Multiple local authors gathered at a recent expo. Just as in your lives, I was thunderstruck with their fascinating experiences. A wellspring of wishes, wisdom, whimsical, “why did I do that?”, “what if’s”, “why not’s”, and wondrous words produced their stellar stories! Why write?
There are many reasons I write. It encourages me to focus, research, learn, love, and inspire. At times, it clears the cobwebs in my consciousness. Other times, it soothes my soul. Distractions cease. I’m intentional. I can: Think. Reflect. Learn. Understand. Praise.Inspire. Words are convincing, helpful, encouraging, and affirmative. At times, it’s entertaining! Some hurt. Journaling is my way of cleansing my clanging clutter. This year I’ve met my goal to journal daily. Do you journal? Do you make lists? I can easily type a recipe or a “to-do” paragraph. Write notes? My “black and white” brain automatically places Roman Numerals, letters, or bullets. Why do you write?
Allow me to introduce local Ozarks writers!
Thomas J. Carter, during the Covid lockdown, decided he would write a children’s book series about the National Parks after he and his wife bought an R.V. to travel. I’m sure you know why I loved this! Even better for ME? An 1800’s setting! You can find Thomas on IG @midwestiscoolbooks.Thomas is an excellent illustrator and writer!
LaDonna Greiner was 66 years old when she spent a miserable night on the top of Taum Sauk Mountain in Missouri (where many have sadly died in similar situations). A few days later, a horrible car accident left her and her husband without a vehicle, and THEN she was handed a felony charge (“leaving the scene of an accident”). LaDonna’s stories and photos will leave you on the edge of your seat. “I’m here for a purpose,” she says (yes you are, LaDonna!). As a certified facilitator, you can count on LaDonna to share wisdom on creating environments of gratitude.
Michelle Underwood grew up in Mansfield, MO. She authored a book about Laura Ingalls Wilder that is the most detailed I’ve ever read! Her passion for our local hero and author inspires me.
Paula Moore teaches biblical truths through the arts and Shawnda Walker wrote about cooperation and sharing through the eyes of a cute guinea pig, Peanut.
Jeanne Griener gripped my heart with a memoir about finding God’s goodness—despite losing, and never finding, her missing brother. You can feel her faith and love in her words.
C.A. (Candy) Simonson She is an award-winning author and writer of short stories, articles, and books. She is a frequent contributor to online publications and print magazines, now almost 400 pieces. Need self-publishing help? See C.A.! It’s like opening a treasure book.
Susie Kinslow Adams is a local author, writer, and speaker! Her turtle, Patches, will sing about how much Jesus loves you, too! Her story will inspire you!
Author Sage Hunter invites you to step into the dynamic universe of “The Black Bra Club,” an engaging narrative that charts the inception of a movement grounded in sisterhood, support, mentoring, and the profound essence of faith.
Check out today’s history and ANOTHER amazing hero story!
History today Phillis Wheatley born (1753); President Harry Truman born (1884); Boxing legend Sonny Liston born (1932); Germany surrenders, ending World War II in Europe (1945); Smallpox is eradicated (1980).
A war hero tells his story
Friends, meet Luciano “Louis” Charles Graziano. “It was January 1943 when twenty-year-old Louis Graziano received a letter from Uncle Sam ordering him to report to Fort Niagara, New York, for a physical. Although he knew the United States was at war, he had no idea what was ahead of him. After making a promise to dutifully defend his country, Louis never realized how much his military experience would change the course of his life.
In a memoir that reveals the good, bad, and ugly of war and beyond, Louis leads others through his life experiences via personal stories and historical photographs that provide a candid glimpse into what it was like to be a young soldier before, during, and after World War II.”
“After suffering frostbite during the successful effort to search and find the lost armored element, Louis returned to Reims to recover. Among the buildings in Reams there was a “Little Red Schoolhouse” where General Eisenhower had his headquarters. It was here that the unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in the early morning hours of Monday, May 7, 1945. Louis was there, in the room, as General Yodl of the German Army signed the articles of surrender. U.S. General Walter Bedell Smith signed on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Eisenhower, and General Ivan Susloparov on behalf of the Soviet High Command. French Major-General François Sevez signed as the official witness.
Stories of war, survival, loss, and love. Your life may seem mundane. You may feel you DON’T have a story. But you do. There is ONE STORY I’ll keep telling of the ultimate sacrifice made for you and me. Do you know how loved you are?All of you encourage me. To feature each of you a day would take years. Keep telling your stories (besides, they’re not over YET). Uniquely and collectively, you impact me. I’ll say it louder to the people in the back–do you REALLY know how loved you are?
Let’s keep “elevating” one another! My encouragement to you is real; not just in words. It’s not fake news when I share about God’s love, grace, and mercy. I don’t have a hidden agenda for sharing my gratitude. And to write about it? Even better.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“The world is a severe schoolmaster, for its frowns are less dangerous than its smiles and flatteries, and it is a difficult task to keep in the path of wisdom.”
Phillis Wheatley
“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
William Wordsworth
“The secret of it all is to write… without waiting for a fit time or place.”
Walt Whitman
“Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.”Habakkuk 2:2
“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.”
Psalms 73:26
“Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
John 13:35
“Three things will last forever-faith, hope, and love-and the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13
“If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need a Savior. It’s not about perfection-it’s pressing for progression and surrendering to self. When the world can’t satisfy, our Savior can saturate—filling voids and bringing value to the valleys and peace at the peak.”
K.L. Hale
“The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies.”
Laura Ingalls Wilder
“One touch of nature makes all the world kin.”
John Muir
“Peace begins with a smile.”
Mother Teresa
“The wound is a place where the Light enters you.”
Rumi
“There. I’ve done my best. If that won’t do, I shall have to wait till I can do better.”
Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”
C.S. Lewis
“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you.”
C.S. Lewis
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Martin Luther King Jr.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Eleanor Roosevelt
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart.”
Helen Keller
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
Oscar Wilde
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln
“Life is a succession of lesson which must be lived to be understood.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.”
Robert Frost
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
Pablo Picasso
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
“Courage is grace under pressure.”
Ernest Hemingway
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So, throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.”
Mark Twain
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work form beginning to end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
May 2024 bring joy, good health, laughter, and love lessons. Undoubtedly, it will bring the unexpected, too. What gives you hope in the haphazard? Joy in the juggles? Persistence in pain? Faith in the fuzzy? May love light your way.
You are all treasures to me. Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. I look forward to my future with faith, family, friends, flannel, and faith!
