Thanks to Christopher at Technology Bloggers for nominating me to participate in the My 7 Links Challenge

Several years ago, challenges (or “memes”) were quite popular in the blogosphere. However, their popularity has declined, and this is the first one I’ve been invited to participate in for a long time. I like this one because it gave me a chance to look back through my archives and select a few posts from the past to bring to the attention of my newer readers. Selecting only seven posts out of 1132 posts over the past five and a half years proved to be a real challenge, and in some cases I couldn’t narrow it down to one. Here are my choices.

My Most Beautiful Post

Happy 44th Anniversary to Us is a loving tribute to a beautiful marriage and my special husband.

My Most Popular Post

Thanks to the power of StumbleUpon, Creating Fictional Characters—Part 4: Fleshing Out Characters with Tags, Traits, and Relationships has had more than 147,000 views, about ten times as many as any other post. Strangely, this is part of a series, and while some of the other posts in the series are among my top ten popular posts, none has anywhere near this many views.

My Most Controversial Post

I don’t generally write controversial posts, but one post generated such a lively discussion that I wrote a second post about it, which generated even more opinionated conversation. The first post, A Chuckle from Spam, generated 67 comments (including my responses), and the follow-on post, There’s Always a Choice, generated 70 comments.

My Most Helpful Post

I wrote Tips and Tricks: How to Write, Send, Reply, and Forward E-mail for two writing challenges: Tips and Tricks and How-To. When I wrote it, I considered the advice so basic that the post might not be appropriate for the challenges. However, as basic as the advice is, a lot of people apparently need it. The post has generated nearly 4500 views and 125 comments.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me

There’s absolutely no explanation for the fact that the fifth most popular post on my blog is two sentences wishing my readers Happy Valentine’s Day. I’m not only surprised; I’m totally perplexed.

Until StumbleUpon moved another post into first place, How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates was  my popular post. It’s now #2 in my popular posts, and the post is #2 in Google for the search terms “freelance editing rates.” What is so surprising about this is that the post refers to a chart of average rates on the website of the Editorial Freelancers Association, but my posts ranks higher in Google and has generated a lot of traffic.

A Post That Didn’t Get the Attention I Feel It Deserved

One time when I was feeling discouraged that I wasn’t doing great things, I had an epiphany and wrote Catalyst: God’s Tool. I suspect many other people can benefit from my epiphany because most of us often fail to recognize what we are accomplishing.

A related post, You May Never Know the Impact You Have, also didn’t get much attention.  Both of these posts were written in my first year of blogging, when I had very few readers.

The Post I’m Most Proud Of

Choosing one post I’m most proud of is impossible, so I’ll select one that is close to my heart. A Different … and Special … Family Vacation won the Family Vacation Writing Project at Babylune, but the reason it means so much to me is that it describes a favorite family vacation—the last with my father before Alzheimer’s disease stole his ability to enjoy vacations and remember the people he loved. 

The second part of the challenge is to nominate up to five other bloggers to share their 7 links.

• David Bowles, Westward Sagas, a client, friend, historical author, and blogger who knows all kinds of Americana trivia
• Dominique, 4Walls and a View, inspiring blogger who writes about the challenges of living with chronic disease
• Dawn, Dawn Colclasure’s Blog, prolific author of adult nonfiction, poetry, and children’s literature
• Laura Spencer, Writing Thoughts, a freelance writer and blogger who has some great posts in her archives

I’m going to stop at four nominations, so if you would like a nomination, leave a comment.

I know the people I nominated, if they choose to participate, will provide links to some outstanding posts in their archives.

We are so blessed to have freedom of religion in this country. In many parts of the world, people do not have the right to worship as they choose. Christian pastor Youcef Nedarkhani is facing execution in Iran because he was raised in a Muslim home and converted to Christianity. In the United States, we can be raised in a Muslim home and convert to Christianity or raised in a Christian home and convert to Islam. In matters of faith, we answer only to our God, not to our country or to anyone else.

MOST gracious God who gives us more than we deserve, we yield thee unfeigned thanks and praise for the freedom to worship thee without fear and for all the other blessings of thy merciful providence bestowed upon this nation and people. And, we beseech thee, show thy mercy upon thy servants who live where they lack the same freedom; give them strength to stand fast in their faith in the face of adversity; protect them and give them thy peace that passes understanding; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen.

May 2012 bring joy, peace, love, health, and happiness to you and your loved ones.

May God bless all those who love and serve Him throughout the coming year.

