The Story Girl

Pity-Party Post

2012-01-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: As the title implies, this is a pity-party post, so you might want to skip this if you would rather not listen to whining, complaints and lamentations. But then what is a blog for if not that? Anyway, here it goes.

Last July I sent my current WIP to an agent and received what I thought was constructive criticism and encouragement. Agent told me that my work needed polishing/revisions but that it was lovely, it had potential and it could be unique and that after I did some more, to feel free and resubmit it to her. I was really appreciative and bursting with excitement. Therefore I spent the last six months laboring over my WIP and I have to say, it is much improved. It still may not be ready, but it is far better than it was. I decided to take Agent up on her word and resubmitted it. She replied that she did not remember me and did I possibly send it to one of her co-workers? She said that she would be willing to look over three chapters and a synopsis. My feelings were a little hurt, but I reminded myself that Agent probably receives thousands of queries a year and doesn’t recall all of them. I sent her the chapters and synopsis and her response was that there is now too much “telling” for her and that nothing really happens until page six and then it is a little later until there is more action. Ah, but there is good news, she continues. There are several publishers out there that do not require an agent and she mentions a few and offers her best wishes…blah, blah, blah.

As I have said, I can accept criticism and actually embrace it. If the first six pages of my chapter one are dull, I can improve it and rearrange it. What irks me is how she just brushed me off. I mean, what she said to me in July, was that just a generic reply that she sends to all aspiring authors that she is not interested in? If she really wasn’t interested, then she didn’t have to lead me on. I’m the kind of writer (and person) that when someone throws me crumbs, I pick up each and every crumb and gobble them down as fast as possible.

So now I feel like I’m back at square one. I’ll probably do a little more revising and then maybe by February I’ll have worked up the courage to send if off to some agents. We’ll see. I guess what depresses me most about this was that I thought that this was it. That maybe I really found someone else out there that likes my work too. I just feel like I can’t catch a break. I take two steps forward and get knocked five steps back.

The End of Yet Another Year

2011-12-30T15:46:00.001-08:00

I always suffer from the end-of-the-year blahs. I look back on the last twelve months and there are always some successes, but on the whole I feel like a failure. This pity-party doesn’t last long though. By the beginning of January, I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the New Year.

There have been a couple of developments in my life since I last wrote. My family and I are attending a new church. It’s nice, and bigger than what we are use to. I can’t say I have any major complaints about it, it’s just missing something, but it will suffice for now.

Today is my 25th birthday. I think I have finally entered into the stage of my life where I feel like a full-fledged woman, rather than a girl. Still, I am left feeling lacking. When I was younger, I had thought that by the time I was 25 years old, that I would have a career and have done something worthwhile. Well, as you can see, the blahs are eating me up inside. Anyway, today I went to Wal-Mart to buy a couple of dresses and a skirt and then out to eat with my family. We took a trip to the mall, where I had my ears pierced for the first time. Then we stopped at the Christian bookstore and I bought a new Bible. All in all, its been a good birthday.

The one novel I have been laboring on for the last two years might be finished in another draft or two. Maybe by February it will be completed and I can contact the agents again. As for my second novel, the one set in the 1840’s, it will take some time before I show it to anyone, but I am extremely proud of it.

Ron Paul “wouldn’t have risked American lives to end the Holocaust”

2011-12-28T13:51:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul “wouldn’t have risked American lives to end the Holocaust”

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul’s past statements are coming back to haunt him – and this time it’s about the US’ role in ending World War 2 and the Holocaust.

Following a controversial revelation by a former aide to the congressman, saying that Paul “wishes Israel didn’t exist,” another blogger said Tuesday that in 2009 Paul went on the record as saying that if he were the president of the United States during WWII he “wouldn’t have risked American lives to end the Holocaust.”

Journalist Jeffrey Shapiro posted a 2009 interview he held with the GOP’s leading candidate, in which Paul clearly states that if it were up to him at the time, saving the Jews from annihilation in Europe would not have been a “moral imperative.”

“I asked Congressman Paul: If he were president of the United States during World War II would he have sent American troops to Nazi Germany to save the Jews? And the Congressman answered: No, I wouldn’t.”

Jeff Foxworthy on Indiana…

2011-11-17T08:10:00.000-08:00

Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Indiana...

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you may live in
Indiana.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't even work there, you may live in Indiana.

If you've worn shorts and a jacket at the same time, you may live in Indiana.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed
a wrong number, you may live in Indiana.

If "vacation" means going anywhere south of Fort Wayne for the weekend, you may live in Indiana.

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Indiana.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in
Indiana.

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day and back again, you may live in Indiana.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Indiana.

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both doors unlocked, you may live in Indiana.

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live
in Indiana.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in Indiana.

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -you're going 80 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Indiana.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Indiana.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction,
you may live in Indiana.

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in Indiana.

If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly", you may live in Indiana.

If you actually understand these jokes, repost this so all of your Indiana friends and others can see,you definitely do live - or have lived - in Indiana.

Alice Finch Lee, Centenarian -The Civil Rights Movement Needed Atticus in a Skirt

2011-11-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.samoglesby.com/2011/08/16/alice-finch-lee-centenarian-the-civil-rights-movement-needed-atticus-in-a-skirt/

