Category Archives: Writing

Crazy Horse Memorial and a Touchstone

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On Day 4 we drove to Custer, South Dakota, for lunch on our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial. We enjoyed out lunch so much at Custer Wolf Cafe. The service and food were delicious, and the cooler weather made everything better about this day.

When we were driving North to the Memorial we had no expectations. Other than my sister had heard that the entire Mt. Rushmore monument would fit in Crazy Horse’s monument with room to spare. Impressive. But what’s more impressive is that this project that began in the 1940’s has been built without any government assistance. I like that the Lakota Nation wanted to do this themselves and with the willing donations of others.

There is no known picture or impression of Crazy Horse, so the sculptor interviewed those native Americans who knew him. They described his appearance which led him to create his likeness on the statue.

At this point they’ve only finished his stoic face and his outstretched arm over the mane of his horse. This is the miniature created so you can see what the finished sculpture will look like…

This is the poem written by Korczak Zholkowski…

His Face
His Hand

While there we sat in on the demonstration of a Native American playing the songs of many different tribes. Imagine my delight when he began talking of the Creek Indians and their requirement to follow the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, now known as Oklahoma.

The book I wrote about my Grandmother, Through The Eyes of Grace, is steeped in this rich history. My grandfather and Great-Grandfather were both listed in the Dawes Rolls. This allowed them to receive the full benefit of 160 acres of land each, granted to all known members of the Five Civilized Tribes—Cherokee, Creek, Seminole, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians.

When he spoke of this horrific part of our history, he mentioned how many of the tribes had become Christian. As a result the song that united them on this trail was Amazing Grace. This just so happened to be my Grandmother’s favorite song. Such a touchstone that nearly made me cry as he played it on the Creek Nation’s native instrument. Listen in…

Crazy Horse died at the young age of 35, lying on the bare floor in Ft. Robinson.

This Memorial is due to be finished by 2035. I may never see it, but this visit inspired me to be grateful for the stories that shaped my ancestral history.

Do you know the stories that have inspired your history? I encourage you to seek and discover your hidden stories. They matter more than you know.

South Dakota Wildlife

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Anyone who knows my sister knows she loves all animals. That’s why I had to devote a post to the animals she adored on this trip.

Look at that smile 😊

I’ve mentioned the prairie dogs already, but I didn’t share the benefit they provide to the prairie. If they lived in our yards we would call them pests. But here the way they burrow in the ground turning up the roots of the rich grasses, helps the larger wildlife eat the rich nutrients with ease.

Prairie Dog Towns

I love that.

We also saw for the first time antelopes in the wild. This one was among the bison and the prairie dogs minding her own business. Of course my sister and I started singing, “Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play.” 😂

These were all taken in Custer State Park, the largest state park in the country. It covers 71,000 acres filled with all sorts of wildlife.

When we got to the Bison Center we were surprised to see wild burros, as they called them, in the parking lot. My sister couldn’t wait to get up close to pet them. And they were just as happy to greet her.

Of course she made friends with him

We spotted this wild one hiding behind a rock…

It was a beautiful day. We kept thanking God for the perfect weather and for allowing us to enjoy His creation together.

I’ll close with this video of the prairie dogs chattering as we passed.

It’s hard to believe we still have more to see. Next time we’ll share our experience seeing the Crazy Horse Memorial.

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes

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We left in the morning to reach Custer State Park in time to see the wildlife enjoying the cool of the morning. We were not disappointed.

We began along the southern Wildlife Loop. My sister couldn’t contain her joy—so many animals from bison to prairie dogs. They all seemed to anticipate her arrival. The prairie dogs were standing to salute her retirement—yeah, we have big imaginations in my family.

But the highlight of the day was driving through one of the Custer State Park’s tunnels and seeing Mt. Rushmore gazing at us from a distance.

My sister nearly exploded. She has dreamed of this day her whole life. What a gift to bring her here together as a family. She has always sacrificed for the good of all who know her, and today was her turn to be blessed.

George Washington is seen stern and steadfast with the conviction of leading this new nation. Thomas Jefferson is gazing upwards anticipating the future with his words penned, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Theodore Roosevelt is next looking down as he sees the beauty our country has to offer. He secured lands for generations to enjoy in their natural state. This park was included in his vision.

