Happy 40th Anniversary to Us!

Not very long ago, so it seems, I thought anyone forty years old was ancient. All of sudden, I’m way past forty years old – my husband and I have been married for forty years…today.

Jack and I met when I got a summer job during college in the same office at Kelly Air Force Base where Jack worked as a civilian Industrial Engineer. I started that job on my twentieth birthday, and Jack followed the boss and me around when the boss introduced me to other employees. Jack teased me that the name plates would be removed from all the desks the next day and I would have to remember everyone’s name. It wasn’t particularly funny, but he laughed at his own joke so much that I had to laugh along with him.

A little more than two months later on a visit to Jack’s home a few days before my job ended, we sat on his couch as I told him my future plans. After I talked about returning to college, getting my degree, finding a job after graduation … he looked at me and said, “When are you going to marry me?”

I responded, “When are you going to ask me?”

He asked, and I accepted.

My father was worried that this older “city slicker” was out to take advantage of a naive, young country girl. The priest who gave us premarital counseling warned me I had to be prepared to take care of Jack in his old age since he’s thirteen years older than I am.

Daddy’s worries soon disappeared as he came to adore Jack. Daddy barely had a high school education back in the days of eleven-year schools, and he lived on the same farm from his birth to his death. Jack has a Master of Science degree in Systems Management Engineering and has always lived in the city of San Antonio. However, they were far more alike than it appeared on the surface – both highly intelligent, deeply caring men with great senses of humor. I think my mother recognized that right away. She liked Jack from the beginning and grew to love him as quickly as my father did.

And as for the priest’s warning that I would have to take care of Jack in his old age … I was the one who had a stroke after we’d been married for twenty-five years. Jack is the one who cared for me during the many months of my recovery and continues to take care of me as I experience recurring health issues. Though he has had medical challenges of his own in recent years, I’ve been far more dependent on him than vice-versa.

When Jack’s mother was alive, she used to tell me I deserved a gold star for putting up with him so long. He is impatient, often short-tempered, always opinionated. He could give a much longer list of my faults, but I’ll leave that to him. On the other hand, he is trustworthy, dependable, generous, caring, smart, unselfish, and funny. We laugh – a lot! We love each other very much, and we both love the Lord.

Love, laughter, and faith have made forty years fly by. I wish you the same joy and blessings that we have experienced for forty years … and that we plan to experience for many more!

Here we are: 1967 and 2007.

  

Journaling: Connecting the Dots

In Journaling: What the heck is a journal anyway?, I talked about different kinds of journals and the difference between a journal and a diary.

Sometimes what appears to be a diary can become a journal by helping you connect the dots, find relationships and patterns.

For example, a food diary can be a helpful tool to a person on a diet. If you record what you eat, when you eat it, and your mood at the time you eat, you can use those diary entries to pinpoint problem areas. You can see if you have a tendency to eat under certain circumstances (boredom, stress, etc.) or at certain times of day. You can discover specific foods that present a challenge to you. Then you use your journal to come up with solutions and plan how to deal with your particular challenges. (Note: this is a hypothetical example that I should follow but don’t!)

I have a health problem that has varying symptoms and a wide range of conditions that trigger the symptoms. I am finding ways to reduce or alleviate the symptoms by recording when they occur, what I’m doing, and the environment I’m in at the time. I also keep track of various things I try to prevent or alleviate the problems and the results. So over time I’m better able to prevent episodes or end them sooner.

Memory isn’t nearly as effective as a written record. If I don’t record the circumstances, I may not recognize the connection between events that happen days or weeks apart. But as I review my journal, I see patterns and connect the dots.

Related Post:
Journaling: What the heck is a journal anyway?

[tags]journal, diary[/tags]

Of Note

Thanks to Laura Spencer at WritingThoughts. She recently recognized this blog as a writing blog “Of Note.”

I really appreciate the recognition for two reasons. First, I always enjoy reading Laura’s blog and find the information and writing thoughts she shares useful. Her blog is certainly “of note.” Second, I agree that the other blogs she has recognized “Of Note” are outstanding. Although Laura’s feature introduced me to one great new blog, the others she has recognized to date are among my favorite writing blogs. I’m thrilled that Laura has included me in the same category with them.

