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 I will be adding stories & reflections as time marches on. Take a gander today! |
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Contest Entries: "The Contest Challenge"  Participant"I Write in 2018" Participant"I Write in 2019" Participant"I Write in 2020" Participant2021: Independent Writing 2122: "I Write: Enter the Second Decade" Participant2123: "Twenty-three in Eleven " ParticipantThis mixed collection contains fiction, non-fiction, prose, and poetry. Entries vary in length from very short to one that is over 3000 words. 53 entries written in 2018: ▼ 53 entries written in 2019: ▼ 43 entries written in 2020 ▼ 2 entries written in 2021 ▼ Entries written in 2022 ▼ NOTE: All Titles with ~ ~ are either non-fiction or based on a true story. |
What is my problem? Well, I can definitely tell you what my problem has been this month: This prompt!!! I love the "Grill A Christian" contest. It is probably my favorite contest on Writing.Com. Why? Simple: I am a Christian and I want to write non-fiction. LightinMind provides us with thought-provoking prompts. I appreciate all the prompts but I have found it difficult to find the time and energy to invest in creating entries—good entries to "Grill A Christian" take time and thought. This month (May 2025), I was determined to consider his prompt and give it my best effort. With that in mind, I started working on this entry on the 5th of the month. I say I started working on it but, although that was my intention, what I really did was to start contemplating my answer to the question: "What is my problem?" At first, I found myself jotting down some ideas: Some of my problems included: I have lacked consistency. I have lacked vision. I have lacked focus. I have suffered from a severe lack of energy. I have made some bad decisions. I have not done well with follow-through. Some things simply have not worked out as I had hoped. I have not taken care of my finances. I have not taken care of my health. Too many things in my life have changed. And the biggest thing: In the midst of my problems, I have had a poor Christian testimony. As I tried to come up with an idea to write about, I found myself examining my life for problems. At first, I was just looking at current problems. Eventually, my search expanded. Pretty soon, I was looking back over my whole life. It was then my question changed to: What the hell was my problem??? I also began comparing my life to the lives of other folks—with their lives being beacons of success in so many ways while my life went from failure to failure. Where they were shining examples of the good life, many times mine was a good lesson in what not to do. Some of my problems were of my own doing. For example, I had neglected to file my income taxes and it came back to bite me in the butt. Others were unfortunate circumstances. The changes I referenced were a result of the COVID pandemic. I had begun to settle in to my new hometown when it seemed like EVERYTHING changed. Many of the places where I like to hang out (and write) were no longer open. Shopping changed for me when Walmart decided to close at night. As a life time night-shift worker, I always shopped at night. Walmart will likely never again accommodate folks like me who prefer to shop in the middle of the night. That, by itself, has been a culture shock. What else did I do, I asked a close friend what was wrong with me. Why did God allow her to have a better life than me? Why did she have a good childhood, a good husband, financial success and I did not have any of those things. She was ready with an answer. Sadly, her answer put me in mind of Job's friends. God gave me a different answer: Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Who am I to question God? I think that pretty much sums up God's answer to Job as well... So, back to my problem of the month. I have two things I will share to frame the solution. The first is a personal story from December 2008. I am a nurse. My health at that time was not good. I often was not able to work. I am pretty sure I only worked two days that month—two twelve hours shifts: Christmas Eve and Christmas. My twelve hour shifts usually end up being fourteen hours. I often needed the extra time to finish my charting. That was the case on Christmas Eve. The next morning, I was exhausted and had to push myself to go to work. As I was driving (dragging myself to the hospital), I was praying—and complaining, I'm sure. Something strange happened: My life flashed before my eyes! It was very strange. As I was driving. it was as if I was also clicking through a slide in a View Master. Click, click. click. Pictures from my life came up in that View Master. Generally, when I share this story in the face-to-face world, folks are aghast thinking I am seeing all the bad things I ever did. That was not the case. Actually, much of what I saw were things like me folding laundry, me brushing my teeth, me washing dishes, Our lives are full of a lot of mundane moments. The really good times and really bad times are sprinkled amongst all the ordinary stuff. I realize that on Christmas Day 2008 as I drove to work. I was a bit amazed at my View Master experience that Wednesday. The next day, I was talking to God about it and suddenly, instead