Finally, Abraham Lincoln is the one who gave our country the pathway to freedom for all Americans. His resolve is the foundation of our United States.

My sister nearly cried when she approached the magnificent memorial.

And she nearly cried when she left.

When you dream of a moment like this, there are no words when your wish comes true; only gratefulness. And what a privilege to witness the moment.

Grateful to Tom for helping to make it happen

Wyoming to South Dakota – America the Beautiful

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We started our journey with a fantastic breakfast in Ft. Collins. Yay for Yelp! We always find the best places because of the recommendations on this app. Try it when you’re in a new area and see if you don’t enjoy your experience that much more.

Urban Egg

Tom loves corned beef hash and eggs. This restaurant knows how to do it well.

After we were satisfied we hit the road east through Wyoming. The countryside of Wyoming is beautiful. We saw “Amber waves of grain,” and lots of bison grazing under “spacious skies.” 🎶

Bison lowing in the field

Stopping at a rest area we were greeted by this sign. Yikes! It must be how tourists feel in FL when they see our signs saying “Beware of alligators and water snakes.”

We finally arrived in Hot Springs, South Dakota. The weather is refreshing after our scorching hot Summer in Florida. Our home for the next few days is spacious and has a great view.

Our view with the moon rising

This trip so far has been a fresh reminder of the beauty in God’s creation of America.

“God shed His grace on thee.”

Tomorrow I’ll share the day my sister has only dreamed of happening…Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park.

A Bushel and a Peck

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I love you 🎶

A bushel and a peck

A bushel and a peck 🎶

And a hug around the neck.

Songwriter: Frank Loesser

This song is endearing and one I’ve often sung to my grandchildren. But today it made me think in opposites. What if the lyrics went something like this?

I see you

A log and a speck

A log and a speck

Puts a grip around the neck

Ouch. Have you ever been on the receiving end of someone’s unfair judgment? I’m sad to say I have and nothing hurts more.

When I feel falsely accused, all I want to do is defend myself so I’m understood and the tension is released.

But usually defending myself only creates more tension. The best thing is to follow Jesus’ example and walk away. He didn’t answer His accusers unless they were speaking the truth. With all others He kept His mouth shut.

Oh to be like Him.

There is a scripture that has helped me look at this rightly…

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

To realize that any judgment I make against someone will be the same measure God uses against me is sobering. It brings me to my knees in surrender.

If God has allowed the conflict, there is an opportunity to be made more like Christ. But usually I want the other person to feel the sting they’ve assaulted on me. This just proves I’m still in need of a Savior to rescue me from my own sin.

In fact I will never be above the need for His grace working in my heart until I take my last breath.

This Bible verse helps me because the speck is made up of the same log. If the sin of another (the speck) offends me I need to look at myself (the log) first. I’m recognizing the other’s sin because it resides in my own heart as well.

This fact humbles me and brings me to my knees.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1 Peter 5:6 ESV

Let us love one another well by dealing with our own heart before pointing a finger at someone else.

I’ll close sharing with you something my pastor said years ago…

“Anytime you’re pointing a finger at someone, know that there are three more pointing back at you.”

When we choose to humble ourselves we can honestly sing, I love you a bushel and a peck…

Through The Valley

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I learned something last week.

It was time for my follow-up appt. with my Orthopedic doctor. It had been 3.5 weeks since my downfall, literally, and I was ready to see what progress I had made. Being a rule-follower, I followed his instructions by not putting any weight on my foot and sleeping with my obnoxious boot.

The good news is my fibula fracture is healing as it should. The bad news is I have to start putting weight on it as I can tolerate. He said to let the pain be my guide. If it hurts too bad take a rest.

He explained to me that the pressure of weight on a broken bone actually tells the bone to heal. Without taking the next steps my bone would take longer to heal. This metaphor jumped out at me the moment he said it!

I have to do something painful to receive the full benefits of healing.

How I needed to hear this and maybe you do too. What circumstances in your life have broken your heart? Are you tempted to despair? That’s the worst thing to do for healing to happen. We must stay engaged and keep taking the next step God reveals for us to take. To sit still will only prolong the pain and delay the healing needed.

