The Dust Bowl

On February 18, 1937, massive dust storms hit five states - Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. Some historians call this time "The Dirty Thirties." It's hard for us to imagine the devastation such storms left behind. They not only covered the few crops surviving the drought, but some covered farm machinery, piled several feet in houses and barns, and left untold destruction behind.

Many people had to leave their homes. There was nothing left there for them. From 1930 to 1940, about 3.5 million people moved out of the Plains states. John Steinbeck's classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, chronicles such a time. As Steinbeck portrayed, many of these displaced families became migrant workers in California. It was truly a trying time that caused the Great Depression to continue.

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National Random Acts of Kindness Day

I like this idea. The world could use more kindness. If you google "random acts of kindness," you'll find all sorts of ways to befriend people and spread around some kindness. However, I would hope that people don't need a list of ideas, but they could randomly show acts of kindness on their own. It should become a habit - the way we live.

The phrase "random acts of kindness" is attributed to Anne Herbert. She wrote it on a placemat in Sausalito, California, in 1982 to combat the phrase she kept hearing, "random acts of violence." She published a book entitled, Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty in 1993, which shared stories of people showing kindness randomly. 

"Pay it forward" is another version of random acts of kindness. Here, if someone does something nice for you, you do something nice to someone else to keep it going. Not too long ago, there was a book and movie by this name. However, historically the concept has been around much longer.

Christianity, Judaism, and most other religions teach kindness, not just as random acts, but as the thing to do. The Jewish concept of a mitzvah is commonly used to mean a good deed or act of kindness.  Judaism teaches that the world is built on kindness. Jesus also set this type of example for Christians to follow.

So, let's all observe "Random Acts of Kindness Day" today. But we should not do this for just one day. Let's commit to do them each and every day of the year and see how much better we can make our world.

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King Tut's Burial Chamber Opened

Although British archaeologist Howard Carter and his crew discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen months earlier, they only reached the king's burial chamber on February 16, 1923. This created another flurry of media storms, and interest in Egypt and Egyptian treasures surged again. Tutankhamen was in the 18th Egyptian dynasty and ruled from about 1332-1323 BC. He is also known as "the boy king," because he came to the throne at age ten, and died at nineteen.

King Tut married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, which was not uncommon in most parts of the known world at this time. Some biblical figures, like Abraham, did something similar. Tutankhamen had two daughters, but they were both stillborn and buried with him. Most historians believe this king had powerful advisers, since he came to the throne so young. He sought to restore diplomatic relations with other countries, which had weakened under prior rulers.

Standing at 5 feet and 11 inches tall, when he died, Tut was lean and trim. Busts found in his tomb gives us some idea of what he may have looked like. No one knows for sure the reason for his death. Some have wondered if he wasn't killed, but more think it happened due to an accident. He had a broken leg shortly before death, and it became infected. There's also evidence he had malaria. Some have speculated that the fall, which broke his leg, may have caused an internal brain injury as well. Regardless, this ended his family's line to the throne.

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Avid Readers

Some of you, like me, have been avid readers for a long time. As an only child, books became my friends early-on. My mom and I would catch the bus to go to the library from the summer after I finished first grade on. It wasn't long before I talked my parents into buying me books too. I'd often rather have a book than a toy. The year I finished eighth grade, I read 350 books, and some of them were lengthy, like War and Peace. I know, because I kept a list.

I still read. Even though I'm now also writing, and that takes a lot of my time, I always read at least 250 books a year. I look at it as research - a good writer reads. I credit some of my writing ability to all the books I've read in my lifetime. I know the total would be well into a five-digit number. 


According to one internet site, here are the signs that you were born to be an avid reader:
1.  You picked up a book at an early age
2.  You've always been fascinated with learning
3.  You have a good imagination
4.  You're compassionate
5.  You look forward to bedtime if it means you can read for a while
6.  You love libraries and bookstores
7.  Reading helps relieve your stress
8.  You find words and language interesting
9.  You find yourself collecting, accumulating, and hoarding books.
10. You like to escape reality for little hunks of time

If you're like me, you can check off all ten of these. How avid does that make me? Or maybe you could just called me an obsessed reader. That's okay. I think avid readers are the best.

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Love May Very Well Make the World Go 'Round

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Matthew 22:37-39).