of the View Master, I saw a huge pile of photographs. Again, the photos were little excerpts of my life and most of them were just the daily run of the mill kind of things. Again, an interesting realization. Well, I got up on Friday and was praying and saw the pile of photos in my mind's eye again. I felt as though God was trying to show me something but I wasn't quite seeing it. I asked Him to show me clearly what He was trying to say. The message I received that day was: You need to dig in there and pull out the good ones! That is the solution to my problem. As Paul wrote to the Philippians: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8) Amen? Amen!!! Most of May, I was doing exactly the opposite of what this verse suggests. As I thought about all the bad stuff, I became more and more depressed. The truth is that God will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are staid on Him! (Isaiah 26:3) Written for:
Word Count: 1095 Words ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
| Prompt: Can we communicate with God and each other? How is this possible? Robert McCloskey once said, "I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant." This is one of my favorite quotes about communication—and it is so true. Another favorite is a quote credited to George Bernard Shaw: "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." These two quotes do reflect my own struggle to communicate with other people. Why is communication so challenging? It goes back to the Tower of Babel. You can find the story in the eleventh chapter of the book of Genesis. After the flood, men begin to build a tower. Was their intent to reach God in their own strength? Whatever their intent, God declared that as they were one people with one language, nothing would be beyond them. God's solution was to scatter them and confuse their language. So at Babel, God chose to hinder our communication with each other. In our modern world, we have such a great capability to communicate—seemingly with the whole world. Truthfully though (as my first quote hints at) even when we speak the same language, we still might not understand each other. A skill we can work on to help with that is: listening. Listening is almost a forgotten art but I can tell you this from personal experience: if you become gifted in a the rare act of listening, men will beat a path to your door. What about communicating with God? Well, God did something about that as well. He gave us His Only Begotten Son to reconcile us with Him and open the doors of communication again. He also has given us the Holy Spirit. In Paul's letter to the Romans, we learn that with His power (the power of the Holy Spirit), we can even talk to God with "groanings that can not be uttered". When we pray in the Spirit, we are praying according to the perfect will of God. If we have ears to hear God and eyes to see, we can turn to Him and say, "Heal me." and we can trust He will hear us and grant our request. (Mark 8) I believe that we can ask God to make our eyes to see and our ears to hear—and our hearts receptive to all that He has for us. I believe if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and heal us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) And Romans also reminds us that Jesus makes intercession for us... Our communication with God is authored by God. He empowers us to pray. We are His Workmanship.  (Ephesians 2:10)Written for "Grill a Christian" Prompt: Can we communicate with God and each other? How is this possible? Word Count: 475 Words ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
Be Thankful... God has given us All things—life and godliness. Let us give Him thanks. Written for "Thankful Poetry Contest" Form: Senryu ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
| ~ Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work ~ The words below are found in the Bible—in the first chapter of the book of James: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." There are different definitions for the word patience as it is used here. It is often defined as endurance. The trying of our faith—the challenging things we experience in this life—those things that might cause us to question God's love for us or even His very existence—as we stand our ground, trusting the God is good, we gain the strength to stand, to endure whateve life may throw at us. We are also promised that as we wait upon the Lord we shall renew our strength. In the trials and tribulations, as we patiently wait for God to move or simply to uphold us in His mighty right hand, as we trust in Him we gain "the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset" which is the dictionary definition of patience. We are empowered to endure til the end. ♡ Prompt: Prompt:"Patience is learned through waiting. " Eyen A. Gardner Taken from: Day 2378 November 7, 2024 from Blog City Prompt Forum ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
