Karen Whiting the Author

If you ever wonder why your children can all be so different and how some seem easier to get along with, your family may be a lot like mine. We have a variety of personalities that resemble the characters at Pooh Corner. Once I understood each child's personality it made life easier and more fun as I saw each child's loveable qualities in a new light.

My creative juices are always flowing and spill over into my books and hundreds of articles. I love playing with children and have five children, now teen through adults, and five grandchildren. I was a contributing writer for Focus on the Family's Focus on Your Child magazines. I also write regularly for two other publications.

One outlet for my creativity is in my passion to connect activities and fun to spiritual insights. It helped my children know that God is involved with all aspects of life. I weave that in my books, such as connecting crafts for tweens with virtues of Biblical women in my God's Girls series. I'll have new books for tween girls coming out (probably in 2009) that focus on creating miniature crafts and finding insights into little things in the Bible.

I understand the hearts of families who keep being uprooted as our family moved many times, while my husband, Jim, spent twenty-two years in the Coast Guard. We have lived on Maryland's eastern shore for just a few years.

In addition to writing, I'm a speaker and often on radio as a guest. In 2007 I traveled to Russia to speak and minister to families. I had the adventure of swimming in the Black Sea and helping children to make puppets...I don't speak Russian and they didn't know English, but puppetry is a language of the heart and we connected. Through a translator I helped people who minister to families to give them tools to use to help strengthen family communication skills, manage time, and treasure one another.

It's amazing to know my words and thoughts have touched people so far away. I majored in math in college, so I never expected to write. I loved raising my five children and people kept encouraging me to share from the wealth of experiences I created for my family. I prayed about writing and God actually gave me a vision. Then, within hours, I received a painting of the vision and knew God had called me to write. I'm thankful that God has used me to help others.

Karen's Latest Articles from Suite101.com

Is Your Idea R-I-P-E?

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 16:46:00 PDT
An article or story without the complete package in mind is not ripe for writing and will be as unpalatable as a green banana. Four components make it ripe.

Lenten Journey

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:07:18 PDT
Pack a bag and enjoy an imaginary journey through lent and Passion Week.

March Activities With Spiritual Applications

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 14:10:06 PDT
Purim, St. Patrick's Day, the arrival of spring, and lent are in March with opportunities for sharing spiritual lessons with children through activities.

Twirling Heart Cards, Mobiles, and More

Sat, 29 Jan 2011 16:15:55 PDT
String embedded between two hearts, or other shapes inside a window opening creates a twirling effect. Express love with creatively with these projects.

Activities for the Fourth Week of Advent

Fri, 17 Dec 2010 07:33:35 PDT
The angel candle is lit on the last week of advent. Activities focus on the message of Christ's birth.