By eight-thirty in the morning, Alice Finch Lee is at her desk in her law practice on the second floor of a bank building in Monroeville, Alabama, opening the stacks of correspondence she faces five days a week. Lee, or Miss Alice, as she is known in this small, Deep South town, turns 100 on September 11, 2011.
She is thought to be the oldest practicing woman lawyer in the United States. For over half a century she has been a tireless pioneer for people’s rights and an advocate of racial equality in a time and place when such a position was unpopular and even dangerous. She is also the older sister of Harper Lee, the author of “To Kill A Mockingbird”, the most widely read book in the United States.
Today civil rights milestones are celebrated by rightly giving prominence to heroes of the movement, from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference to Rosa Parks to the unsung thousands who participated in sit-ins and marches, often facing fire hoses, snarling police dogs and even death. Less visible were an army of middle-class white Southerners, who from the pages of their newspapers, the pulpits of their churches , the quiet offices of their law firms and the benches of the court room gave legs to sustain a movement that needed the consent and cooperation of the Southern establishment and the ordinary white person.
Alice Finch Lee probably never realized she was a radical in disguise. She just felt throughout her life that she was doing the right thing, following in the footsteps of a father, who in the 1930s, publicly confronted a gathering of the Klu Klux Klan, facing them down on the street in front of his newspaper office, forcing them to disband. First, at the age of eighteen, with her father as the co-owner of a newspaper, then through her church and finally as Alabama’s most celebrated lawyer, Miss Alice has been a quiet warrior seeing that justice is done in her small town of Monroeville.
Working tirelessly for her beloved United Methodist Church, she has been instrumental in turning it into a place of worship where African-Americans are welcome as part of the congregation. The Reverend Thomas Lane Butts, pastor emeritus of the First United Methodist Church in Monroeville, recalls how Miss Alice was a mentor to him when in 1960 as a young minister he defied the Klu Klux Klan and signed a petition to integrate buses in Mobile, Alabama.
That was a time, he remembered, when black Americans suffered terribly, and people took in racism with their mother’s milk. Few people realize the extent to which racism is layered. When you deal with one form of racism, it is frustrating to see that just underneath that form is another layer. Many people quit and went about their business when one particular form of racism was finally conquered. The most redemptive thing about Miss Alice and her kind is that their sense of justice and fair play never stops shining. These are the people who successfully detect and quietly combat racism no matter what form it takes. They are quiet, publicity shy souls who are not out shouting from the rooftops that they are about to change the world, but their persistent, inch-by-inch efforts have had that effect. If this movement could be summed up as a T-shirt logo, it might say, “Don’t Mess with Miss Alice!”
In the Deep South, where much of the population has never stopped fighting the Civil War, Miss Alice and her family espoused values that were ahead of the times in which they lived. While Miss Alice is quiet and reserved, her family nickname, “Bear”, speaks of her character. “Miss Alice will always do the right thing in any situation, even if the right thing is hard. She is Atticus Finch in a skirt” says Dr. Butts, referring to the small town lawyer hero in her sister’s best-selling novel. She is a leading example of progressive, quietly combative white Southerners who helped to integrate the South. It is the Alice Lees of the world whose constant witness to the truth saves us from falling back into old evils which are buried but not dead.
A close friend of Miss Alice has described her as “the most selfless person who walks the face of the earth”, and one who believes a person’s actions speak louder than words. Both as a lawyer and a caring citizen of her town, Monroeville, she has helped countless individuals of all colors cope with their problems. She has provided free legal counsel and advice to people who could not afford such help, and her quiet generosity has put many young people through college who otherwise could not have afforded higher education.
Although her famous, publicity-shy sister retreated from public view not long after her novel became a best-seller, Miss Alice is recognized as one of the outstanding lawyers in the State of Alabama. As a trailblazer, she has served as a role model for young women who otherwise might not have set their sights so high. Her broad spectrum of wisdom and experience in the law is such that when somebody needs guidance on a legal matter, people in the know say, “Go ask Miss Alice.”
In 1929, after one year of college, she returned home to help with family affairs and at the age of eighteen joined her father as a partner when they bought the local newspaper, the Monroe Journal together. Later, while working full-time, she studied pre-law at night not intending to become a lawyer, but simply to sharpen her thinking. After a couple of years study, however, she got “hooked” on the law and ended up graduating from the Birmingham School of Law and passing the Alabama bar exam in 1943. When her father invited her to come home and practice their profession together, she asked him, “How is a small town going to react to a woman in a law office?” He smiled and said, “You’ll never know until you’ve tried it!” Taking his advice, she broke the mold of an heir apparent’s always being a man.
Miss Alice has never flown in an airplane, but she recalls the day she first saw one. It was in 1920, when one of her schoolmates in the fourth grade came running into the classroom shouting and pointing out the window, “Somethin’ is flyin’ around out there!” The entire fourth grade rushed outside to view an airborne object which few, if any, of them had ever before seen – an airplane circling overhead.
Never married, Miss Alice makes her home in a modest brick house where she has lived since 1952. She is a voracious reader; almost every wall in her home is lined with book shelves. Her mind is razor sharp, and she often reads several books concurrently, both serious history and current bestsellers. As curious as she is about the world around her, these days Miss Alice is no traveler. She limits herself to trips along Alabama’s dusty country roads where she likes to explore small churches and to eat fried catfish and hush puppies in local Mom and Pop restaurants. Inheriting from her mother a love of puzzles, she still delights in attacking the New York Times Sunday crossword which a friend faxes to her every week.
Impeccably dressed each day in elegant, conservative skirts and jackets, Reebok sneakers being her only concession to informality and comfort, Miss Alice admits that she has no time for computers or cell phones. She also limits television viewing to sports programs where Alabama teams are playing. .
Even though she is known as a no-nonsense lawyer, humor seems to envelope almost everything Miss Alice does, even talking of death. Recently she and her pastor, the Reverend Butts, were discussing funeral arrangements. When she told him she wanted no eulogy, only the 23rd Psalm, the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction at her interment, he allowed as how, when the time came, he could do what he wanted since she would already be gone from this world. They both ended up having a hearty laugh.
Although today she considers herself a Republican and would never agree to being labeled a liberal, as she enters her second century of life, Miss Alice is the stuff that change is made of. Americans of all colors should salute her when she turns 100 on 9/11.

7 Things

2011-10-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of 7 facts about yours truly. Please make one of your own so that I can learn more about you.

1. I’m a Bible-believing, born-again Christian.
2. I’m a chocolate addict. Dangerously so.
3. Often enough I like animals better than I like people.
4. I don’t drive. I have never learned.
5. I’m an introvert and a loner.
6. I have never been kissed and I have never had a boyfriend.
7. I have a crush on a guy that I have never officially met, whose name I do not know. Until there is an introduction, I will continue to call him “Jacob.”

Anti- Semitism at Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

Please click on the link below. Very scary and very eye opening.

Anti- Semitism at Occupy Wall Street [Clean Version]

Can’t Think of a Title for This One Either

2011-09-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, here is another personal update on my so-called life.

The crazy neighbors are still up to their old tricks. The two dogs we were concerned about were dumped somewhere and thankfully they haven’t taken in any more (knock on wood) but now they are neglecting their poor pitbull Dallas. One morning, a couple of weeks ago, he was left out for four or five hours, without any water or food. No matter how many times we call on them, they don’t seem to get it that they are doing wrong. So please, still pray for this situation.

Jury duty was canceled, so I never did have to go. I think I have up to a year where they could call me up again. We’ll see. I was a little disappointed because I was getting psyched up for it, but my motives were all self-serving and its probably for the best that I didn’t go in.

Still working on my manuscript. It is about 500 words shy of being 75,000 words. I have read somewhere that from that point and on, a work of that length is considered a novel. So that’s good news. Another draft and it should be long enough to be officially novel length. So, yay! Right now my parents are in the midst of reading it. I want their thoughts, opinions and criticism, that way my WIP can be improved upon. I was raised listening to their stories about Indiana and the past, so it is only right that I have their input. I wish my grandparents were alive to read it. My story takes place in 1915, and three of my grandparents were born just after that. Well, I like to think that they’re looking down from heaven on us all and watching us live our lives. Anyway, while my parents are critiquing my WIP, I am about to start another draft on my 1840’s novel. Where the 1915 story is lighthearted and (hopefully) comedic, the 1840 story is a drama and far edgier.

I have yet to see “The Help” in theaters, so we will probably wait for it to come out on DVD. The book and movie has done so much for me. Not just creatively, but personally too. Growing up, the only stories I heard about the Civil Rights were that of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. I love hearing about Rosa Parks, but unfortunately I didn’t properly respect MLK. It was only this last year or so that I have grown to like MLK and appreciate all that he did. As a kid and teenager, I couldn’t see how making speeches, demonstrating or marching was effective. It is only as an adult I have realized that Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and every other brave soul of that era were staring death straight in the eye and didn’t blink once. “The Help” has increased my interest in the Civil Rights era and all that had occurred then, and opened my eyes to all of the injustices. God bless those brave men and women for taking a stand, and God bless Kathryn Stockett for her own inner courage.

My Diary from September 11th and 12th, 2001

2011-09-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

The following diary excerpts were written in my actual diary on September 11th and September 12th of 2001, when I was fourteen years old. Being homeschooled, I was writing about a few of the events as it transpired, therefore some of the information is incorrect. Individuals mentioned have had their names changed to protect their privacy but my very poor spelling has been retained. Also, the entries are written to Ana, which is what I named my diary at the time (as inspired from Anne Frank).

~*~
10:02am
9-11-2001
Dear Ana,
Two planes flew into the World Trade Center at 8:45am + 9:00. The World Trade Center collapsed not long ago. And a different plane flew into the Pentagon. Violence is everywhere! Is this the end times? Is Jesus coming back? Is there going to be war?
Dad is in Indianapolis. He is alright, so far.

Lord Help US! We need YOU!

More Later…

6:22pm
“We will not tolerate this!” That is what was said by several people. 4 planes were hijacked today. 50,000 people died. Our president was very angry. He is smarter than we give him credit for.
Will there be war? This is the second Pearl Harbor. Mom says this one is worse though. Tradgity is always horrible. I no longer feel safe. Will we be here tomorrow?
I haven’t been online all day. So I have no idea how my friends are. I pray they are all right. At 10:00 or 11:00pm I plan to go online and check everything out. I am going to be very busy.
At 7:30pm President Bush will announce what will happen next. So I might be able to write to you about what he says.
Just to think yesterday I had no worries, but now I am worried. Our lives were at steak 8:45am this morning. Thank you, Lord, you kept us safe.
And to think [Aunt] Stella is using this [an excuse] to stay with [her boyfriend] Henry. She claims that there are riots all over Terre Haute. If there are riots in this town, then I am Barbie Doll! And I am definitly not Barbie.

More Later…

10:23pm
Bush did not answer any of my questions. Why is this happening to us? We are America. I thought WW2 was the war to end all wars. But it seems more and more are happening. But why did this happen again? Didn’t we learn from Pearl Harbor? Bush knew. We were threatened by that Bin-Ladin guy.
Will we ever be safe again? Is this what people felt when Pearl Harbor was bombed? Will there be war? Will there be peace? What will happen tomorrow? God knows. And all my trust is with him.

