Tag: Bloganuary

The Gift of Peace

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 2 Comments

Today’s Bloganuary question: What is the most memorable gift you’ve received?

Back when I was twenty-one, married and a mom, I was living the life of a good Christian, relatively speaking. We attended church faithfully, I taught pre-school Sunday school, we attended Bible study classes, I was part of a prayer cell, even handed out Bibles in our town.

Then one day someone gave me a pamphlet to read that made me stop and think. I got the impression that something I was allowing myself was wrong. Initially, I wasn’t so much troubled, brushed it aside as someone’s take on the scripture. I studied the verses several times looking for loopholes. Some kind of exemption for the day I was living in. Couldn’t really find one, but still… Surely God didn’t expect, in this day and age…or would He?

One day, several months later, it seems the Lord laid His hand on me –much like a parent would — and said, “This is enough.” It came clear to me that I was doing something that displeased him. I dithered over this all day and discussed it with several people, not finding peace. That evening I decided I just couldn’t give this up. I actually told God, “If this is what You’re asking of me, I won’t be your child anymore.”

For about five minutes I had a feeling of drifting in darkness, without a lifeline. Feeling the depth of my separation from God, thinking of a dismal life apart from His love and guidance. Finally I decided nothing in this world is worth that. I asked the Lord to forgive my stubbornness and told him I’d do whatever He asked, no matter what. I’d give this thing up if that’s what He wanted, if only He’d make me his child again. And He did just that. I knew I was accepted again. I received the most wonderful gift in my life: I was flooded with an indescribable peace and joy.

It was truly the gift that keeps on giving. That same peace has carried me through many things since. In Psalm 23 David says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me….” I’ve walked through that valley several times in my life, faced breast cancer in 1980 and leukemia in 2012. He’s gone with me through the valley, comforting me, assuring me that He’ll be there no matter what the future holds. There’s no greater gift than the peace of God.

Image by Pexels — Pixabay

Greats & Great-Greats

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 2 Comments

The Bloganuary question for today is: How far back in your family tree can you go?

Clicker-Free Vector Images — Pixabay.

By accessing the records of Ancestry. ca and My Heritage.com, I’ve been able to find the great-greats and more, on both sides. My Mom was a Harmon, her mom was a Falconer from Minnesota. Grandma Falconer’s grandparents came from Scotland as singles; I have record of their marriage in Philadelphia, PA. Grandma Thelma’s mother was a Working, from a family that emigrated from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania.

The James Welcome Harmon family came up to Canada from Minnesota to homestead here in SK. There were Wilson, Smith, and Sillsbe women married into that family. I can go back with that clan at least six generations, to the state of Maine.

I have records back to Great-great-great-grandfather David Vance who married Agnes Jones in Gallowayshire, Scotland. David’s four sons came to Canada; en route my gr-gr-gand married Sarah, the daughter of Samuel Allen in New York. The Allens go back to Plymouth Colony, now Boston.

Great-grandfather Samuel Vance was married to Mary Smith. No Smith family records, as her father, John Smith, was kidnapped by a press gang when he was nine. John worked his way to Ontario and married Ruth Dobson of Oxford County. Her family came from New Brunswick. I have record of great-grandmother Ruth’s parents and siblings.

My dad’s mother was the child of Alice Watchorn (her father Charles’ family came from central Ireland to Lanark County, Ontario) and William Turner. I can only go back to his father, my great-great-grandfather Charles and his wife Alice Doyle. He supposedly came from Ireland and married in Halifax Nova Scotia.

I find genealogy interesting, following all the lines reaching back into history, and would gladly connect with folks on the other family tree branches. But the effort would have a lot more meaning if I didn’t just have names and dates, if I could actually roll back the years for a few minutes and see the sort of people they were, how they met, etc.

Why Write?

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 18 Comments

The Bloganuary question today: Why do You Write?

Why do I write? God only knows.

You know, that may be as good an answer as any other.

Oh, I could give some down-to-earth reasons: I write to inform, to share images and concepts, to communicate, to give others a smile. I hope to entertain through the stories I write.

I may have altruistic reasons: a desire to improve the lot of my fellow human beings. Think of Charles Dickens. His stories had a huge impact on the attitudes of his readers. Through his writing, this one man effected a great change in the society he wrote for.

