace and forgiveness, please…no red pens!  🙂   She appears at the opening to my shelter.  Drenched.  Clothes in tatters. “Hey, Zach.”  Like nothing had happened.  Like she hadn’t been gone for months. “Hey.” “So, uh, how’ve you been?” she asked.  Awkward much? “Really?  Really?  Wow.”  I’m stunned.  Not really sure what to say to her.  She was supposed to […]

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Reboot

by Christine | 14 Comments

  Reboot, rinse, repeat Marking all as read.  Start fresh. Recast the focus. What needs to be rebooted in your life?  Leave a comment…   *Photo credit: Thana Thaweeskulchai (Creative Commons)