9-12-2001
Dear Ana,
War. That’s what everyone is worried about. Kelsey, my internet friend, is worried all of her friends will be drafted. Its very patriotic of them to enlist. Is this WW3? I am almost certain that the Rapture is near. I just don’t feel it will happen now. I could be wrong.
Is this how Grandma felt [during Pearl Harbor]? I’m not as brave or smart as she is. How did she handle this? Well, first off she was several years older than I am. She was 23 and I am only 14½.
We’ll be all right. God will protect us. And if the Tribulation is near, then we will go to heaven.
I’ll never forget where I was when I first heard. I just got down watching “A Different World” and got up for something. Mom changed the channel and it had “Breaking News” on the screen. I saw the second plane crash into the building…
But I’ll never forget all that has happened.

Bits and Pieces of My Life

2011-08-09T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, time for the monthly update of my life. Everything has been so crazy lately that I haven’t been able to give proper attention to my blogs and my writing has suffered a bit too. I hope that in a couple of weeks that things might slow down… or maybe it won’t.

For the last two months or so, we have been feuding with are neighbors. We were actually quite close to them and if you had told me a year ago that we’d be up in arms, I wouldn’t have believed you. It began when the neighbor girls took in this German shepherd pup named Zooey. At first they treated it decently, but then they stumbled upon another puppy and Zooey was pushed aside. They stuck Zooey out in the backyard, in a pin, when it was like 90 degrees out. The poor thing knocked over her water dish, so her food; water and feces ran together. They ignored her and would make her stay out there for hours on end, at night too. When the girls went back to their dad’s house, their mother and stepfather left Zooey out on the front porch and rarely let her inside. Whenever someone on the block would leave in their car, she would chase after and risk being hit. Our house is just too full, or else we would have been more than willing to take her in. My family and I were going to take her to the humane shelter, thinking that she would be better off there than with these people. Then Zooey just disappeared, so we can only assume that they dumped her somewhere. When the girls came back from their dad’s, they were told that she had been stolen.

Since then we have withdrawn our friendship from them. I know that I am nobody’s judge, because I certainly make plenty of mistakes. I can put up with just about anything; loud music, parties, stolen parking places, shout-fests, foul lanuage, etc… but animal abuse is unacceptable. God may have given us dominion over the animal kingdom, but with that comes accountability. As God governs over us and shows us compassion, we must govern over the animals and show them compassion. Am I right?

Well, within the last two weeks, the neighbor girls have acquired two new little dogs. This is not counting that they already have a permanent family pet, a pit bull named Dallas. Dallas is constantly pushed aside and ignored. The poor thing adores this family (why, I have no idea), because it is the only real family he has ever known. Anyway, the two little dogs… one of them was shoved out in backyard at night (in that same pin), until my sister called the police complaining about the howls and cries. It was our only way to ensure that the animals would be brought inside. After two police visits, the dog was allowed inside. Now both little dogs are kept in a laundry room off by themselves and only taken out (like toys) when the girls feel in the mood to play with them. Last night the owner of the apartment visited and the little dogs were once more exiled to the backyard. A thunderstorm hit and they were naturally frightened. This time, however, my sister took pictures and called animal control. No results. Then this morning I called them and they actually came out.

Whether it makes a difference or not, I don’t know. What is sad to say is that no one else in the neighborhood seems to care.

Today in the mail I received a jury duty summons. Naturally I’m nervous, because I have never done it before. I don’t mind doing it; it’s a civic duty and a privilege, but still I am worried. I have chronic anxiety attacks. I’ve been doing well as of late, but I fear that this might be more than I can handle. Or maybe it’s the precise challenge that I need. If you all could pray for me, I’d be appreciative.

Tomorrow the movie “The Help” premieres. I want to see it so badly, but the movie theater is just so expensive these days, we can’t justify going. Alas, I must wait until it comes out on DVD. ::frowny face:: Oh well. I actually read the book (I rarely read recently published fiction anymore) and loved it. The author, Kathryn Stockett’s story is so inspiring. She was rejected sixty-some times before she found an agent. That is some definite perseverance. I surf the net scrounging for information on her and the book, and the new book that she is working on. Her current WIP is set in the south during the Great Depression. I hope that she continues and doesn’t do what Harper Lee did and disappear. If only there were more authors out there like Harper Lee and Kathryn Stockett.

I have been slowly, but surely revising my novella. Last week I didn’t do any writing, but today for some reason I felt like I could. The cobwebs of my mind have been brushed away and I can now function creatively.

All for now.

Desecration of Ponar Memorial to Shoah Victims

2011-07-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

Original Article

Jerusalem-The Simon Wiesenthal Center today harshly criticized the Lithuanian government for trying to hide or minimize the highly-significant role of local Nazi collaborators in Holocaust crimes and attributed last weekend’s desecration of the memorial at Ponar, the site of the mass murder of 70,000 Jews during the Holocaust, to the falsification of World War II history by local historians with governmental sponsorship and support.
In a statement issued here today by its chief Nazi-hunter, Israel director Dr. Efraim Zuroff, the Center pointed to the denial at a recent international conference sponsored by the government at the Seimas [Lithuanian Parliament] of the lethal violence launched by Lithuanians against Jews in at least 40 different locations before the arrival of Nazi troops, as an example of the continuing efforts by the authorities to try and conceal the active participation by Lithuanians in the mass
murder of Jews during World War II.

According to Zuroff:
“The ongoing government-sponsored and financed distortion, minimization, and downplaying of the critical role played by Lithuanian Nazi collaborators in Holocaust crimes has created an anti-Semitic atmosphere in which slogans such as “Hitler was right,” which was scrawled on the Ponar memorial, seem natural. After all, if as was claimed at the recent historical conference held at the Seimas, Jewish historians such as eminent Hebrew University professor Dov Levin purposely lied about the scope of Lithuanian criminality during the Shoa, such desecrations of Holocaust memorials become almost understandable. The time has come for the European Union to make clear to the Lithuanian authorities that membership obligates them to refrain from distorting the history of World War II for political reasons and to stop the resultant incitement against the local Jewish community.

Helpful Advice

2011-07-07T08:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I received extensive advice from one of the agents that I had submitted my novella to. To start with, she suggested that I organize my story into a manuscript format. I had no idea what she meant and with much patience she sent me an example of what my story should look like. After I followed her advice and sent it to her once more, she gave me some positive feedback. My little novella is not quite ready and needs some polishing and she offered me some pointers.

Upon hearing that, I was crestfallen. No, I was downright angry. For an hour I stewed and came to the realization that she was absolutely right. I re-read her e-mail several times and noticed that she had complemented my novella and encouraged me to do some revisions. For the most part, it shouldn’t be too difficult. My main concern is the “showing” versus “telling.” I detest flowery, useless description that has little or no information and doesn’t pertain to the plot at all. I prefer to be to the point. Despite my concerns about this, I am willing to give it a try. What do I have to lose? I suppose I fear that no matter how many revisions that I do that it will never been good enough.

Well, I guess if I have come this far, I can eventually reach my goal. So, I am going to do some more revisions and maybe by the beginning of next year it will be ready.

The Blog Entry without a Title

2011-06-15T10:04:00.001-07:00

I finished the first draft of my newest novel. Whenever I complete a first draft on anything, I allow myself a week’s vacation to rejuvenate. This time I am giving myself two weeks. Originally when I conceived this story, it was to be something simple and nothing complicated. But now I have gone and fallen in love with it and it is becoming epic to me. The topic is not commonly covered, at least not in the Christian market. Oh, it has been touched on, but not they way I am doing it. I fear that the heroine might be considered too feministic, but I can’t have her any other way. My heroine must remain strong, independent and intelligent. I can’t dumb her down and make her weak to mold her into one of those cookie-cutter heroines. I can only hope that once I’m finished with the novel that someone might see how true to life it is.

While I’m on this little break, I am trying something new. Throughout all of my endeavors to be published, family and friends alike have advised me to write some smaller pieces for Guidepost or Reader’s Digest. I’m actually going to try that. I wrote what amounts to a little more than a page about my paternal grandmother.

