Joyful Writing

  Ordinary People: A Christmas Story Everyone knows the KJV of the Nativity. It is commonly read often during the holidays and before to joyfully celebrate the birth of Jesus. It is a universal story; not just for Protestants or Catholics or Jews; but for all people of all religions. It is a story of time, the ages, and God’s preemptive work to destroy the works of darkness and bring salvation to a host of people who need Him, seek Him out, and find Him—and not necessarily as a baby, but as a fully human, fully God, man. How did we get to this place? Let’s look at scriptures where ordinary people become extraordinary as their lives are forever altered by this beloved story of unconditional love. This version will deal only from the New Testament characters as the entire Old Testament points to ordinary people who became extraordinary. First—there is the tribe of Judah. Matthew 2:6 states: “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah; for out of thee shall come a Governor, that...

           Jesus says in Matthew 10:42 that if we give a   little one a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, our reward is secure. ” A cup of water—such a small life gift, but life giving to giver and receiver as well.           But what if the cup of cold water was just two lemons in the hand of a stranger, awaiting a turn at the checkout counter with a face devoid of joy or peace, a little quiet, and unknown to those around her? It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I needed to brighten up the tossed salad for our family gathering the next day. I had already been to the grocery store, but stopping at the Dollar General would just finish the task. It always does. I pulled in and parked. I selected less than a dozen things and made my way to the checkout counter. I try not to use the self-checkout lanes in any store, as there is a tendency to get stuck in line because you didn’t scan things ...

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Luke 10:25-36 Let’s unpack the pieces of this familiar parable told by Jesus: 1.     Went DOWN from Jerusalem to Jericho (we learned from Pastor’s study of the Psalms that when the Jews went to the synagogue, they went UP calling blessings, and psalms to each other as they journeyed. So, coming DOWN from Jerusalem implies that the festival or feast had been completed and so were the duties and responsibilities of the Levitical priesthood. We can assume they were heading home. 2.     It must have been a familiar route home because thieves knew about it and attacked a man along the way. They stripped him, wounded and robbed him, leaving him for dead. 3.     The priest and the Levite not only ignored his plight. They even moved to the other side of the road to pass him by. I have heard it preached that they could not minister if they were unclean. I don't think this is the case in this instance. 4.  ...

  Untitled: Lesson in Life #2 Regarding A Growing Christian                It all began with the installation of a new dishwasher. A simple task, or so I thought at first. As the repairman lifted my old dishwasher form its trusty housing and prepared to replace it with a new one, he called out to me, “Ma'am you have a problem. Please come and look.”                Sure enough the old dishwasher had leaked profusely, ruining my vinyl flooring; it’s cabinet home and the subfloor underneath. What begun as a simple exchange of one appliance for another turned into a nightmarish ordeal. We then had to develop a plan for a kitchen remodel.                First, we removed the cabinets. Then the vinyl had to be ripped out. Next, came the removal of the first layer of subfloori...

   Lessons in the Key of Life # 1     Here we are--the last day of school; one hundred and seventy-five lovely, wonderful, terrible days since I was first charged to teach, motivate, discipline, and love-hate this new group of seventh graders.     Sharing my experiences is a threat--to many, they will mean nothing; to teachers they will tell volumes and stir their heart-blood as well. Philosophies of Education: Lessons on the Bathroom Walls Lessons in Journals Lessons in Poetry What kids say.   Using Journalism principles—Kelly Mouzan Great passion for work Great insight into function of a journalist Verbally articulate! Involve use a little more—it’s interesting, but making us DO something will help us remember more! Give us the facts—let us practice writing a few.   Student Evaluation  of Writings: No outlines! “Conversate” “Magic Pens” “Publish”   Revising —working with the content (moving i...

  Divine Appointment # 1: Angels Unaware My mother died in 2018 unexpectedly due to a fall and a broken ankle. It was one year and sixteen days after the death of my dad. On a cold, cold, cold Saturday not too many weeks since her passing, a gentleman rang our doorbell. When I saw him, I immediately thought “Jehovah’s Witness.” He wore a long, black wool coat—the most expensive winter coat I think I’ve ever seen with a matching “newsboy” cap. A new leather binder rested easily in the crook of his right arm. He greeted me and I responded. He then was fumbling a little with the binder and papers. I knew he wanted to share his Watch Tower views with me. Suddenly, he stopped. He then asked the following question (something to that effect) “have you been experiencing grieving lately?” I immediately told this total stranger that my mother had died very recently. He put the set of papers back in the binder and searched through his repertoire and handed me a paper about dealing with deat...

