Inspiration or Perspiration?

    I've had a lot of nice comments about my writing but most of the people who read my books have an unrealistic idea of what goes into writing a book and even less what is involved in publishing of it. Let me state first of all that writing is not done in a flash of inspiration. That flash of inspiration is only the birth of an idea. Turning it into a book can be a long, drawn-out process. 

   My most recently published book, The Flow of the Big Spring, is a prime example. It was five years from the day I agreed to try write it until the book was released to the public. I was working on the writing about three years and the rest of the time it was in the publishing process. The layout was complicated because there were so many parts to fit into the proper spaces---text, footnotes, photos, captions, and sidebars. The person who did the layout said it was like putting a puzzle together.

   After I finished that book I said I am retiring and will only write short stories and articles from now on---unless something really good comes along. Maybe I shouldn't have added that qualifier. Something good did come along. It would just be a small book with a story of something that happened in the 1700s. The history and size is what triggered my interest in trying write it.

   I was sailing along with the first draft and nearing the end when I discovered I had made a huge mistake in the timeline and correcting it meant starting over. I trashed it and started again from a different point in the story. Yesterday I decided that one isn't working either. I'm too stubborn to quit so next week I will start again for the third time. I may strike out but I hope this time I will hit a home run.

  All this to say, writing is not something you do on a Sunday afternoon while you sit under a shade tree. Inspiration does not write a story; it takes perspiration and determination.

Flow of the Big Spring

  In early May five years ago, I met with a committee who asked me to write the history of a farm that had been in the Martin family more than 200 years. After looking at the enormous amount of material and family heirlooms they had preserved and collected, I knew there was more than enough material to write a book. It looked overwhelming but I agreed to try.

  I began with the Native Americans who were the first to drink from the big spring and camp on that land. William Penn was the first European owner of the land, but it is highly unlikely he ever saw the spring. I worked through each owner from the first Welsh immigrant in 1734 until it passed out of the Martin family in 2007 and became a living history museum.

   The project stretched out year after year with many revisions and additions. After I was finished writing the text, someone else did the layout which stretched out due to unavoidable circumstances. At last, in March, it was at the printer. Then plans were made for a formal release date of May 2.

   The meeting was held at the Martindale Reception Center. We got there at 6:15 thinking we were in plenty of time for the 7 p.m. start of the meeting. People were already there buying books and shoving them at me to sign before I had a chance to sit down. I signed books before, during, and after the meeting. I was thankful I was not on the program and could just sit there and sign my name.

   The committee was surprised at the big turnout and so was I. 

   They had brought 800 books thinking it's better to have too many than not enough. We were nearing the end when someone reported we had sold 642 books and more were sold after that. People bought multiple copies and even cases to give to their families. Most of the 800 books were sold.

  The committee spent a lot of money to produce this book. I was paid by the hour for my time, someone else was paid to do the layout, and then there was the cost of printing. I'm glad there was such a good turnout and market for the books. They need to sell a lot of them to break even on the cost of production.

   I can't deny my name is known as an author, but I am not the main reason people came to the meeting. It is a nice hardcover book with a lot of high-quality color pictures that makes it attractive. I had nothing to do with that part of it except to submit a photo or two. The reason for the high sales is the fact that the farm was in the Martin family for six generations. The last owner was a bachelor, but the others left many descendants. The Martins are so prolific that Martin is almost a generic name, especially if it is coupled with John. 

   Some people can trace their lineage to this Martin family in more than one way. I knew when I agreed to write the book that I had a connection to it myself. My great-great-great-grandmother was born and raised there. Her name was Lydia Martin and she married Jacob W. Stauffer who was a leader in founding the Stauffer Mennonite (Pike) church.

   As the years dragged on, I sometimes wondered if I'd live long enough to see the book finished. I did, and it is always a satisfying feeling to see the finished product. May the story and preservation of the farm inspire and encourage people to treasure their heritage and pass it on to the next generation.

After all our hopes and dreams

Have come and gone,

And our children sift thru all

We've left behind,

May the clues that they discover,

And the mem'ries they uncover,

Become the light that leads them,

To the road we each must find.

O may all who come behind us

Find us faithful,

May the fire of our devotion

Light their way.

May the footprints that we leave,

Lead them to believe,

And the lives we live

Inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

Memory Lane

   A couple weeks ago my sister presented to me a big box of about twenty years of the weekly emails I had written to her. She printed and saved them but now is trying to downsize. She gave them to me to do with as I wish. I've been enjoying reading through them, finding things I didn't remember, and also getting a picture of myself which isn't always flattering. I picked out a few to save. One of our sons said he has saved every one in a file on his computer. They are there if anyone ever wants anything from them.

   Reading through them is a trip down Memory Lane. I'm finding details of things I had forgotten, like the time a hurricane came through and we were out of electric for 122 1/2 hours. I was bored to tears with nothing to do. I'm reliving trips we took, some of our children's weddings, remodeling jobs in the house, family weekends at the cabin, and much more.