If you’re not already a regular reader of WritingThoughts and the rest of the blogs Laura has recognized, check them out and be prepared to get hooked.

[tags]WritingThoughts, writing blogs[/tags]

Memorial Day Videos

Here are a couple of wonderful videos found through Laura’s Memorial Day post at WritingThoughts. Laura’s post and the posts she linked to are definitely worth reading.

Final Role Call – Memorial Day at Angela’s Right to Free Speech

Memorial Day Song & Video at Rae’s Random Ramblings

[tags]Memorial Day[/tags]

Memorial Day: In Memory of Those Who Gave Their Lives for Our Freedom

For some, Memorial Day is a holiday from work – a day for family gatherings, shopping the sales, outdoor barbecues, and fun activities.

However, Memorial Day is set aside for a specific purpose: to remember and honor those who have died in the service of their country.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends [his country]. John 15:13

The Memorial Day Foundation reports:

On May 5, 1868 General John Logan, National Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, officially proclaimed Decoration Day, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30, 1868. General Order No. 11 went on to state that: We are organized, comrades, as our regulations tell us, for the purpose among other things, “of preserving and strengthening those kind and fraternal feelings which have bound together the soldiers, sailors and marines who united to suppress the late rebellion.” What can aid more to assure this result than cherishing tenderly the memory of our heroic dead, who made their breasts a barricade between our country and its foe? Their soldier lives were the reveille of freedom to a race in chains, and their deaths the tattoo of rebellious tyranny in arms. We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance

According to USMemorialDay.org:

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to ‘Taps.”

The USMemorialDay.org site contains the history of Memorial Day; suggested ways to observe the solemn occasion; speeches, prayers, and poems; and much more to help remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

For firsthand accounts from a chaplain in Iraq, read Fr. Jerry’s posts: Another tragedy and Ramp Ceremony and view the photos of the ramp ceremony for one of our fallen soldiers.

Whatever else you do on Memorial Day, I hope you will take a moment to remember and honor those who have given their lives in defense of our freedoms. Perhaps you will join me in this prayer from the Book of Common Prayer:

ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

[tags]Memorial Day[/tags]

Global Day of Prayer: Prayer for the World

“They lifted their voices to God with one accord…” -Acts 4:24

Almighty God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Together with believers all over the world,
we gather today to honour and glorify Your Name.
We bow before Your throne
and acknowledge that You are the Creator of heaven and earth.
There is no one like You, holy and righteous in all Your ways.
We submit to Your authority as the King of the universe.
We pray with one voice to enthrone You in our hearts
and to honour You before the world.

People: Lord God, You alone are worthy
of our praise and adoration. We worship You.

Our Father in heaven,
Thank You for loving the world so greatly
that You gave Your only Son, Jesus Christ,
to die on the cross for our sins,
so that we could be reconciled to You.
We are grateful to call You Father and to be called Your children
because of our faith in Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Nothing can separate us from Your love.

People: Thank You Father for adopting us
into Your family. We now cry, Abba Father!

Lord Jesus Christ,
You alone are worthy to open the scrolls of history,
for You were slain and have redeemed us to the Father by Your blood.
We confess that You are Head of the Church
and Lord of all heaven and earth.
May people from every tribe and language become Your followers.
Let Your kingdom be established in every nation of the world,
so that governments will rule with righteousness and justice.
May Your gospel be made known to every person.
May Your blessing bring transformation among every people.
And may Your Name be great, from the rising of the sun to its setting.

People: Jesus Christ, You are the Saviour of the world
and the Lord of all.

Father of mercy and grace,
We acknowledge that we have sinned
and that our world is gripped by the power of sin.
Our hearts are grieved by injustice, hatred, anger and violence.
We are shamed by oppression, racism and bloodshed in our land.
We mourn the loss of innocent life
in abortion, war and terrorism, persecution and senseless murders.
Our homes are broken by selfishness and immorality.
Our lives are polluted by greed, idolatry and sexual sin.
Our churches are divided by rebellious pride.
All the sins that we may find in our world,
You have found among Your people.
We have grieved Your heart and brought shame to Your Name.
We approach Your throne of grace in this hour of need.
We ask for Your mercy and Your help to repent with all our hearts.