God Is and He Is The Rewarder Of Those Who Diligently Seek Him I'm writing this essay in October 2024 for a contest on WdC called "Grill a Christian". This month's prompt is " what does it mean to you to say that God exists or does not exist?" My relationship with God is the most important thing in my life so for me the prompt becomes simply: "What does it mean to you to say that God exists?" The Bible says that in order to please God, we must believe that He is. There came a point in my life years ago when I had to decide what I personally believed about God as He (and His Only Begotten Son) is presented in the Bible. As I weighed the facts, I made the decision to choose to believe. Over the years since then, I have joined the father who prayed "Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief". Today, I still choose to believe. What has happened as a result? So much! More than I can say here. The Bible also says "God will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid on Him." I know that peace—the peace that passes understanding. It is a peace and contentment that is independent of life's circumstances. As I walk through life on this mortal coil, I experience all the things common to man: birth, death, joy and heartache. Through it all, I can turn to God for comfort. I can not imagine facing trials and tribulation without Him. I don't even want to. As I wrote in "My Psalm" , in the darkest of my nights, He has consistently been the brightest light. I can sing, "How I've proved Him o'er and o'er."Can I prove God exists? No. But I believe that, as I choose to believe, He consistently proves His existence to me. He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. May that I be counted in that group. May I diligently seek Him today and always. God is and He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Written for: "Grill a Christian" Prompt: "What does it mean to you to say that God exists or does not exist?" Word Count: 350 Words ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
~ A little something about ruwth ~ The truth is, you can find out a lot about me in my port. Today, I am gonna tell you about the first item I uploaded to Writing.Com: "My Psalm" .The Brief Description says: "Someone once suggested: Write a psalm of your own." Someone, eh? But who? Well, here is the rest of the story: It was 2004. I had just earned my Bachelor's Degree in Nursing. I had been an LPN and was on the verge of becoming an RN. I was 50 years old and had been divorced for almost four years. My "baby brother" had come to visit me from out of state. (People tease me about calling him my baby brother. He is the "baby" of the family and is seven years younger than me but at 43, he is no longer a baby.) Anyways, Baby Bro thinks it is time I start dating and he has just the way for me to do it: "Christian Mingle"—an online dating site. All I need to do it create a free profile and the fellas will line up at my door. Easier said than done. To start with, I had to choose a username. For my brother, anything will do. Not so for this big sister. I fretted over what name to use. The first ideas I came up with were already taken. The ones my brother came up with did NOT work for me. It took me days to decide on a name. By that time my brother was pulling his hair out. He probably would have given up but he really wanted me to find a nice guy and live happily ever after. The name I chose was quite fitting for me: "Choosing_the_Narrow_Road" I am pretty sure the account is still there. Something from that account followed me here to WdC. It was someone on that singles site (a guy) who suggested we all try writing a psalm. I wrote "My Psalm" over there at that fellows suggestion. When I opened my Writing.Com account later, I chose my psalm to be the first item I put in my portfolio.You can also find it here:   And that's the rest of the story... Written for: "Tell Me About Yourself" ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
  This is my personal photo of a burning candle displayed in a Trinket on Writing.Com. Let your light shine, too! ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ Written for: "The Prompt Me Contest" 184 Have Been Collected. |
| "Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024" Prompt 6. Sept 6. Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets. Paul Tournier Can you share a secret? Small or big, tell us. No? Tell us why not. Who is Paul Tournier? I don't know and a quick google search didn't help me. It kept giving me the Paul Tournier quote in our prompt for today. It also caused me to think of another quote I know: "We are only as sick as our secrets." I first heard that statement around 12-step tables. As I walked the walk, I found it to be true. I often say the 12-steps saved my life—because they surely did. I was ableto embrace myself warts and all. It started when I officially worked the first three steps: 1. I admitted Iwas powerless over food and my life had become unmanageable. 2. I came to believe God could and would restore me to sanity. 3. I made a decision to turn my life and my will over to the care of God as I understood Him. Then I was at the fourth step and I did my best to take a fearless and thorough moral inventory of myself. It was not an easy task. I cried my way through reams of paper. With my inventory in hand, I was ready to share the secrets of my failings with God and with another human being. Prior to working my firsr fifth step, I was certain that if anyone really knew me, they would reject me but, ya know what—they didn't. As I shared openly and honestly about my failings, I discovered that being real and authentic was the best way to go. I was blessed to have learned that lesson. It serves me well to this day. Being real and authentic is very high on my list of values and I am glad—relieved and glad... ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