  I had the privilege of babysitting a little grandson one day each week, from the time he was a few weeks old until he went to school. I treasure those memories. I was also much stronger and more ambitious than I am today. I am surprised to see how much work I got done in a week back then. I volunteered at the historical society for about twelve years and enjoyed the work. But as I read how much time I spent running around to trace genealogy, I see it was consuming too much of my life. It was fun and learned a lot but it was overdone. I have repented and will not let myself get sucked in again to that degree.

   I'm also reliving the work that went into some of the books and historical articles I have written. My newest book will be released tomorrow evening at a public meeting. After I finished that book I declared it is my last one; I will stick with short stories and articles from now on and not write any more books.

   I did bend that promise a bit by giving Christian Light some stories that had been in the story papers to be published in a book. That kind is a cheater because the stories were already written. It will appear on the market sometime later this year. I said that will be my fifteenth and final book--unless something too tempting comes along.

   Guess what! Something too tempting came along last week and I'm at it again. It will be a short book, nowhere near the size of the one being released tomorrow that took five years to produce. I hope it will convey a message that will have eternal value. So what can I say? Old writers never die, they just scribble away.

Days of Noah

   Yesterday I heard a new (to me) term in the news. "Flexible reality." What on earth is that? It was used in relation to the transgender issue to argue that reality can be bent to accommodate the desires of the individual. Come on! What's real is real and cannot be bent simply by thinking it's something different than what it really is. The idea that there are no absolutes has been around for a very long time, but thinking a person can change their gender is taking it to a higher level. 

   Some of the humanistic philosophies found in Ecclesiastes 3 are:

   1. Fatalism (v. 9)  everything is predetermined

   2. Skepticism (v. 11)  you can't know anything for sure (no absolutes)

   3. Epicureanism (v. 12-13)  have fun, that's all there is to life

   4. Deism (v. 16-17)  we'll all come out all right in the end

   5. Evolution (v. 19-20)  man and beast are all alike

   6. Universalism (v. 22)  just be sincere and you'll be okay; we all go to the same place anyway

   Some of the modern thinkers expanded on these ideas. Charles Darwin and evolution, John Dewey and no absolutes, Julias Wellhausen and humanism which led to Albert Einstien and relativism, Soren Kierkegaard and situation ethics.

   These philosophies have permeated our society and are taught as fact all the way from grade school to graduate school. It has gone so deep that people can't distinguish fact from fantasy and now it is being called flexible reality.

   I wonder how long God will put up with all this nonsense. It seems to me the world is pretty much in the same shape as it was in the days of Noah when "GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." It had reached the breaking point and God put an end to it with a worldwide flood. The world is again ripe for judgment.

   Is there such a thing as flexible reality? Absolutely not!

National Suicide

  We still get a physical daily newspaper. However, along with the subscription comes a digital version. I usually have read the digital version before Leroy brings in the paper version. He is computer illiterate so the paper version is for him.

  All that background to say I read an interesting commentary in the paper this week. The title was "Poll shows strong signs of a nation committing suicide." After a brief introduction it goes on to give some statistics. Only 38% of Americans say patriotism is "very important" compared with 70% in 1998. Just 39% say religion is "very important" compared to 62% in 1998. And 30% say having children is "very important" compared with 59% in 1998.

   In 1990, 67% of American adults between the ages of 25-54 were married. This was down to 51% in 2021. In 2020, there were 56 births in the U.S. for every 1,000 women ages 15-44. In 1990, there were 70.9. Among the births in 2021, 40% were born to unmarried mothers.

  The picture looks even more dismal among the younger sector of the population.  Of those under 30, just 23% say patriotism is very important to them, 31% say religion is very important, and 23% say having children is very important.

   What is important to Americans today? A whopping 91% say self-fulfillment is very or somewhat important, and 90% say money is very or somewhat important. The devaluing of marriage, children and patriotism, and the focus on "self-fulfillment" and money are signs of a culture sunk into egotism and materialism, with a loss of a sense of being part of something larger than oneself.

   The article goes on to describe the problems created by the lack of population growth and patriotism. It ends by saying Joe Biden will run in 2024 on more of what is destroying the nation and it is up to the Republicans to mend our rapidly sinking ship of state.

   While the article makes some valid points, it totally missed the most important point, the loss of faith in God and increasing secularization of society. The answers to this nation's problems do not rest on the Republican (or Democrat) party. The core problem in America today is loss of faith in God. Legislation does not produce righteousness. 

   The answer to the nation's problems is found in 2 Chronicles 7:17 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

In Remembrance of Me

   This Sunday is Palm Sunday and the next one is Easter. I am amazed at God's precision in the way He planned the events in the Jewish calendar to coincide with the life of Jesus. Passover was instituted centuries before Jesus was born but it was full of symbolism. The lamb, the foods, and the four cups of wine all pointed to the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Jesus died at the time of the Passover and rose on Easter. The Jews still observe Passover while Christians observe Easter. One points to death of Christ while the other celebrates eternal life.