So my fingers are crossed. Wish me luck!

Mission of Mercy?

2011-06-10T14:20:00.000-07:00

Original Article Here.

By Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

A little over a year ago, a fleet of six ships sailed toward the Gaza Strip. The so-called "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" included members of the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) — self described "peaceful activists" — who were challenging Israel's blockade of the region that guards against the infiltration of terrorists and weapons into Gaza.

When Israeli authorities, in full accordance with international law, requested to inspect the ships and deliver any humanitarian items on board through established checkpoints, the crew on the largest ship, the Mavi Marmara, attacked the soldiers with metal pipes, knives, bats, and a gun. Seven IDF soldiers were injured as well. The "peaceful activists" were not so peaceful after all. In the process of defending themselves, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers killed nine IHH members.

Flotilla organizers immediately dubbed the event the "Mavi Marmara massacre." International media covered the incident extensively, often portraying the activists as compassionate heroes and martyrs, and Israel as the cruel oppressor despite the fact that the IHH has known ties to terrorist groups like Hamas.

Not surprisingly, it's happening again. Members of the IHH are planning a fifteen-ship flotilla with 1,500 activists from 120 countries to set sail later this month. Though the organization is again claiming peaceful intentions, recent statements from IHH officials are ominous: "We have many surprises in store," one promised. Another, speaking more clearly, declared, ""Even if we sacrifice shahids (martyrs) for this cause, we will be on the side of justice."

Since the flotilla organizers claim only to be offering much-needed humanitarian aid, we might well ask: What is the scale of humanitarian need in Gaza? Last April, one Red Cross official in the region stated emphatically, "There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. If you go to the supermarket, there are products. There are restaurants and a nice beach." In the wake of the flotilla last year, Israel which has consistently allowed food, medicine, and other essentials into Gaza — even eased up on its blockade. In the past month, Egypt opened up the Rafah crossing, allowing people and products to flow more easily into Gaza.

The flotilla organizers' contention that Gaza's population is starving, held captive to "Israel's illegal stranglehold" on the region is, plainly and simply, a lie. The flotilla is nothing more than a provocation meant to challenge Israel's sovereignty, a cynical public relations ploy meant to sway world opinion against Israel. Indeed, the flotilla organizers have shrewdly calculated that any attempt by Israel to defend herself and protect her borders will be judged harshly in the media and world governing bodies like the U.N., and that the publicity generated by events such as Israel's wholly legitimate boarding of the Mavi Marmara will have negative effects that will resonate for months, even years to come.

Still, we must hope for the best as Israel faces yet another challenge to its security. The Bible says, "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment" (Proverbs 12:19). Let us pray that the true intentions of the flotilla organizers, and indeed of all those who actively attempt to delegitimize and compromise the security of the Jewish state, will be revealed. Let us pray for the safety of the IDF soldiers who put themselves in harm's way protecting the country they love. And let us pray for the day when God will bless the entire world with his most precious gift of shalom, peace.

With prayers for shalom, peace.

“Foreskin Man” brings anti-Semitic imagery into circumcision fight

2011-06-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

Original Article Here /

Posted by Jonah Lowenfeld
The backers of a ballot initiative in San Francisco aiming to ban circumcision in that city have consistently maintained that their efforts are not anti-Semitic.
But the “Foreskin Man” comic book, which was written and edited in 2010 by the founder of a San Diego group supporting efforts to ban circumcision in San Francisco and Santa Monica, gives further credence to the accusation that so-called intactivists are in fact motivated by anti-Semitism.
“The imagery in ‘Foreskin Man’ is functionally Anti-Semitic,” Abby Michelson Porth, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), said. “The motives of the proponents of this ban are questionable given their direct connection with “Foreskin Man.”
The story told in the second issue of “Foreskin Man,” which is available on its website, centers on the story of Sarah and Jethro Glick and their newborn son. Sarah thought that she and her husband had agreed not to circumcise their son, but Jethro had other plans. He secretly invited the villain, “Monster Mohel,” to circumcise “little Glick.”
On the website foreskinman.com, Monster Mohel, a bearded man with a black hat on his head and a tallis around his neck, is described this way: “Nothing excites Monster Mohel more than cutting into the penile flesh of an eight-day-old infant boy.”
Last month, San Francisco city officials announced that the backers of an initiative to prohibit circumcision in the city had collected enough signatures to put the measure to voters in November 2011.
Lloyd Schofield is the official backer of the San Francisco initiative, which uses text from the groupMGMbill.org, a San Diego-based group established by Matthew Hess. Hess is credited alongside the comic book’s illustrator and colorist on the comic’s website.
In response to a question about his motivations, Hess said that he and his supporters are, first and foremost, human rights activists.
“We do what we do because we strongly believe that no one has the right to cut off part of another person’s body without their consent,” Hess wrote in an email. “We believe that amputating part of a boy’s penis is no different in principle than amputating part of a girl’s vulva. If you ask any activist in Africa why she is trying to stop the practice of female genital mutilation, I suspect that her answers would be very similar to ours.”
Writing on May 31, before the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the comic book existence, Hess addressed those who accuse him of being motivated by anti-Semitism.
“As far as the anti-Semitism charge, I might understand such an accusation if our proposed legislation applied to everyone except Jews. That would be like saying we care about all boys except the Jewish ones,” Hess wrote.
The JCRC is leading the fight against the initiative in San Francisco and has assembled a coalition of HIV researchers, medical authorities, civic leaders, and clergy from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities to support their efforts.
The second issue of “Foreskin Man” depicts Monster Mohel as a dark-haired, wild-eyed man toting glistening scissors. Foreskin Man is a blond-haired muscle-bound superhero, complete with a cape.

Ban on Male Circumcision Proposed in California City

2011-06-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Ban on Male Circumcision

Santa Monica – Residents in Santa Monica, CA may be voting on a new ballot initiative in 2012. The group, MGM Bill has a proposal that would make it a a misdemeanor to circumcise a male before age 18. Female circumcision, or also called female genital mutilation, is already outlawed in California and the U.S.

Jena Troutman, a spokeswoman for the group MGM Bill and founder of the website wholebabyrevolution.com, says males should get the same protection from genital mutilation as females. She notes that the bill they are proposing is identical to one that already prohibits female genital mutilation.

The proposal contains no religious exemptions and has raised questions regarding a possible First Amendment violation.

Peter Eliasberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the measure might pass a First Amendment challenge. "If there is some support [among medical doctors or psychologists] for the idea that circumcision hurts children, the government could do this," he said.

However, David David Lahrer, a Jewish leader, told the Los Angeles Times in an article published Tuesday that the proposal “takes the notion of the mommy state to a ridiculous extreme.” He even stated that “it probably touches on being anti-Semitic.”

But Troutman takes the constitutional argument in a different direction stating that it’s an issue of equal protection as stated in the 14th Amendment.
“This bill is identical to a female genital mutilation bill that has already passed,” Troutman told Foxnews.com.

But Lahrer says that it is "idiotic" to compare circumcision to female genital mutilation.
Whether Santa Monica voters get their say on the measure or not, the campaign has already sparked heated debate.

“We just need 6,000 signatures. We are very optimistic," Troutman said confidently. "The whole baby revolution is sweeping the nation, and I’m trying to educate parents.”

__________
Personal Opinion:

I find it ironic that these are the same people who are okay with abortion. They want to protect a baby, just as long as its not in the womb.

First They Came for the Jews

2011-06-02T05:38:00.000-07:00

by Martin Niemoller

First they came for the Jews,
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

10 Pieces of Advice to Be Passed on to All Women

2011-05-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

Note: I didn't write this. This came from a forward that I received.

1. Don't imagine you can change a man - unless he's in nappies.

2. What do you do if your boyfriend walks out? You shut the door.

3. If they put a man on the moon - they should be able to put them all up there.

4. Go for the younger man. You might as well, they never mature anyway.

5. Men are all the same - they just have different faces, so we can tell them apart.

6. Best way to get a man to do something is to suggest he is too old for it.

7. Love is blind, but marriage is a real eye-opener.

8. The children of Israel wandered around the desert for 40 years. Even in Biblical times, men wouldn't ask for directions.