ALMIGHTY God, who alone gavest us the breath of life, and alone canst keep alive in us the holy desires thou dost impart; We come to You at the beginning of this year to beseech thee, for thy compassion’s sake, to sanctify all our thoughts and endeavours; that we may neither begin an action without a pure intention nor continue it without thy blessing. And grant that, having the eyes of the mind opened to behold things invisible and unseen, we may in heart be inspired by thy wisdom, and in work be upheld by thy strength, and in the end be accepted of thee as thy faithful servants; through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen. (adapted from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer)

photo credit: aaron_anderer

TO our prayers, O Lord, we join our unfeigned thanks for all thy mercies; for our being, our reason, and all other endowments and faculties of soul and body; for our health, friends, food, and raiment, and all the other comforts and conveniences of life. Above all, we adore thy mercy in sending thy only Son into the world, to redeem us from sin and eternal death, and in giving us the knowledge and sense of our duty towards thee. We bless thee for thy patience with us, notwithstanding our many and great provocations; for all the directions, assistances, and comforts of thy Holy Spirit; for thy continual care and watchful providence over us through the whole course of our lives; and particularly for the mercies and benefits of this day; beseeching thee to continue these thy blessings to us, and to give us grace to show our thankfulness in a sincere obedience to his laws, through whose merits and intercession we received them all, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. ~ Family Evening Prayer, 1928 Book of Common Prayer

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:4, KJV

photo credit: Joybot

There are so many things that can be said about food. It is essential to our survival. In the developed world, we eat too much and have serious health problems with obesity (and I’m one of the guilty ones). In developing countries, people die from starvation and malnutrition every day.

Yet even here in the US, the land of plenty, not everyone has enough food. So I’ve decided to talk about one small local project to feed the hungry. My church, All Saints Anglican Church of  San Antonio, Texas, operates a Food Pantry.

The church receives donated food from Daily Bread Ministries, a San Antonio Christian food bank that “rescues” food that would otherwise be thrown away by restaurants, markets, caterers, hospital and business cafeterias, and wholesalers. Dedicated volunteers pick up the food and take to Daily Bread’s warehouse, where more volunteers sort and pack the food for distribution to ministries throughout San Antonio. Twice a week, volunteers from All Saints visit the Daily Bread warehouse to pick up food.

Since most of the food received from Daily Bread is perishable, All Saints runs a food drive for a specific staple (such as cereal, peanut butter, and canned goods) on the first Sunday of each month.

Every Saturday morning, All Saints parishioners show up at the Food Pantry to prepare the food for distribution to individuals and families. The Food Pantry is open Saturday afternoon, and food is distributed to anyone who shows up, no questions asked. We don’t always wait for someone to come to us—volunteers have even gone out into the neighborhood to offer food to people in the area. We take seriously Jesus’ words:

The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40, NIV)

All Saints offers food for the body with no strings attached, but we also provide food for the soul for those who desire it. Volunteers frequently pray with food recipients, give them Bibles, and even arrange to provide transportation for children to Sunday School. One week a lady asked volunteers to pray with her for a desperately needed job; the next week she returned with a big smile to announce that she had found a job. Recently a man no one knew showed up with a donation of bread. Sometimes children in the families receiving food ask to help distribute food. They enjoy serving others as their families are being served.

William Wimp, who heads All Saints’ outreach program, keeps folks informed about the Food Pantry and other activities on the All Saints Anglican Church Outreach Facebook page. Thanks be to God for the dedication of Bill and Arlene Wimp, Father Chip Harper, and dozens of All Saints volunteers to the hurting and needy as well as for the generous parishioners who donate food. I am unable to participate in food preparation and distribution because of family caregiving responsibilities, so my tiny contribution is simply to tell people about this ministry and encourage their support.

I’m sure today we’ll read many blog posts about organizations and individuals making huge contributions to the problem of hunger in the world. Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the needs in the world that we think we can’t do anything. Perhaps we can’t individually end famine in Africa, but we can make a donation to help. Maybe we can’t put all the unemployed people back to work, but we can donate a jar of peanut butter or a box of cereal to help one family through the jobless crisis. We can’t end hunger in our city alone, but we can pick up donated food or prepare it for distribution. If each of us does a little, a lot can be accomplished.

As you sit down to a hearty meal or grab a sandwich on the run for lunch, I hope you will think about those who don’t have enough to eat and take some small action to help.

O MERCIFUL God, and heavenly Father, who hast taught us in thy holy Word that thou dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men; Look with pity, we beseech thee, upon the sorrows of all in this world who lack food. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy; endue their souls with patience; comfort them with a sense of thy goodness; send relief for their needs; lift up thy countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Adapted from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer)

O LORD, our heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; We beseech thee to bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of their fellow men. Endue them with wisdom, patience, and courage to strengthen the weak and raise up those who fall; that, being inspired by thy love, they may worthily minister in thy Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the sake of him who laid down his life for us, the same thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. (1928 Book of Common Prayer)