  This my story—I have not shared it before; it is too precious to my mind and soul.   One of my teachers has a lesbian daughter. The daughter works tirelessly with the homeless in our community and was thrown under the bus by her mentor about one of the homeless people she was trying to help. It happened in open court. My teacher-friend said, “And I did think Mrs. X would be the one to show my child the face of Jesus” and I felt like I had been plunged into cold water and could not breathe. No one showed this young woman what Jesus looked like? After careful thought, consideration, and prayer, I put together a basket of “girl things” and a note (this was just after 9-11) and I said to this young woman, whom I have still never met, that her work mattered and her heart for these homeless people mattered and I wanted to bless her with a little something. I did not comment on her lifestyle or even use a scripture. That spring her mother (my teacher) brought back the baske...

 As we celebrate our Dad's homegoing, I would like to talk a little about our Dad. First and always he was a faithful son to his parents and the joy of his older sisters. Then, he became a faithful US Marine and served in the Pacific arena in WWII. His task was to keep peace in Nagasaki. Next, he became a faithful husband. When my brother called me around the end of August  to say that death was eminent. We arrived at the nursing home and the room was filled will people. He told Mother that he was so tired, very tired. Mother washing his face and said, "I know you are. We've been married seventy years. Both of his eyes shot wide open and he lifted his head and said, "that long?" That one piece of conversation let me know my dad was still inside that shell of a body. After becoming a faithful husband, he became a faithful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. When he became a Christian, he became a faithful follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. He and Mother we...

  I often wonder if I am the only "black and white" person I know. It seems easier to live where absolutes are clear, clearly written, clearly designed, and unmistakable in any society. You know who you are. You know where you stand. You know where you "fit in." You don't have to have a bullhorn--people just know what you stand for and in whom you believe. I think that sounds easy, but it is not. While teaching persuasive writing to seventh graders, we practiced topics by drawing a line down a sheet of paper; the left side labeled "plus" and the right side labeled "minus." Then we listed the reasons we could think of why we were for or against a topic. Then, we switched sides and wrote all the reasons why we were against something. Whichever side had the most comments was then used to write a simple five paragraph style essay; an introduction, a paragraph for each of the "fors" or "againsts" (so it might be a four or even ...

From a conversation overheard that made me think (2-4-18): "Grief is like a weight you carry around." It gave me pause for thought. What, really, is grief? It is more than a weight--it's like a weighty suitcase because it is not solid nor whole, but more like a weighty box from living, filled with both treasured memories you don't want to lose necessarily and overwhelming heaviness from loss that could consume your soul and force you down forever. The good, the bad, the dredged up memories may be worth keeping, but they add to the weight of your load to carry as you grieve. There are times when you put down the weight, open that ever present lock attached to your heart and mind. You can rummage through its contents to either lighten the load for the day, or to  through its contents to find just the right piece of the burden that you want to pull away from the other parts of the suitcase of grieving to examine for a season. A death? A funeral? A story of love lost or a...

This piece is NOT political. It is not written as criticism of any of the people listed in this writing. It is also not written to be offensive. It is simply an observation about backsides often viewed by the watching audience. It should be taken with a box of salt and probably will never be published, but it made a point in my mind. All three incidents occurred in a short span of time and as this writer has already stated that humor is bound up in timing. Remember when the Reverend Jesse Jackson went to Germany and negotiated the release of three POWs in Yugoslavia? They were US servicemen of Hispanic descent. As Reverend Jackson boarded the plane, he turned and waved to the crowd. It was not a hamster trail terminal. He climbed the exterior staircase and I said to Bill, "hey, he did a really good job with this endeavor." To which Bill responded, "he's probably at the age where he shouldn't be photographed from the back. Later that week, Mrs. Clinton boarded a p...