9. If he asks what sort of books you're interested in, tell him cheque books.

10. Remember a sense of humour does not mean that you tell him jokes, it means that you laugh at his.

Confessions of a Holocaust Addict

2011-05-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a fascination with a subject or a person that wholly consumes you until you don’t know where you begin and it ends? Mine is the Holocaust. It is perhaps one of the darkest periods in the history of mankind and I am obsessed with it. I can’t explain why. Its not like I have a personal connection to it. No one in my family suffered through it nor do I have any friends who were survivors of it. But every since I read Anne Frank’s diary, I can’t stop myself from studying it. Oh, I have gone months and years without reading about it, but then I encounter a story or learn about a person who lived in during that hell, and I’m diving back in.

Moderation is the key with any interest or hobby. Unfortunately that isn’t the case with my fascination. I can read on average five books on the Holocaust every week, and watch two movies or documentaries as well. That doesn’t count the Internet research that I do. By three months end, I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. For three months I recuperate and then when I’m feeling good and refreshed again, I fall into the same cycle.

Last week some time I realized that I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m tired of the vicious cycle that I fall into. I need a break and I mean a real break. I may read a book here and there and if a new movie comes out, I’ll have to watch it. But I don’t intend to do any serious studying on the Holocaust for a few years- like at least five. Maybe by then I will remember why I started studying it in the first place. Sometimes I forget that the Holocaust just isn’t a subject to read about- it is about individuals like Anne Frank, Oskar Schindler, Sophie Scholl, Irena Sendler, Eva Mozes-Kor, Eli Weisel, Simon Wiesenthal, etc.

I had planned on dedicating this month's blog posts to lesser-known stories about the Holocaust, but I just can’t do it now. Maybe later on this year or next year sometime.

Thank you for reading my thoughts.

“My Brilliant Career,” by Miles Franklin: A Forgotten Classic

2011-04-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Rating: Five Stars

Author Bio:
Miles Franklin (born "Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin"; 14 October 1879 – 19 September 1954) was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her autobiographical novel, “My Brilliant Career,” published in 1901. While she wrote throughout her life, her other major literary success, “All That Swagger,” was not published until 1936. She was committed to the development of a uniquely Australian form of literature, and she actively pursued this goal by supporting writers, literary journals, and writers' organizations. She has had a long-lasting impact on Australian literary life through her endowment of a major literary award known as the Miles Franklin Award.

Book Description:
Strong-headed, competent Sybylla has lived her sixteen years in and out of poverty in the Australian outback. She happily remembers her early years, including her mother's concern that she is too much of a tomboy and her father's response that "the curse of her sex will bother her soon enough." When she is ten, Sybylla's life changes drastically as her family moves, her father's businesses fail, and years of drought blight their land: "We felt the full force of the heavy hand of poverty...the wounded pride and humiliation which attacked us." At fifteen, with no visions of escape from her difficult life, Sybylla is invited to her grandmother's estate and there tastes some of the pleasures she longs for - music, books, art. She also falls in love and feels the joy and sorrow love can bring. Sybylla provides a vivid recollection of youth as she fights the conventions of her time and pays a high price to be true to her heart.

My Thoughts:
I read “My Brilliant Career,” last Christmas and fell madly in love with the story. In those days girls and women had no other aspirations than to marry and beget children. Yet here is Sybylla Melvin, a spirited girl who knows her own mind and what she wants out of life. There is no sex or anything foul in the book. At one point Sybylla does slap Harry for trying to kiss her, but that is the only “violence” that comes to mind. Mrs. Melvin (Sybylla’s mother) is, I think, jealous of Sybilla and all of her talents, therefore she mistreats her daughter and has no qualms about sending her off, even if it does break her daughter’s heart. Sybylla does not have a good opinion of religion. Mrs. Melvin constantly uses religion to force her daughter into submission, therefore Sybylla is averse to anything religious (not that I can blame her).
I wish I had read this book years earlier. It is so fantastic. There is a sequel, called “My Career Goes Bung” (a.k.a. “The End of My Career”) and though it is great, it in no way compares with the original.

The Movie:
I first discovered the book, “My Brilliant Career” by hearing about the movie by the same name. Gillian Armstrong is an Australian director of period movies and she is the one who directed my favorite version of “Little Women” (Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Surrandon). Well, long before she tackled “Little Women,” her directorial debut came when she did “My Brilliant Career” in 1979. Sybylla is portrayed by Judy Davis (“Me and My Shadows: Life with Judy Garland”), and a very young and handsome Sam Neill (“Jurassic Park” and “Merlin”). The movie is as magical as the book and just as enjoyable. The only draw back, in my opinion, is when Sybylla verbally curses God. It is brief and though it offended me, I can understand her frustration at the moment. Aside from that, there is nothing else to be wary of. Except when Sybylla slaps Harry; there is a little blood. If you can look beyond those two points and like period dramas and a strong heroine, then this is the movie (and book) for you.

Blah-Blah About My So-Called Career

2011-04-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

Well, within the last month or so I have queried four agents. No response, except one of them did promise to review my proposal. So that is something. I haven’t been out and out rejected so I guess anything could happen. I do worry that with the economy as it is, that agents may be wary of taking on new clients and the publishers will not be as open to unpublished authors. I can only hope that someone will see something in this novella and believe it is worthy of seeing the light of day.

This novella isn’t like most of what is out there. That can be both good and bad, I guess. Good, that it is unique. Bad, that it may not be what an audience is accustomed to. It is nothing epic or outstanding. The description isn’t flowery or lengthy and the dialog isn’t anything remarkable. There are no villains, evil or hatred to overcome or great moral lessons to learn. The best way I can describe it is that it’s a simple, little historical romance based in 1915 and set in a tiny town in Indiana. The Christian market has published thousands of books exactly like this, so I originally thought it would fit right in. I still think it would; only now I see it is not going to be as easy as I had assumed. Well, when you assume, you make an a-- out of you and me. I am so good at doing that.

I suppose a month is nothing and that I ought to be patient. In the meantime, the current story I am working on is going well. I completed chapter six the other day. I average about two chapters a week. I’m not like most authors who can write for eight-hour days. Four hours is my maximum. There are other things that I must do during the day, so my life doesn’t revolve around writing.

That is all that is going on in regards to my career. Ta-ta!

The Haircut

2011-03-30T05:15:00.000-07:00

Note: I received this forward from a friend. I did not write it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it.

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut.

After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, "I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week."
The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a "Thank you" card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, "I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week." The cop was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a "Thank you" card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, "I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week." The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut!!!

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Both politicians and diapers need to be changed often and for the same reason!

A New Friend

2011-03-14T16:56:00.001-07:00

For the last few months, I have been in charge of making the snacks for AWANA. At last I have found my niche. For little more than a year, I tried to work with the children by helping them memorize their verses. I make a horrible teacher. The kids stare at me like I’m not making myself clear and they never learn what they’re supposed to. I’m glad to be working more behind the scenes and with food…I like food. Though I do well in the kitchen, I was not originally in charge. I was just a helper, but as of late I’ve taken on this small responsibility. It’s been good for me though. It takes me out of my little comfort zone.

Another person working in the kitchen is Jo, a very fine and amazing lady in her mid-eighties. I have worked with her before in VBS, but in the last year I think we have really clicked. We talk about all sorts of things, especially of the past. At one point I learned that she attended the same church that my family attended in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Then she revealed something that really through me for a loop.

Jo said that in the 1950’s she had known my Grandma and they had been friends. That may not be a big deal to you, dear reader, but it really affected me. Jo reminds me of my Grandma quite a bit and I truly enjoy working with her. I don’t mean to imply that Jo has replaced my Grandma; no one could replace my Grandma. Grandma was my friend, mentor and confidant. But it’s nice to be around someone of that era.

I’m glad to have a new friend. I have longed to have someone else to talk to and I’m thankful to God for sending Jo into my life.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2011-03-10T04:25:00.001-08:00

I ought to update this blog more often. I have been busy, but not so much so that I can’t take ten minutes to write a blog entry.