People: God of mercy, pour out Your grace.
Forgive our sins. Heal our land.

Spirit of the living God,
We confess that we can do nothing apart from You.
Be poured out upon all flesh.
Transform the Church into the image of Jesus Christ.
Release Your power to bring healing to the sick,
freedom to the possessed, comfort to those who mourn
and release for those who are oppressed.
Come and melt the hearts of people to love again.
Answer the call of the homeless, the hungry, the helpless and the dying.
Enfold orphans, widows and the elderly in Your arms.
Display Your mercy and provide for our needs.
Give us wisdom and insight for the complex problems we face today.
Help us to use the resources of the earth for the well-being of all.
Pour Your love into our hearts and fill us with compassion.

People: Holy Spirit, we need Your comfort and guidance.
Come and transform our hearts.

Lord Jesus Christ,
Because You were dead, but are now risen;
and because the Father has given You a name above all names,
You will defeat all powers of evil.
We pray for the tearing down of strongholds and ideologies
that hinder and resist the spreading of the knowledge of God.
We resist the plan of the enemy to keep nations in darkness.
Remove the veil that covers the peoples.
Restrain the evil that promotes violence and death.
Bring deliverance from demonic oppression.
Break the hold of slavery, tyranny and disease.
Fill us with courage to preach Your word fearlessly;
and give us a spirit of intercession to pray for the lost faithfully.

People: Almighty God,
deliver us from evil and the Evil One.

King of Glory,
Come to the nations of the world.
We welcome You to finish Your work in our cities,
our peoples and our nations.
We now lift our voices in unison with believers from Africa and Asia,
from the Middle East and Europe, from North and South America,
and from Australia and the Pacific Islands – together we cry:

People: Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Be lifted up ancient doors
so that the King of glory may come in!

As Your deeds increase throughout the earth,
and as Your blessings abound to all the nations,
they will seek You, asking, “Who is this King of glory?”
Together we will answer:

People: He is the Lord Almighty!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Come fill the earth with Your glory as the waters cover the sea.
The Spirit and the Bride say:

People: Amen! Come Lord Jesus!

for The Global Day of Prayer on Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2007

[tags]Global Day of Prayer, prayer[/tags]

Writing versus Editing

Theda at Crayon Writer started an interesting conversation with If you can write, you can copyedit.

She defined mechanical and substantive copyediting and asked the question:

What do you prefer? Writing for yourself, mechanical copyediting, or substantive copyediting?

I answered the question in comments but thought it would be interesting to my readers to carry the conversation over here and give you a chance to tell us what you prefer.

I started as a writer and got into editing through a fluke. I read several books from a new publisher and loved the stories but kept getting distracted by errors. I wrote to a publisher expressing disappointment in the poor editing. The company (which was new and small) recognized it had a problem, and instead of taking offense at my unsolicited criticism, hired me to edit some of their books.

Later, one of the owners of that publishing company said, “You are the pickiest person I know.” I’m not sure she meant it as a compliment, but I took it as one.

After I had done mechanical copyediting of a dozen or so books, I decided I was ready to offer my services to individual writers. I soon discovered that most of my prospective clients needed much more than mechanical copyediting. However, not all writers want substantive editing. In fact, some just want an editor to tell them their words are golden.

I always offer a free sample edit (usually about five pages of a book-length manuscript). The sample gives the client and me the opportunity to evaluate each other, and it gives me a way to estimate the amount of work involved so I can estimate the time it will take. I am selective in the work I take. I don’t mind a lot of heavy editing – in fact I enjoy it – but I work only on projects I believe in. If I don’t think the premise is viable, if I just don’t like the manuscript, or if the writer is difficult to work with, I pass on the project. Fortunately, I don’t turn down many jobs, but I like knowing that I won’t be stuck with something I hate.