What help you need will depend on your specific situation; maybe it’s counseling, exercising, quitting a job or setting boundaries in a difficult relationship? Maybe it’s a literal broken bone like I’m facing. Whatever it is the remedy is the same—we must continue moving forward one step at a time.

David in writing Psalm 23 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” (Emphasis mine) We shouldn’t stand still and be overcome with fear over harmless shadows. A shadow can’t hurt us, but still the fear can be debilitating.

I encourage you to walk one step at a time through your hard. God will be your Comforter and He will faithfully lead you to still waters.

This song has ministered to me. I pray it will to you as well…

Pleasant Places

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Today my heart is once again clinging to God and His Word for strength, help and comfort.

Elias, our 22 month old grandson, is a fighter. He has been since he was born.

  • Born at 24 weeks and 5 days, after his water world broke at 22 weeks
  • He was in the NICU for 116 days
  • He was born with CMV which led to microcephaly and cerebral palsy
  • He exudes more joy than most of us on our best days
  • He is a miracle whom God rescued

Now another challenge has confronted him. He has cancer—rhabdomyosarcoma—behind his left eye to be specific. Of the two strands, his is the one less threatening, but still serious. He had a biopsy of his protruding left eye revealing a 1” tumor intertwined with nerves and blood vessels—inoperable. The pressure in his eye threatens glaucoma.

God rescued him yet again. Heather happened to read the story of a little boy who’s eye started bulging. It turned out he had this same cancer hiding behind the eye. After reading it, Heather thought Elias’ eye looked a little bulged. Her doctors all said to watch it and see if it changed. Most likely it was just swollen with allergens.

Had she not read this story we may not have noticed the threat as quickly. She has tried to go and find this article to no avail. Could it be God was leading her in a miraculous way?

Elias will have to do many more hard things to fight this beast. One happened yesterday when they inserted an NG tube through his right nostril. To say he didn’t like it would be an understatement! I am grateful I wasn’t there to experience his protest. Nana has limits. The good part of this, Elias will get all the nutrition he needs to gain some weight before chemo begins. It is also giving Heather the first break from around the clock feeds since he was born.

What’s next? Tomorrow he will have a bone marrow biopsy as well as a spinal to see if there are any cancer cells hiding there. He will also have a PET scan.

A two week hospital stay is likely this time. And once again we wait.

But God! He is not absent or indifferent. While I can’t say why He allows these things to happen. I can say that He has rescued little Elias for a reason. His joy is infectious, ask anyone who has followed his story—and there are many! He has shown us all how to keep going making the most of each day.

I love this little guy so much.

The Lord impressed Psalm 16:5-6 on me yesterday at church:

“The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”
‭‭- Psalm‬ ‭16:5-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

My circumstances are not the boundary lines around me. If they were it would be hard to agree with David that my lines are pleasant places. No. God has also said in His Word that He goes before me and behind me. HE is the lines that surround me giving me boundaries of His grace. I can rest knowing He’s my Shepherd no matter what threatens.

Indeed, the lines have fallen in Pleasant Places!

If you would like to help, our oldest daughter set up a Go Fund Me campaign to provide for their many needs in the months to come.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/elias-angel-fight-cancer

Sweet Fragrance of Unity

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A pleasant warmth brushes my face as I inhale the morning air.

IT WHISPERS,

“Winter has at last fallen asleep”, tucked beneath the black dirt of the garden bed.

“Tread lightly,” it cautions.

Hope, peeking through the soil as a timid flower, is unsure of the climate.

Thunder clouds gather like opposing views bringing with it…

…winds of threat and cloudy accusations.

…Meant to harm, yet providing something needed…

RAIN

As the

words

fall

from

the

sky

of lofty

opinions,

some run off rejected

a torrential flood of judgment.

Other words

                        S

                        I

                       N

                       K

                       deep, bringing with it gentle correction.

The solar sentinel ever present though not seen, 

sends out rays of help

chasing the clouds of accusations away

like a faithful friend.

SUNSHINE

A second look and hope has emerged safe and at attention

in response to the steady cadence call of the sentinel in the Sky.