I have submitted a query to an agent that I have yet to hear back from. I suppose that no news is good news. Had she not been interested, she would have sent a rejection right away. Either that or the e-mail was lost or disregarded altogether. Anyway, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The wait is excruciating and has me imagining all kinds of things, both good and bad. I don’t want to set my hopes too high for fear they will come crashing down around me. I should send out some more queries, but I would really like to hear from this particular agent first. She is…unconventional. And I rather like unconventional.

While I am trying to market my finished novella, I am beginning on a new novel. This one is to be a drama, set in my beloved Indiana, primarily in 1840. I am excited. It was inspired by a subplot and two secondary characters in a novel that has already been published. Sometimes when I read a novel, I find the secondary characters far more appealing than the actual hero and heroine.

Crazy

2011-02-11T04:49:00.000-08:00

Life has been crazy for me lately. Dealt with some hard, unfair stuff and to be honest I’m not at all satisfied with how I handled it. It was one of those situations where no matter what you do there is no right answer. I just hope it’s over. I know, I’m talking in circles. I’ll move on.

I think I have my novella completed. It isn’t anything epic or fantastic. It is a small, simple story based in my home state, set in an obscure town. In a sense I’m a little bit proud of it, but I truly wish my debut work could be epic. I have epic ideas for future projects, but I just can’t tackle those right now. They’re too emotionally demanding for me. I need to write simple things for a little while.

With the completion of this story, I have had a resurgence in regards to my anxiety attacks. It is coming to the point where I can look for an agent and that overwhelms me. The last time I sent off work to be considered, the topic of my book was so epic and great that I hid behind it. I had thought that the agents would be shocked and awed by the subject matter that they would overlook my inexperience. Though my current project is smaller, it unveils little pieces of my soul.

Well, whatever happens, I will persevere.

Writes of Passage

2011-01-10T10:59:00.000-08:00

Last spring I set my epic novel on the shelf and started on two new ones, one small and one big. As it turns out the bigger one requires much more research so it must be set aside for the time being. Now I am pursuing the smaller story. At times it frustrates me. Though I generally write pieces of work that feature a romance, I would not classify myself as a romance novelist. In all honesty, I know nothing about romance and would rather tackle something a bit more challenging. And yet that is precisely the kind of story I am working on. A Christian historical romance to be exact. I have set it in my own beloved state and attempted to add some comedic elements to it. This is probably the first novel I have ever written that actually has a shot at getting published. As of late, this is what the Christian market specializes in.

Underneath all of my optimism lies a layer of insecurities. I have approached agents for representation and publishers for publication and the end result was the same: rejection. Of course the two stories I had advertised were epic novels and this one is not so epic. It’s a simplistic little novella based in a fictional town in pre-WWI Indiana. There is nothing scandalous or shocking in it and even if it is published it will probably be soon forgotten as these sorts of stories usually are.

Even if rejection is all I will ever know in my career as an author, I have to pursue my dream. It’s a compulsion for me.

I. Must. Write.

I know not how to do anything else. It is both my passion and obsession.

Books of 2010

2011-01-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

I stole this from another blogger.

1. Best book of 2010?
Christian Fiction: "Joshua," by Joseph Girzone. Its not a new one, but its a great one.

Secular Fiction: "My Brilliant Career," by Miles Franklin. Like, WOW!

2. Worst book of 2010?
"The Courteous Cad." It was a big let down.

3. Most Disappointing Book of 2010?
"Wild Flowers for Terezin."

4. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2010?
"To Kill a Mockingbird," by the prolific Harper Lee. I had tried to read it years ago and couldn't get into it. I could rave on and on about this one.

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010?
"The Shack," by William P. Young. I actually read it in 2009, but I just can't get over it. It was so dynamic and it really revolutionized by outlook on God.

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?
I can't really think of any off the top of my head.

7. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2010?
Miles Franklin, Jean Webster, Harper Lee, Fanny Burney, Hannah Senesh... the list goes on.

8. Most hilarious read of 2010?
I rarely come across comedic books anymore. The last one that I read that was funny was Elizabeth Gaskell's "Wives and Daughters."

9. Most thrilling, irrestable book in 2010?
"Bonhoeffer," by Eric Metaxas.

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?
"Wildflowers at Terezin."

11. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2010?
"To Kill a Mockingbird."

12. Most memorable character in 2010?
Scout Finch.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010?
"To Kill a Mockingbird."

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010?
"Joshua," by Joseph Girzone. It was a simple book that relayed an amazing story.

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2010 to finally read?
Both "Joshua" and "To Kill a Mockingbird." I had picked up both of them before but was highly offended by the curse word I stumbled on in "Joshua" (what a little prig I was). And "To Kill a Mockingbird" just didn't hook me the first time.

The Night God Came to Dinner

2010-12-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

Adapted from a story by Rod Ohira

Fritz Vincken owns a bakery just outside of downtown Honolulu. He dispenses warmth and a smile along with hot buns and fresh bread to his loyal customers. Fritz has lived in the Hawaiian islands for many years now, and when he first arrived he was enchanted by the kindness and goodwill of the Islands' people. When asked, however, he admits that for him, the ideal of aloha was first learned long ago - when he was a lad of twelve.

The setting was on the other side of the world from Hawai'i, on a harsh winter night in the Ardennes Forest near the German-Belgian border. It was December, and two months had passed since Hubert Vincken brought his wife and his son Fritz to a small cottage in the Ardennes Forest for their safety. The family's home and its eighty-eight-year-old bakery in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle) had been destroyed in a bombing raid.

"We were isolated," Fritz recalled. "Every three or four days, my father would ride out from town on his bicycle to bring us food. When the snow came, he had to stop." His mother was concerned that their food was in very short supply, as the war seemed to be moving closer to their cottage of refuge.

By late December the cottage was no longer out of harm's way. German troops surprised and overwhelmed the Allies on December 16, turning the Ardennes Forest into a killing field.

On Christmas Eve, Elisabeth and Fritz tried to block out the distant sound of gunfire as they sat down to their supper of oatmeal and potatoes.

"At that moment, I heard human voices outside, speaking quietly," Fritz remembered. "Mother blew out the little candle on the table and we waited in fearful silence.

"There was a knock at the door. Then another. When my mother opened the door, two men were standing outside. They spoke a strange language and pointed to a third man sitting in the snow with a bullet wound in his upper leg. We knew they were American soldiers. They were cold and weary.

"I was frightened and wondered what in the world my mother would do. She hesitated for a moment. Then she motioned the soldiers into the cottage, turned to me and said, 'Get six more potatoes from the shed.'"

Elisabeth and one of the American soldiers were able to converse in French, and from him they learned news about the German offensive. The soldier and his comrades had become separated from their battalion and had wandered for three days in the snowy Ardennes Forest, hiding from the Germans. Hungry and exhausted, they were so grateful for this stranger's kindness.

A short time later that evening, four more tired soldiers came to the cottage. However, these men were German.

"Now I was almost paralyzed with fear," Fritz recalled. "While I stood and stared in disbelief, my mother took the situation into her hands. I had always looked up to my mother and was proud to be her son. But in the moments that followed, she became my hero."

"Frohliche Weihnachten," Elisabeth said to the German soldiers, wishing them Merry Christmas. She then invited them to dinner.

But before allowing them in, Elisabeth informed them she had other guests inside that they might not consider as friends.

"She reminded them that it was Christmas Eve," Fritz said, "and told them sternly there would be no shooting around here." These soldiers, still mere boys, listened respectfully to this kind and mature woman.

The German soldiers agreed to store their weapons in the shed. Elisabeth then quickly went inside to collect the weapons from the American soldiers and locked them up securely.

"At first, it was very tense," Fritz said.

Two of the German soldiers were about sixteen years old and another was a medical student who spoke some English. Although there was little food to offer, Elisabeth knew that everyone must be very hungry. She sent Fritz outside to fetch the rooster he had captured several weeks earlier.

"When I returned," Fritz recalled, "the German medical student was looking after the wounded American, assuring him that the cold had prevented infection.

"The tension among them gradually disappeared. One of the Germans offered a loaf of rye bread, and one of the Americans presented instant coffee to share. By then the men were eager to eat, and Mother beckoned them to the table. We all were seated as she said grace.

