I live in California. Now before you get all excited, I am not blonde, and I do not have a tan. I feel lucky to live here though. The natural beauty in this state is astounding. I love our mountains, forests and beaches. All of those picturesque places that draw people from all around the world, are wonderful, but I have grown to love our flat, hot and dry central valley. Continue reading “Little trip down the middle”
This has been coming up over and over again, so I figured I would share it. In a recent conversation with the LORD I heard Him say, “I have given everyone the ability to believe and how they/you choose to is up to you.” I was like what do you mean? He said “Well, when…
So every year I wind up writing scenes for VBA, or Vacation Bible Adventure. I take bible stories and I adapt them to these vignettes that we do one a day during the week.
I have done this for years now, and it has been one of the best things I could have ever done. God has used this writing to do some tremendous things in my life. It has increased my love of storytelling, and even shown me that I could do it. Above all though, most of my “bible knowledge” is not from Sunday sermons, or even bible studies, but from the reading and pondering that I have done while writing these stories.
Sunday morning. It is always interesting to see what happens on a Sunday, and as soon as I got to church, it started. One of the songs we sang had something to do with the “power in His name”. I actually don’t even remember what the song was, because I immediately started thinking. I wondered, because that is what I do, if I really believed in that power? I am still trying to wrap my mind around that whole “love your neighbor as yourself” thing again. Just then it hit me. The whole problem wasn’t with the loving, but with trusting.
Sovereignty. Do I really believe that God is ruler over all? Is He sovereign?
I thought it would be a nice drive to Porterville. My son was there for work, and so we went down to have lunch with him. It was a nice leisurely drive down CA43 and a relaxing lunch getting all the info on the job he was doing.
After lunch I was not expecting much, you see we had bee bopped around the house all morning. Typically, we get up and out early, but this morning we had been moving kind of slow. So I was not expecting to head into the mountains for long drawn out ride. How naïve of me. Continue reading “My National Monument…..”
I have had a love affair with history since I was young. I have gone through different stages, where I have read everything I could about various eras. I hate to say it, but I am fascinated by war. To tell you the truth I am really not sure why?
I would say that I am a pacifist, but in the Sergeant York type of way. I believe that war is the worst way we have to solve problems, and should be avoided if at all possible. There is a realist in me though, and she knows that sometimes war is how problems are solved.
So today, in celebration of Memorial Day, I just wanted to look back and think about those who have died fighting for the ideals of our country. Specifically, those who fought in the costliest war in our history. Continue reading “Memorial Day”
So my husband was teasing me. I know that is not surprising, but he doesn’t typically get to tease me in this way. You see, I do not tend to use profanity. Actually, I don’t even use it as all, except on those rare occasions when it slips out under duress. Or sometimes to shock my children. Anyhow, he was giving me a bad time because I had used two cuss words in a small story that I had written. It was not a big deal, but I did it because it made sense for the character. That is of course, if sea otters could talk. Continue reading “Lesson 1..Keeping characters real”
This is what happens when you make up stories using the things you see. The fog really made me think of film noir…. and the only other characters around were some otters and a couple of scuba divers. Enjoy!
It was a day like any other day. The fog had rolled in and even the sun couldn’t break
through the gloom. It was early. Like those first moments when you wake up and are caught between the heaven of sleep and the hell of wakefulness. I always tried to get out before they came. Those strange creatures that walk upon the land. With their glowing white skin and strange seaweed hanging from their bodies. Continue reading “Otter Noir…”
Cheryl Mendoza 