I remember one writer sending me the first chapter of an historical novel for a sample edit. I simply could not suspend disbelief in this story – the circumstances were totally untrue to history, and there was nothing in the story to make me believe it was possible. Even in fiction – even fantasy and science fiction – the story must draw the reader in so much that the impossible is believable.

I kept being pulled out of the story saying to myself, “That’s impossible. A spymaster wouldn’t recruit a spy in a public place on a first meeting with no prior contact … A woman of that time wouldn’t … ” When I suggested to the writer he might want to make the story fit historical facts or come up with a good reason why these unbelievable things happened, he became quite irate. I didn’t have to reject him as a writer – he rejected me as an editor.

Usually I work with inexperienced writers who have great ideas/stories and less-than-great writing skills, and every book I edit is as much my baby as anything I write for myself. The last three books I’ve edited have won awards or finaled in contests, and I’m as thrilled as the authors.

The book I edited that won the EPPIE for general nonfiction this year began as two separate diaries written in Vietnamese by a husband and wife and translated into English by their daughter-in-law. She had come to the US from Vietnam only a few years earlier, so she wrote/translated as someone for whom English is a second language. Making the story easily readable and understandable in English while maintaining the Vietnamese voice was a challenge.

Two writers I’m currently working with actually had very little education. One had seldom attended school at all, and the other one, who is blind, learned very little in his special education classes. I’m amazed at their storytelling talent and love helping them turn a manuscript that in some cases is almost unreadable into a great story.

Although I have some clients who are excellent writers, most need a lot of help.

I started as a fiction writer, but I have learned that I am a better nonfiction writer than fiction writer and a better editor than writer. But I love both writing and editing.

What about you? What do you enjoy most, and what do you do best?

Related Posts:
Spring House is a Finalist in the Indie Book Awards!
The New Day Dawns is a contest finalist!
The Last Boat Out is an EPPIE winner!

[tags]copyediting, writing[/tags]

Support Our Injured Troops, Without Spending a Penny – and Double Your Donation During Memorial Day Weekend

Operation Hero Miles provides an opportunity for ordinary citizens to support our troops by donating their unused frequent flyer miles. Ten airlines participate in the program, and the frequent flyer miles go to the Fisher House Foundation. The Foundation then gives free airline tickets to injured soldiers to go home on leave from their medical treatment and to family members to visit their injured loved ones.

If you donate your frequent flyer miles between 6 AM Friday, May 25th and 11:59 PM Monday, May 28th, the participating airlines will match your donation mile-for-mile. Read the details of the Memorial Day 2007 Promotion, and if you have frequent flyer miles – a few hundreds or tens of thousand – consider donating them to benefit injured soldiers and their families.

[tags]Operation Hero Miles, support our troops, Fisher House, Memorial Day[/tags]

No time to read? Try DailyLit.

Like many of you, I never seem to have enough time to read for pleasure. I love to sit and read a book in one sitting, but I don’t often have the opportunity.

DailyLit offers a solution. The Web site says:

We created DailyLit because we spent hours each day on email but could not find the time to read a book. Now the books come to us by email. Problem solved.

Books are sent out in installments that can be read in under five minutes. You can choose to receive the installments via e-mail or RSS. I chose RSS and read the daily installment as I’m reading all my feeds.

The books currently available are in the public domain or available under a Creative Commons license. Teleread tells the story behind the site and reports that DailyLit may soon be offering new titles from publishers. My guess is that there will be costs associated with new titles, but the currently available titles are free.

If you’re like me and have a long list of classics you plan to get around to reading sometime, Daily Lit allows you to do it in under five minutes a day for free. Little time and no money – sounds like a winning combination to me.

[tags]DailyLit, free books[/tags]

Christian Carnival Number CLXXIII

Christian Carnival “Big Number”, ahem, Number CLXXIII is now posted is now posted at Pseudo-Polymath.

Several posts are on a similar theme that the Gospel is good news … but NOT news to make us prosperous or comfortable.

Other great entries cover a range of interesting topics.

[tags]Christian Carnival, blog carnival, Christian[/tags]

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