"'Komm, Herr Jesus,'" she prayed, 'and be our guest.'

"There were tears in her eyes," Fritz said, "and as I looked around the table, I saw that the battle-weary soldiers were filled with emotion. Their thoughts seemed to be many, many miles away.

"Now they were boys again, some from America, some from Germany, all far from home."

Soon after dinner, the soldiers fell asleep in their heavy coats. The next morning, they exchanged Christmas greetings and everyone helped make a stretcher for the wounded American.

"The German soldiers then advised the Americans how to find their unit," Fritz said. "My mother gave the men back their weapons and said she would pray for their safety. At that moment, she had become a mother to them all. She asked them to be very careful and told them, 'I hope someday you will return home safely to where you belong. May God bless and watch over you.'"

The soldiers shook hands and marched off in opposite directions. It was the last time Fritz or his mother would ever see any of them.

Throughout her life, Elisabeth Vincken would often say, "God was at our table" when she talked of that night in the forest.

Fritz eventually came to live in Hawaii and continued to carry this childhood lesson of brotherhood in his heart. He realized that being kind to one another and seeing beyond differences is a un iversal value, but he was surprised to discover that Hawai'i actually had a word for this ideal - aloha. When he thinks of aloha, he remembers that night long ago when everyone was welcome at the table.

~*~*~*~*~*~
For a theatrical version of this story, watch the Hallmark movie "Silent Night" with Linda Hamilton, who portrays Elisabeth Vincken.

The Gold and Ivory Tablecloth (aka "The Holocaust Tablecloth")

2010-12-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

by Howard C. Schade

At Christmas time men and women everywhere gather in their churches to wonder anew at the greatest miracle the world has ever known. But the story I like best to recall was not a miracle -- not exactly. It happened to a pastor who was very young. His church was very old.
Once, long ago, it had flourished. Famous men had preached from its pulpit, prayed before its altar. Rich and poor alike had worshipped there and built it beautifully. Now the good days had passed from the section of town where it stood. But the pastor and his young wife believed in their run-down church. They felt that with paint, hammer, and faith they could get it in shape. Together they went to work.

But late in December a severe storm whipped through the river valley, and the worst blow fell on the little church -- a huge chunk of rain-soaked plaster fell out of the inside wall just behind the altar.
Sorrowfully the pastor and his wife swept away the mess, but they couldn't hide the ragged hole.

The pastor looked at it and had to remind himself quickly, "Thy will be done!" But his wife wept, "Christmas is only two days away!"

That afternoon the dispirited couple attended the auction held for the benefit of a youth group. The auctioneer opened a box and shook out of its folds a handsome gold and ivory lace tablecloth. It was a magnificent item, nearly 15 feet long. but it, too, dated from a long vanished era. Who, today, had any use for such a thing? There were a few halfhearted bids. Then the pastor was seized with what he thought was a great idea.

He bid it in for $6.50.

He carried the cloth back to the church and tacked it up on the wall behind the altar. It completely hid the hole! And the extraordinary beauty of its shimmering handwork cast a fine, holiday glow over the chancel. It was a great triumph. Happily he went back to preparing his Christmas sermon.

Just before noon on the day of Christmas Eve, as the pastor was opening the church, he noticed a woman standing in the cold at the bus stop. "The bus won't be here for 40 minutes!" he called, and invited her into the church to get warm.

She told him that she had come from the city that morning to be interviewed for a job as governess to the children of one of the wealthy families in town but she had been turned down. A war refugee, her English was imperfect.

The woman sat down in a pew and chafed her hands and rested. After a while she dropped her head and prayed. She looked up as the pastor began to adjust the great gold and ivory cloth across the hole. She rose suddenly and walked up the steps of the chancel. She looked at the tablecloth. The pastor smiled and started to tell her about the storm damage, but she didn't seem to listen. She took up a fold of the cloth and rubbed it between her fingers.

"It is mine!" she said. "It is my banquet cloth!" She lifted up a corner and showed the surprised pastor that there were initials monogrammed on it. "My husband had the cloth made especially for me in Brussels! There could not be another like it."

For the next few minutes the woman and the pastor talked excitedly together. She explained that she was Viennese; that she and her husband had opposed the Nazis and decided to leave the country. They were advised to go separately. Her husband put her on a train for Switzerland. They planned that he would join her as soon as he could arrange to ship their household goods across the border. She never saw him again. Later she heard that he had died in a concentration camp.

"I have always felt that it was my fault -- to leave without him," she said. "Perhaps these years of wandering have been my punishment!" The pastor tried to comfort her and urged her to take the cloth with her.
She refused. Then she went away.

As the church began to fill on Christmas Eve, it was clear that the cloth was going to be a great success. It had been skillfully designed to look its best by candlelight.

After the service, the pastor stood at the doorway. Many people told him that the church looked beautiful. One gentle-faced middle-aged man -- he was the local clock-and-watch repairman -- looked rather puzzled.

"It is strange," he said in his soft accent. "Many years ago my wife - God rest her -- and I owned such a cloth. In our home in Vienna, my wife put it on the table" -- and here he smiled -- "only when the bishop came to dinner."

The pastor suddenly became very excited. He told the jeweler about the woman who had been in church earlier that day. The startled jeweler clutched the pastor's arm. "Can it be? Does she live?"

Together the two got in touch with the family who had interviewed her. Then, in the pastor's car they started for the city. And as Christmas Day was born, this man and his wife, who had been separated through so many saddened Yule tides, were reunited.

To all who hear this story, the joyful purpose of the storm that had knocked a hole in the wall of the church was now quite clear. Of course, people said it was a miracle, but I think you will agree it was the season for it!

True love seems to find a way.

This Should Offend Everyone

2010-12-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

There were 3 good arguments that Jesus was Black.
1. He called everyone brother
2. He liked Gospel
3.He didn't get a fair trial

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Jewish.
1. He went into His Father's business
2. He lived at home until he was 33
3. He was sure his Mother was a virgin and his Mother was sure He was God

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Italian.
1. He talked with His hands
2. He had wine with His meals
3. He used olive oil

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was a Californian.
1. He never cut His hair
2. He walked around barefoot all the time
3. He started a new religion

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was an American Indian.
1. He was at peace with nature
2. He ate a lot of fish
3. He talked about the Great Spirit

But then there were 3 equally good arguments that Jesus was Irish.
1. He never got married..
2. He was always telling stories.
3. He loved green pastures..

But the most compelling evidence of all ~3 proofs that Jesus was a Woman.
1. He fed a crowd at a moment's notice when there was virtually no food
2. He kept trying to get a message across to a bunch of men who just didn't get it
3. And even when He was dead, He had to get up because there was still work to do

Can I get an AMEN!?!

Random Chanukah Thoughts

2010-12-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

I wish that I could celebrate Chanukah, and other Jewish holidays too. I suppose that there is nothing really preventing me from doing it except my own ignorance of the holiday and laziness. Despite my belief that we have Jewish heritage, we’re Protestant and have never observed the holiday. I know some about it but not nearly enough to celebrate it properly. There is a Messianic Synagogue in town and we have attended it and could probably celebrate it with them, but the last few Saturdays have been too hectic to visit.

Thanks to my Mom, I first learned about Chanukah when I was a teenager. She had heard about it from my Grandma. Actually, the word “Chanukah” wasn’t mentioned at all; we called it the story of the Maccabees. Where Grandma picked up the story of the Maccabees, I don’t know, but early on in my parents’ marriage, she shared the story with my Mom. Then later on Mom passed it on down to me. When I started doing research about Judaism I learned that Chanukah was the result of the Maccabees. Not only that, I discovered that Chanukah was not the Jewish version of Christmas, as I had thought. It was a holiday that proceeded Christmas by several hundred years.

I wish my church, and all Christian denominations, observed Chanukah and the other Jewish holidays. I mean there is more of a Scriptural basis for the Jewish holidays than there are for the Christian ones. Jesus really wasn’t born on December 25; the 25th was originally a pagan holiday and the early church replaced that holiday with “Jesus’ birthday.” Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and I do my best to remember Christ at this time of year. But I think adding Chanukah and the other Jewish holidays to our “Christian” calendar would increase our understanding of the Bible and the Jewish roots of our religion.