| "Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024" Prompt 2. Sept 2. Tell us about an earthshaking Life-or-Death situation in your life. What happened, how did it change you, if at all? Day 2 Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024 I am late.  it is 1 minute after midnight as I start this entry...Being late is not earth-shattering. Life is taking a toll on me right now. I am going to write an entry anyways. How many words do I need? 300 Word Minimum.. 79 down 221 more to go... The first thing I thought of when I read the prompt was the first earthquake I ever experienced. It was August 2011. I was in Annapolis, Maryland—actually Arnold, Maryland. My dad's address was sometimes Arnold and sometimes Annapolis for some reason I don't remember and never understood... 133 Words—I am so exhausted—I am struggling to reach the minimum word count. Day 2 and I am already a failure!!!  My father died on July 29th, 2011. That was an earth-shattering event for me. My youngest sister and my con-man brother-in-law had tried to keep the news of his death from my other sister and I. That was VERY EARTH-SHATTERING. It made my dad's death even harder to bear. They tried to steal my dad's estate. They wanted my dad's money—I wanted my dad...  I need 79 more words... Well, actually the needed words become fewer as I note them, eh? Not only was that August 2011 earthquake the first for me, it is the only earthquake I have experienced. I was talking on the phone to my "good" when it happened. The strangest part of it was that the kitchen cabinets suddenly no longer seemed solid. They appeared to be waving as though the were a piece of cloth. Oh good, I am going to reach that 300 Word minimum!!! As I think back to that sad summer, memories come flooding back. The tears are gentler this time... ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ I am late. it was 1 minute after midnight when I started this entry...~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
| "Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2024" Prompt 1. Sept 1. It's the site's 24th Anniversary. Tell us about your love or fondness of Writing.com. What makes this a wonderful place for writers? Why are you (still) here? What do I love about Writing.Com? I have mentioned this before: There is a song we sing in church that has a chorus that reminds me of The StoryMaster (no disrespect to God intended): Even when I don't see it, You're working Even when I don't feel it, You're working You never stop, You never stop working You never stop, You never stop working StoryMaster is always working behind the scenes. The best thing about this site is the couple who started it. The self-taught coder, The StoryMaster and the artist/photographer he loves, The StoryMistress My only regret is that I did not find this site sooner! From the beginning, I got to have open communication with the OWNER of Writing.Com. Our interactions started on "Technical Support Forum" back in 2009. He was kind, patient, informative and occasionally a bit cheeky.How was he cheeky? Well, there was this one time I thought I noticed changes in heading font sizes and such. I posted on "Technical Support Forum" asking, "Am I crazy or have some of the font sizes changed today. He responded, "Well, I can't say whether or not you are crazy but the font sizes did change.  "Cheeky, eh? Another place we have interacted is "Suggestion Box" . Something that has made this site super special to me has been his responsiveness to my suggestions. He has implemented several of my ideas over the years which totally blesses my heart.Another thing is the man is a good businessman! First of all, he understands the baker's dozen philosophy: when you order something from the WdC store, you ALWAYS get little extras along with your order. That's just one of his business strategies—there are others—some are done anonymously and show the same business savvy. Truthfully, I love the man and I love WdC.   And, The StoryMistress is a sweetheart, too. Years ago, I told her I would like a custom made merit badge. I wanted it to have blue daisies and be titled "Just Because". Back then, they did not offer this feature but the day came that she started using her creative talents to do just that: ![Merit Badge in Just Because
[Click For More Info]
Thank you for creating this BEAUTIFUL BADGE! *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Just_Because.gif) You can see the image I sent her here:
The StoryMistress has also made some of the most beautiful trinkets I have in my collection! You can see them here: There is much more I could say about these two but I will conclude with another thing I love about Writing.Com" YOU! StoryMaster did not just create a site, he created a community and if you are reading this, it includes you! Reading, Writing, Reviewing. and interacting with each other definitely makes Writing.Com a wonderful place for us to gather, eh? 24 Years and counting! ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
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