I write because I’ve met our Father, and hope to share with other children what I’ve learned about him. Tell them He’s not an amorphous, indifferent force somewhere in the universe, but a divine Parent who can, and wants to, speak with us and guide us.

I could give some self-centered thoughts: I have opinions and want to share them. Because, like most other folks on this planet, I think I see issues clearly. Or I may dream of gaining a name, respect, some dough. Alas, fat chance!

All the above may factor into why I write but if I were all alone on a desert island with a scribbler and a pencil, I’d still write. I’m an observer, a recorder, an enthusiast of interesting words.

I write because I’m hard-wired to write and to share my thoughts, just as some people are hard-wired to act. Some others on this desert island would be swinging an axe, felling trees, building a decent shelter. I’d be describing the trees, the flora & fauna, the moods of sea and sky.

Lastly…and this old autograph-book verse puts it so well:

Some people write for fortune,
some people write for fame.
I write to be remembered
so here I’ll sign my name.

Jubilation

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 4 Comments

Today’s Bloganuary Challenge asks the question “What brings you joy in life?”

In a nutshell: my family, my hobbies and interests. At this stage of life I don’t feel a lot of the thrilling kind of joy, but more of a deep contentment and gratitude for the many blessings God has given me. My spouse, my daughter and her family, my grandchildren. Our home, the acreage we live on with the nearby woods full of birds. The blogging community I can be a part of.

I enjoy writing, blogging, poetry, reading, painting, piecing blanket tops, doing jigsaw puzzles, listening to singing. I enjoy visiting, especially with the seniors at the Villa. I was there yesterday helping them with their jigsaw — a really hard one for senior eyes! I enjoy watching the birds. Observing nature, weather, the skies — all this brings me delight. Which is why I’ve used nature themes for my book titles.

Sask prairie & sky

The first thing that came to mind when I read the challenge was this song, which I heartily agree with. Here are the first two verses:

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

    Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee    
    God of glory, Lord of love;
    Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
    Op’ning to the sun above.
    Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
    Drive the dark of doubt away;
    Giver of immortal gladness,
    Fill us with the light of day!
    
    All Thy works with joy surround Thee,
    Earth and heav’n reflect Thy rays,
    Stars and angels sing around Thee,
    Center of unbroken praise.
    Field and forest, vale and mountain,
    Flow’ry meadow, flashing sea,
    Singing bird and flowing fountain
    Call us to rejoice in Thee.

    Henry J van Dyke
    1852-1933

Precious Things Lost

~ Christine Goodnough ~ 4 Comments

Bloganuary’s challenge for today is to tell about a treasure that’s been lost. It looks like 78 bloggers to this point have responded with various things they miss — or they think we all miss. These challenge could be taken either way: this could be something I’ve lost myself or something I think we as a society have lost.

Image: kalhh — Pixabay

One of the treasures I’ve lost is my HEARING. I started out with one hearing aid twenty-odd years ago; have had two for the past fifteen years. Marvelous little things! Without them I’d only have half the hearing capability of a normal person, if that. The hearing in my left ear especially is way down. Some of this was unavoidable, being due to allergies that cause fluid backup around the ear drums. Some I could have avoided had I known…

When I was in my early thirties I had tubes put in my ears, because of said allergies, and was given cortisone ear drops to put in my ears. I used them faithfully, being sure they went all the way into my ears. A dozen years later we lived in another place and I asked a doctor for a refill. He said, “You can’t use those long-term. Studies show that if they get through the tubes into the inner ear, they can damage your hearing.””

“Well, okay. Now I know.”

So it’s impossible to determine how much of my hearing loss was inevitable and how much was due to being uninformed. My dad and brother both got hearing aids, so some of my problem could be genetic. In any case, HEARING is definitely a treasure I miss.

As far as things we as a society have lost, I’ll say the teaching of HISTORY. Again–since this is one of my regular laments. Young people in our society aren’t learning enough history to give them a balanced perspective on current events. If we have the knowledge of what has all gone on before us, we can compare, we can learn.

Fact is, the world has seen times like this before — and much worse. We aren’t suffering more, or living with more fear, than anyone else in the history of the world. Mankind as a whole has survived tough times. Also, in the past this course of action has led to such and such consequences. Let’s avoid a repeat of the bad ones.

So there’s my view of treasures lost.

Image: Gerd Altmann — Pixabay