Author name: Jan Whalen

Dear Beauty, Mother’s Day burns with emotion. Everyone (especially card and flower companies) wants us to remember our moms, yet often they don’t make cards to express the soul’s voice. Mother’s Day can be a difficult day if you desperately want a child but can’t have one, or you’ve just lost your mom, or your mom […]

Dear determined woman, It’s fun to stand near the finish line of a race to watch that magic moment when each runner steps over the line to success. I’m not exactly sure why this is so, but it’s fun to clap and holler for each one, whether you know them or not. It’s also heartwarming

Dear Cool Woman, It all started with reading The Boston Girl. About a hundred pages into this book by Anita Diamant, Addie, the main character, visits a seemingly eccentric potter who wears pants. Because she was an early 1900s girl,  Addie jumped at the chance to try on this unorthodox garment. Here’s her reaction:â€When I put

Dear cherished woman, When I began writing to Ariel, I had no idea what her life in prison was like. I’m beginning to see her as a woman who depends on God to bring her through each day. She looks at her life honestly and has a passion to help others—someone who has a story

Dear Beauty, I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I face a situation where I can’t see my way through. It feels like being in the ocean, going down fast! Fortunately, this feeling usually lasts a short time because a minor miracle, or (as we say in my family) “A God

Dear Dancing Heart, How do you manage those low points in your own life? We all have ‘bad’ hair days and sometimes the days turn into months or years. It’s helpful to exchange stories about how other women manage their lives. Today’s guest author is Lisa Edwards, international trainer (ROI of Coaching), coach, author and

Dear Wonderful Woman, When I was little, I enjoyed taking long walks near my home in rural Harmony, Minnesota. I’d get lost in the journey, but every once in a while I’d look back to see how far I’d come. It might be a good time to do the same with our Whalen Voices blog. We’ve had many comments

Hello Beauty, Do you call yourself an artist? Would you dare? The public nature of art, especially visual art, mixed with the critical nature of our society makes this question a bit risky to answer. Today’s guest author is Lee Nelson, a former public school principal and the current chair of her church’s Faith Through the

Dear Beauty, Easter, the season of new life, invites us to celebrate the fact that we are precious works of art, created by The Master. Not only have we been created with care, we’ve been given freedom of choice to design a life for ourselves—the artwork becomes the artist. In thinking about creating our lives,