Gone are the threats.

Spring at last.

The garden has learned to embrace only words which nourish the soil and the soul,

thus filling the air with a sweet fragrance of 

UNITY.

Interviews

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I’ve had two recent interviews that I need to share with you. They were both significant moments where time seemed to stand still as I listened to myself answer questions from across the screen or room. Stories of the last three years and God’s faithfulness in each step.

The first interview was with my husband. A friend who hosts a podcast, Counseling Over Coffee, asked if we would be willing to share what it’s been like to have a grandchild with special needs. I like what her daughter, who has two boys on the spectrum called him, not disabled, but different-abled. Elias has continued to surpass expectations. We had so much to share our interview quickly became a two-episodes. You can hear the first interview here.

The second interview was unexpected and one of those “connect-the-dots of God’s faithfulness to me” moments.

Norah is our second oldest grand-daughter. She will be 15 next month which in itself is huge! Almost three years ago she battled a wicked disease called PANDAS. It is a miracle she has survived these past three years. Most of you are aware of this part of her life. If not, you can read it here.

She was given an 8th grade assignment to interview a grandparent. She came up with all the questions and asked them to me over Facetime. We got off to a good start…

“What year we’re you born?” 1959.

“Where were you born?” Orlando.

“How do you come to know Jesus?” This is when time seemed to slow to a crawl.

I realized Norah was asking me all the questions I regretted never asking my own grandmother. She died when I was 19. I was her youngest so she was 90 and had lived a full life. I just didn’t hear the answers to these questions until she had died.

I regretted my missed opportunity. How I wished time had slowed in that season of my life to ask such questions.

“How did you and Papa meet?“ We met at a Jesus Festival held here in Orlando.

“Have you ever seen God do a miracle?” Yes! I’m talking to her now!

Just this exchange was a moment—me sharing with her the miracle we both saw from two different perspectives.

“What gifts has God given you?” In 1989 God impressed on me that He had given me a gift of writing. He said He wanted me to keep a journal. And I’m still writing to this day—I am currently on my 78th journal.”

“You have 78 journals?” I do. I realized that writer’s write and God wanted me to learn how to write by writing. She smiled.

Through all my years of journaling I learned how to write, and this allowed me to finally write my grandmother’s story in my book titled, Through The Eyes Of Grace. It took me 12 years, and my Mom was the first to read it. To say it was my life-long dream would be an understatement. I have recorded with words the story I never took the time to discover when she was alive. But God helped me uncover it one question at a time.

What questions come to mind when you consider the story of your life? Do your children know the answers? Do your grandchildren? I encourage you to write them down so when they finally think to ask, the answers will be available for them to discover.

A Beginning, Not An End

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Today is the final day of The Ultimate Blog Challenge to post every day in November. I have succeeded in what I set out to do.

But God! He succeeded in giving me a fresh vision for the purpose of this blog.

Originally it was simply a place to share bits and pieces from my book, Through The Eyes of Grace, (now available in hardcover) as well as background stories. I realize how limiting this has been to me.

Instead, I now see that this blog is mine to use for my enjoyment; writing whatever is on my mind for the good and hopefully encouragement of all who read it. But even if no one reads, I will still be full of happy to have this outlet of creativity and joy.

You all have been a part of this discovery. Thank you for reading, for commenting and for encouraging me in countless ways.

It took me a long time to call myself a writer. But I realize the old adage is true—Writers write! This is what God has given me to do in this life. I will listen to His prompts and follow His lead in writing from this foundation.

I write because I enjoy it, I always have—since I was a young girl writing silly poems that expressed my heart at the time.

I write because it helps me process life with all its good and enjoyable times as well as the hard and difficult times.

I write because it connects me to others who write well and inspire me in my craft. it is an art worth pursuing well.

I write to hopefully do the same in inspiring others. Either in their writing, in their faith, in their parenting, marriage or dreams.

To celebrate this, I am changing the name of my blog…

Write From the heart

Writing from my heart is what I’ve always done. Now my blog lines up with my mission. Thank you all for your part in this challenge and in this change. I invite you to join me as I discover more in this new season of writing.

I have been blessed to meet so many of you.

Completed November 2021