In the Presence of My Enemies

 

Not too many years ago, I remember following a story in the news about several people, including a missionary couple in the Philippines that had been abducted and held hostage by the Islamic terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf. They were forced to march through jungles for over a year, sometimes without eating for days, in order to evade the Philippine army as the terrorists tried to extort their release for ransom. Throughout the ordeal, Martin and Gracia Burnham, relied upon their faith, even praying for their captors. I always found their story compelling and inspiring and was excited to find that she was the guest speaker at church this last Sunday. After hearing her story and considering the ordeal that she went through (including the death of her husband during her rescue), I am amazed at the peace God can bring and the way that He can turn even the worst circumstances into something good. If you have not read her book, In The Presence of My Enemies, I would highly recommend this story of courage and faith.

Book Launch Party

                                                   

NYMB On Being a Mom and NYMB On Family are the newest releases from the NYMB series from Publishing Syndicate and I was excited to be a part of the book launch/ book-signing party this past Tuesday evening. What a fun event put together by editors Linda O'Connell and Dianna Graveman , as well as Robin Moore Theiss of STL Books in Kirkwood, MO! 

There were door prize drawings, cute corsages for the contributors, 

and drinks and refreshments for all.

I especially enjoyed hearing some of the contributors read their stories aloud to the crowd. 

The humorous presentations made them even more funny and entertaining.

One more thing made the evening a great success. 10% of all sales was donated to a worthy cause, The Family Resource Center.  

Thank you to everyone who came out and to those who planned the event.
It was a great night to meet more of the talented writers in the St. Louis area, catch up and celebrate with friends, and see some of the Kirkwood area. 

My Life As A Little Sister

(Jesse)

Hello everyone!

I haven't done very well keeping up with blog posts lately. It's been a crazy couple of months with two sons graduating this year. 

(So proud of them both!)

My oldest son, Jesse, graduated college and has moved back home for a few months to save up for an apartment. 

                                                                                                              

(John)

My youngest son, John, graduated high school just a week later.
We've been busy with registration, orientation, housing, etc... all things that require lots of forms, time, and prodding when you have a procrastinating teenager who is also busy with a part-time job. :)

So in order to get something out on the blog, I am posting a short excerpt of a project I have been working on called My Life As a Little Sister.

I hope you enjoy it! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My Life As A Little Sister

   I am the baby of my family and shared a bedroom with my older sister, Twila, from the time I was born until she married at the age of 20. She is almost seven years older and looking back, I can't help but feel a twinge of pity for her, because I now realize that I was the little sister that nightmares are made of.

   Case in point.... when she turned sixteen, my aunt and uncle gave her a beautiful sweet sixteen corsage with sixteen sugar cubes wrapped in pretty blue ribbon. It sat on the chest in our bedroom and taunted me day and night. (Imagine a nine year old picky-eater who'd barely touched dinner lying in bed and staring at sweet cubes of sugar just a few feet away). One night, while she was on a date, I pulled one of the cubes from the back side of the corsage and ate it quietly in the dark. I waited the next day for her to scream and tell mama on me, but to my delight, she didn't seem to notice. So.... the next day, I ate another one. This went on for awhile and she never said a word! Finally the back of the corsage was nothing but ribbon loops, and the front had only a few cubes left. I had even gotten past the point of being worried - after all she hadn't said anything and it was obviously noticeable. Boy was I wrong! One afternoon as I sat on the bed reading, she came into our room, looked for something on the dresser, and for the first time saw the limp corsage lying there. A look of shock, then outrage came across her face as she spun around to face me. "My corsage!" she screamed. "What happened to my corsage? Did you do something to my sugar cubes?!!"

   "I ate some of them," I said. "I didn't think you'd care."

   "You ATE my sweet sixteen corsage?!" she shouted incredulously. "You ATE my corsage? 

Mom! Laura ate my corsage! It's ruined! There's nothing but ribbon left!" she cried, holding the sad-looking memento in her hands, as my mom hurried down the hall to our bedroom.

   After all of these years, I don't remember what happened next but I know it involved a scolding and a spanking, and I guess I deserved both. At the time though, I just couldn't understand why she would be so upset over a few cubes of sugar when our grandma had a box of them at her house. You would think I learned my lesson, but not long after, she got a sugar Easter Egg with a little scene inside and left it on our dresser, I couldn't help myself...I nibbled off the icing around the edges.

Needless to say, several years later when I got my own sweet sixteen corsage (and a little more self-control), I felt terrible about scarfing down her sentimental sweets. She never let me forget it either...that is until two years ago. I ran across one of those decorative eggs at Walmart and bought one for her. That Easter I presented it to her with an apology card and I think I finally earned her forgiveness! Now if I can only think of a way to make up for cutting the lock off her diary.....

(Sweet Sixteen Sugar Cube Corsage similar to my sisters)

....... to be continued

Fortunately, my sister and I are still close and get a good laugh out of our memories of growing up and sharing a room together. 

Here we are today... proof she still loves me. LOL