God's two greatest commandments concern love. As I've said before, if we'd get these right, we'd never have to worry about being obedient or righteous again. This covers it all, but only Jesus got it right. Loving Him and loving others are what God wants first and foremost. I think this is the reason David was a "man after God's own heart," although he committed some pretty horrific sins. He did repent, and he loved the Lord and cared about others. The way he treated Saul, Jonathan, and Mephibosheth proves this.

Read 1 Corinthians 13. Of course, "charity" means love. The word "love" is used 281 times in the Bible. Doesn't that signify its importance. I think love is a basic need of all people, although some don't recognize it. That's why every book I write has love in it, in one way or another. I can't imagine a world without love. I think there's a name for such a place, and it begins with "h."

And above all things have fervent charity [love] among yourselves: for charity [love] shall cover the multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).

Did you get that? Love covers a multitude of sins. That's "sins" - in the plural. I lived by this verse as a parent, when my children were growing up. Some parenting decisions were hard. I prayed, did the best I knew how, and figured my deep love would cover the mistakes. It seemed to work. Learn to love unconditionally, like Christ. Let His love flow through you into others. Love. 

And now abideth faith, hope, charity [love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [love] (1 Corinthians 13;13).

A Full Schedule

Isn't it amazing how things go along smoothly for a time, and then all of a sudden they seem to bottleneck, and it's hard to get everything done? That's what the last couple of weeks have been like for me. I've begun to question the wisdom of trying to bring out two books at the same time, but so far I'm managing. The fact that Uprooted by War, which is with my publisher, is taking longer in the editorial process than either Cleared for Planting or Sown in Dark Soil did, has given me some extra time to work on other novels. I just hope the printing process goes faster.

Part of the problem has been my own making. I've had a sudden burst of writing motivation. I always love to write, but I've had an urge to do more than usual. I've wrapped up When Winter Is Past, and both the ebook and print versions came out on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other sites this week. (Please check it out.) I'd given this project top priority after Uprooted by War. It took longer than I'd expected, but the process has still been pretty fast. It's always a lot of work but exciting to have a new release.

I've also done a final read-though for Promise, which is actually the first book I ever wrote. I wrote it for the adult market, but, since the main character is seventeen-years old, I think I might market it as young adult. I'm going to a writers' conference in March that will have 2 young adult editors there, and I plan to pitch the novel then. In the meantime, it received the next priority, since I wanted it in the hands of my beta readers before I take it to the conference.

When I finished Promise, I started reading and editing Transplanted to Red Clay, which will be the last book in the Appalachian Roots series. It had been a long time since I'd read it, and I want to be ready to send it to Ambassador as soon as Uprooted by War comes out. I expect to do at least one more read-through before I send it to my beta readers, because I like to let a manuscript set a few weeks before I pick it up again, so I can have fresh eyes.

After redoing Transplanted to Red Clay, I've pulled out Poor Relation to continue writing on it. This is the third book in my Early New Mexico Series, and I'll soon be half through with the rough draft. I like to have all the books finished in a series before I start publishing them, so I need to work far ahead. This enables me to go back and change anything in the first ones in order to have the last ones work best.

On top of all this, I continue church work and housework as a pastor's wife and try never to cut anything short that's important. That's why I've agreed to teach an adult Sunday school class for someone on February 21, although it's not my time to teach and I'm pretty busy. I also have a book signing all morning on the 27th. I'm not complaining about any of this, however. I love it all, and wouldn't have it any other way.

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Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

Today would have been Abraham Lincoln's birthday. He became President to lead the United States during one of the most difficult times in its history - the Civil War. Because the Southern states didn't like Lincoln's views on the issues of that day, his election in 1860 and taking office in 1861 triggered the secession and the establishment of the Confederate States of America. Of course, the war ensued.

Lincoln had a hands-on policy in the war. He changed commanding generals time and time again, before he found one that successfully took Richmond - Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln's post-war plan was to allow the South back without major sanctions or hardships. All that changed when he was assassinated five days after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox.

I think the Civil War era has fascinated history buffs, because it had such a dismal effect on the country. In my historical novel soon to be released, Uprooted by War, I tried to show the hardships without becoming gloomy. I made sure that, even in the dark times, there was always a cord of hope running through the book, and some good things happened. It was the most difficult one in the Appalachian Roots Series to write, but my previewers have told me it's the best one yet. I know it was a labor of love, for I do love history.

All my profits from my books go to a scholarship for mission children.

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