   We will observe communion on Easter morning. Jesus instituted communion while eating the Passover meal with His disciples just before His death. In the Seder (Passover meal), three pieces of bread are placed in a bag that has three chambers, one piece into each chamber of the bag (three in one). The bread placed in the first chamber is never touched, never used, never seen. It represents the Father. The third bread is used to eat the meal and represents the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

 The second bread is broken in half at the beginning of the Seder; half of it is placed back in the bag, and the other half is wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden until the end of the main course when it is found by a child. The Jews say the three breads represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they can’t explain why they break Isaac in half. We can. It represents the Son whose body was broken, buried, and resurrected. When the hidden half is found, it is broken into pieces, distributed and eaten by everyone. It was at this point, Jesus said: “Take and eat; this is My body” (Luke 22:19). The bread we eat at communion is in memory of His broken, buried, and resurrected body.

   The four cups of wine drunk at various times during the Passover each have a special significance. They represent four promises God made to Israel in Exodus 6:6-7, but each also has a spiritual application to us today.

1.    The first cup of wine is called the cup of sanctification

It is to commemorate the promise: “I will bring you out.”

2.      The second cup is called the cup of plagues

It reflects the plagues that came upon Egypt – and relates to the second promise: “I will free you from being slaves.”

3.      The third cup is called the cup of redemption

God said: “I will redeem you.”

4.      The fourth cup is called the cup of completion

God said: “I will take you as my own people.”

   Luke’s account of the Last Supper draws attention to the first and third cups. The Passover meal starts with the first cup of wine – the cup of sanctification: “I will bring you out.” Jesus drank this cup of wine with the disciples and promised them that the next time He drank the fruit of the vine with them would be in the kingdom. God brings us out of Egypt – out of the world, spiritual slavery to sin, and the fear of death.   

   The third cup of wine is the cup of redemption. Jesus took the third cup—the cup of redemption—and used that one as a symbol of the New Covenant in His blood. "Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you" (Luke 22:20). That Jesus used the third cup to institute communion was not by chance. That He was crucified during Passover week and died at the time of the evening sacrifice was according to divine plan and to underscore the fact that Jesus was the promised Savior.

     When Jesus instituted communion, He said, "This do in remembrance of Me." The next time you take communion, think about the broken bread of the Son that was hidden and retrieved and the cup of redemption. Thank God for His amazing plan of salvation and the cup of redemption He provided in His Son.

This link will take you to an excellent presentation of Christ in the Passover

Christ in the Passover with David Brickner - Jews for Jesus - YouTube

Sympathy Cards

   Spring is coming and with it comes spring cleaning. When I was young and we had a family at home, I gave the whole house a thorough cleaning every spring and fall. But as the children married and the size of the family shrank, so did my strength and the amount of dirt that accumulated. I modified my cleaning schedule to get over the house once a year, doing one room or portion per month and finishing in December. I skip the coldest winter months of January and February and begin again in March.

   So this is March and time to start the cleaning schedule for 2023. It begins with my office. Since all my winter projects (quilting, scrapbooking and crocheting) are finished, I had time to go through all the desk drawers and boxes of stuff in the closets. I threw out half of my box of research notes on the Powl family, some files in the desk and other things. If I didn't remember what it was, nobody else would either. On the top shelf of the one closet was a box of just shy of 450 cards we got after Steve died. They sat there for 29 years and were never touched. I decided they have served their purpose and can go too.

   Before pitching them, we sat down and went through them. I was amazed where all the cards came from. There were cards from relatives, friends, business places, and people we didn't know. A lot of the relatives are no longer living and also some of our friends. 

   I made some observations as I went through the cards. First, I should send more cards. Second, when I choose a card to send to someone, I try to pick one with an appropriate message. But when those cards came, I only read the name of the sender and a short message if they had written one in the card. We got as many as sixty cards a day and my mind was too full and tired to read every word. One lady who meant well sent a four-page letter on how to handle grief. I didn't know her and never read it. The best ones were those that shared a memory of Steve. What you write in a card is more important than what is pre-printed in it. Write a note but make it short and sweet.

   The cards that I did read every word came months and years later. One dear lady has sent us a note on Steve's birthday and the anniversary of his death every year for 29 years. The cards and notes that come later mean more than those that come in bunches right away. Three or four months after a death is a low spot when it feels like everyone has forgotten and you are stuck with the grief. That is when a card or note is really appreciated. But if you want to do that, it has to be intentional. If you don't put it on your schedule, you probably won't remember to send it.

  It seems a shame to pitch all those cards that people spent so much time and money on. But if I put the box back on the shelf they will sit there again as long as we live here and eventually will come to the same end. I might as well dispose of them myself and spare our children the trouble when they have to empty this house. If it makes you feel better, I did save a handful that were especially meaningful and/or from special people. It was touching to go through the cards and be reminded that so many people cared.