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  • Abundance is Found in a Mostly Empty Four-Bedroom Farmhouse, the Title ‘Mom’, AND Hope

    • May 1, 2022
  • Windmill with sunset in the background.

    Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

    • March 18, 2022
  • White Jeep underneath a full rainbow

    Abundance is Found in Surrender

    • February 26, 2022
  • Lia stands in front of a large wooden door with her hand on the handle.

    Abundance is Found Within

    • January 16, 2022
  • How Happy Are You Willing to Let Yourself Be?

    • December 2, 2021
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The Journey, General, Grace & Grit, Writing Craft

START HERE

January 26, 2021
General, The Journey

Jeep Life

August 1, 2018
General, The Journey

Mom: More Than Just The Woman Who Birthed Us

May 12, 2019
General, The Journey

It’s Not About The Goal, It’s About The Experience

February 1, 2019
Abundance General Grace & Grit The Journey

Abundance is Found in a Mostly Empty Four-Bedroom Farmhouse, the Title ‘Mom’, AND Hope

LiaMay 1, 2022 Leave a comment

My baby is a high school senior this year and she’s recently chosen the college she will be attending in the fall. Even though I’ve already navigated this transition before with the two other pieces of my heart, the…

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General
Windmill with sunset in the background.

Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

If I could name one thing with the potential to bring inner abundance to…

Lia March 18, 2022
General
White Jeep underneath a full rainbow

Abundance is Found in Surrender

Peace. Ease. Inner Abundance. How do we attain these states? Are they only possible…

Lia February 26, 2022
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About
Lia K. Cook

Author

I never dreamed of being a writer. As a kid, I loved to doodle, write in my diary, and listen to music, but I wasn’t the kid that lived with her head in a book—my head was in the clouds. I spent most of my time...

I invite you to live in the messiness of life with me, in that wholehearted place that requires a hefty dose of grace and grit to achieve our dreams and squeeze the most joy out of every day. I’m no expert on the best way to do this, just a southern, church-raised girl at heart who’s searching for hope and meaning along the way. I’ll share my GRACE & GRIT experiences and my writing journey and encourage you to share yours. I’ll talk a lot about writing and a lot about life. The writing part: I’m a women’s fiction novelist working on her first book. This book baby is seven years in the making, but I’m getting so close to the day I can proudly share it with you. So I’ll share the writing process that got me here, my struggle in taking so long, and my celebrations along the way until I can finally place the book of my heart in your hands. The Grace and Grit part: Grace is my background as that southern, church-raised girl. But don’t worry, I won’t get too preachy—except to tell you we all need to be a little more forgiving of ourselves and each other. This will be a huge reminder to myself, and hopefully a bit of inspiration to you. And the grit part is the struggle we are all living in, the day-to-day battle to find peace, meaning, and purpose in this life. I hope you’ll join me in the trenches of this beautiful, and so often complex, life where words become my medium to understand what it takes to fully experience the life that exists in each and every moment.

Blog Categories
  • Abundance (1)
  • General (49)
  • Grace & Grit (12)
  • The Journey (53)
  • Writing Craft (8)
Recent Posts
  • Abundance is Found in a Mostly Empty Four-Bedroom Farmhouse, the Title ‘Mom’, AND Hope

    • May 1, 2022
  • Windmill with sunset in the background.

    Abundance is Found in the Stories We Tell Ourselves

    • March 18, 2022
  • White Jeep underneath a full rainbow

    Abundance is Found in Surrender

    • February 26, 2022
  • Lia stands in front of a large wooden door with her hand on the handle.

    Abundance is Found Within

    • January 16, 2022
  • How Happy Are You Willing to Let Yourself Be?

    • December 2, 2021
Don’t Miss To Follow Us On Instagram liakcook
I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay ou I got outside of my comfort zone today—Waaaay outside of my comfort zone by participating in the MudGirl Race with my daughter and all the other badass women who showed up and challenged themselves. There were 17 obstacles with mud galore. We crawled through mud, and climbed over mud, and when I reached out for Addie’s hand on one of the slides she tricked me and pushed me into the muddy water waiting below. I love my girl!

Here’s a shoutout to the lady with the prosthetic pushing forward on that muddy trail; that lady beside me on the muddy crawl who pointed out that “we in the military now;” all the amazing volunteers cheering us on at every station; and the guy in the pink tutu leading the warmups and inspiring us all to go have fun. #pinkarmy #pinkarmy5k #pinkarmystrong
These were the only images I captured for Mother’s Day. I missed the opportunity to snap a photo of my mom with my boys (My daughter worked a double yesterday serving other moms and their families since she was off Saturday for her senior prom), or a photo of Dwayne with our boys, or even myself with the ones I love—because I was so in the moment with them. Which is a good thing, right?

Asheville was cool and damp yesterday. The low clouds that hung over the tops of the mountains lifted as the sun rose higher in the sky. 

Lunch with my family was full of conversation and good food and laughter. And the ride along the parkway and the moment we pulled off to find @thebandwatkins and his guitar and his lyrics about ‘this time being different’, along with the woman doing yoga, the view courtesy of God’s great hand, and my people were and always will be enough. 

Still the feeling of lost opportunity over the uncaptured photos dawned on me when I logged on to social media and scrolled through all the smiling faces of moms and families. I even saw photos and heartfelt posts about individuals missing their moms and grandmas, and posts about fractured relationships that make Mother’s Day difficult for others. Again, I had moments and experiences with my people but these posts only heightened my regret over not taking a picture of these snapshots in time. 

Why? Do I really need photos to prove to myself or anyone else that I had special moments with my 83 year-old mother, my husband, and my sons? Or was this desire of capturing these moments on film really about a fear that one day these moments, these people won’t exist and these photos will be the only reminder of this time with my loved ones? 

Social media, the fear of missing out (FOMO), and Comparisonitis can all steal our joy if we forget that our real happiness is found living in the moment and savoring our experiences and the time we have with the ones we love on the real-life side of the screen. 

#fomo #comparisonisthethiefofjoy #joyfulmoments #liveinthemoment #soakitallin
Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshe Senior prom. ❤️ #mysenior #seniorprom #isntshelovely #dontblink #timepleaseslowdown
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! Being a mom is a b Happy Mother’s Day Weekend! 

Being a mom is a blessing. Having my mom and my mother-in-law here to celebrate is also a blessing. And the very fact that other wise and loving women were present in my life, if only for just a while, is a blessing too. 

Whatever your experience may be, whatever this weekend brings up for you, I hope there’s at the very least glimmers of blessings all around you. ❤️❤️

#mothersday #greatwomen #mommies #grandmommy #celebrate #blessings #blessed
Loss – the perceived deprivation of something de Loss – the perceived deprivation of something deemed meaningful.

I enrolled in a grief study at church with one of my friends. In this grief study, we specifically studied Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.: To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. If I’m being honest, I enrolled in this class with my friend because I was excited about studying the Bible with her. That’s our thing. And, I thought this study would help me understand the grief of my main character in my book. 

Losses come in so many shapes and forms. Death is usually the first thing that comes to mind, but there are varying shades of loss in disease and divorce and job loss and infertility and natural disasters — all the seasons of our lives. Even becoming an empty nester.

My baby is graduating from High School in a few weeks, and heading off to college this fall. This will be the first time my husband and I have ever been alone as just the two of us, since I brought my oldest son with me into our marriage. We are anticipating all the opportunity this new season of life will bring, and we are navigating the loss of how things have always been. 

We’ve always prioritized our children and our family, so this newfound time feels guilt free – like a choice that will lead us straight to joy, if we will just allow ourselves the opportunity to explore this new season.

What losses are you navigating? Are you entering a new phase of life? 

I'm talking more about how we can find abundance in losses on the Grace & Grit Blog.

#emptynest #dontblink #newperspectives #ichoosejoy #lifeisshortenjoyit
Do more of what brings you joy. Push against the Do more of what brings you joy. 

Push against the resistance that says there’s not enough time or money. 

Push against the misbeliefs that tell you that it is selfish for you to have desires, or wants, or needs. 

Push against the old outdated systems that taught you there’s not an abundance of time, money —resources, choices, perspectives—for all your heart desires, wants, and needs to experience joy.
 If money or time or judgement wasn’t an issue, what is the first thing you would do?
#joy #abundance #mindfulness #selfawareness #takecareofyourself
© 2022 Lia K. Cook. All Rights Reserved.
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