Whenever I study about Judaism, I feel closer to Christ. He was a Jew; He celebrated Chanukah, Purim, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, etc. I think Chanukah ought to be as respected and as valued as Christmas. Whenever I spot a menorah in someone’s window, I think “right on.” It’s something to be proud of and I wish that I could share in that pride.

Oh well, maybe we can celebrate it next year. Have a Happy Chanukah!

What are you thankful for this year?

2010-11-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for my family and for being close to them. So many people my age aren't close to their parents or siblings, and I am. Several years ago God surely worked a miracle in our family and we have been close ever since.

Your turn? What are you thankful for?

Priceless Cheesecake

2010-11-09T04:21:00.000-08:00

Meandering through BooksAMillion, I pick up several items in consideration of purchasing them. At last I buy them and then treat my Dad to doublefudge cheesecake at Joe Mugs, the little coffee shop adjacent to the bookstore. Here is a list of the items that I bought with the approximate costs, tax included.

A present for my sister’s birthday = $15.00
A “Gone With the Wind” Calender for my secret pal = $16.00
“Failure to Launch” DVD = $7.00
“The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” by Anne Bronte = $6.00

And the cheesecake with my Dad = Priceless.

New Layout!

2010-11-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

Hey all, check out my new layout. Created none other than by my genius sister! Isn't it fantastic? Thanks Mack!!!

Stuff and Nonsense

2010-10-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve written on this blog. In reality, we have been without the Internet for a couple of weeks. Surprisingly enough I did not self-destruct. Yesterday when I was able to check my e-mail I had like 140 e-mails and I ended up deleting like 98% of them. I have a lot of writing-related research to catch up on. So I’ll be glad when I can get back into the swing of things.

I finished my little writing hiatus last month and have resumed working on my newest project. The old project that I had been working on for the past seven years is now on the shelf indefinitely. It is chock-full of historical inaccuracies, its no wonder that no one would take me on as a client. At first I was devastated but now I look back on it as a lesson that needed to be learned. That story will always be the darling of my heart and someday it will appear in print (after much revision, of course).

In the mean time, as I have mentioned earlier, I am working on a new novel. It’s the story of two couples and their stories, separated by sixty years. If ever published, it will probably be categorized as a romance. At least I hope that it’s not predictable or cliché. When I was younger I always assumed that I would try and be published in the Christian market. But my current story wouldn’t fit in that mold. Some of the characters curse, smoke and drink wine (gasp!). I have discovered that working on this newest novel is quite liberating for me. I was so limited in my last project.

With this one I feel like I am embarking on a journey into the great unknown. And it is thrilling.

The Westboro Baptist Church

2010-10-03T09:50:00.001-07:00

The Westboro Baptist church is coming to my town. Thankfully not to my church, but to two other local churches. They claim that the pastor of one and the priest of the other are pedophiles, which is totally untrue. Frankly I’m surprised these loons came to our neck of the woods at all. If they intend to gain any converts, they’ll be in for a big surprise. The two churches mentioned have decided to ignore their rants.

I don’t get these Westboro crazies. They protest at the funerals of fallen military men and women and insist that God hates gays. If they had ever actually read the Bible they would have to admit that their arguments are groundless. Yes, God detests sin but God loves all people and sent His Son to die for all people. But I seriously doubt that Westboro cares about truth or the Bible or even what God really wants. Their only concern is stirring up controversy.

I guess that all we can really do for these wackos is pray for them that they’ll see the error of their ways.

My Thoughts on “Sister Wives”

2010-09-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

For those unaware, “Sister Wives” is a new reality TV show on TLC featuring a man who is living with three sisters and has children by all of them. It promotes a polygamist lifestyle and glorifies it. Technically, as of this moment, none of them are married however they consider themselves married and live as if they do.

As a Christian I was extremely appalled by the previews of this show. Naturally I believe in heterosexual marriages. However, in my opinion, this show is not only offensive to Christians but to anyone who considers traditional marriage and family the norm. I know, I know, this is America and as Americans they do have the freedom to live however they please. Still, my beef is that everybody is okay with it.

I mean, where are all the feminists and why aren’t they complaining about this show? A man with three wives, a possible new girlfriend on the way… am I the only one who finds that degrading towards women? The feminists freak out about the Duggar’s having nineteen children and raising them as they do, but they suddenly all fall silent about this whacked-out situation.

This man thinks it’s perfectly fine to be with three different women out in the open and is proud of it. He is tired of having to hide his lifestyle and has decided to come out as a polygamist. It’s just as disgusting as a married man with two girlfriends on the side, and the women all happen to be related and they live as one big happy family. Oh please, this is revolting. What ticks me off more is that this man and his three wives teach their children that their lifestyle is okay. Is it okay for a man to have three wives? Or a woman to have three husbands?

No, its not. Sorry, I’m politically incorrect enough to say it, even if the rest of you aren’t.

What are we teaching this generation of young ladies? That it’s okay to be first in a man’s life, or second, or third, or fourth, but that it’s okay as long as it’s done in the name of love? That we should be defined merely as sexual objects rather than by our minds, hearts and souls? Aren’t we worthy of better?

Please recommend this if you agree. Thank you.

A Call to All Christians

2010-09-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to be called a “Christian?” What does it all entail? It means accepting Jesus into your heart, having a personal relationship with Him, making Him Lord over your life and following Him all your days. It may sound simple enough and a recipe for a happily ever after life, but it’s more than that. Being a Christian means that we have the Answer to it all and we have a calling to share the Truth with the rest of the world. Not only that we have a responsibility and a duty to protest when obvious wrongs are being committed, especially when it is occurring within our own country. Turning a blind eye to evil is as though you yourself are participating in it. Silence is not neutrality, silence is giving permission.

We claim to be Christians, but what separates us from anyone else? What use is our faith if we do not practice what we preach? We believers live by a strict moral law constructed by our Creator and that moral law is the basis for our society here in America. With the recent onset of socialism and communism, our freedoms are being violated one by one. If we continue to ignore the evil brewing within our great nation, America will no longer be America. It will be the equivalent of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Cuba, Venezuela and China all rolled into one.

If you, Christian, cannot see how much danger we are in, then you are either a blithering idiot or you just don’t care. Or you’re in the more dangerous category; you think that nothing is wrong. Wake up, we are on the edge of self-destructing.

With all due respect to the non-Christians of our society, we Christians cannot expect them to take the lead on this. God endowed us with that responsibility and fully expects us show the rest of the world the difference between what is right and what is wrong. For the last five decades we have rolled over and played dead while our government destroyed our God-given freedoms. If we want to see America restored we must cease turning a blind eye and stand up against injustice.

The only hope for our country is a spiritual revival, like the Great Awakening. As Christians we must pray like we have never prayed before. Otherwise we can just kiss our freedom goodbye. Not only that, every man and woman who shed their blood for this country did so in vain, and is no more than a fertilizer for the ground it was spilled upon.

How To Write Christian Fiction Without Really Trying: Part 3

2010-08-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

A little Jesus here, a little Jesus there, a little Jesus everywhere.
It’s important to mention God in your story, but keep in mind that secular authors also do this. To make your novel thoroughly “Christian” its best to throw Jesus in there every once in awhile. Nothing too extreme, just a little Jesus here and a little Jesus there. Have Hero aspire to be Christ-like, or make Heroine quote Jesus whenever the mood strikes, a prayer to Jesus is a nice touch. I mean, once you do that, then the reader will definitely understand that this is a Christian piece of fiction and that we have standards here.

What would a Christian story be without the Christians?
While Hero and Heroine have not been acting at all Christ-like, they both must be devout Christians. I emphasize must because there is no wiggle room in this area of the story. Yes, you may allow them behave however you want (lying, stealing, gossiping, hating one another, etc) but rest assured they are Christians.

Catholicism Not Allowed
Okay, we all know that the truest Christians are Protestant. I’m mean who ever heard of a Christian who was Catholic? C’mon! Well, there was Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas A Kempis, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa to name a few, but that’s beside the point. Everybody knows that the truest Christians are the Protestants (apparently there are no Protestants in the world who are hypocrites), therefore it is better to make all the Christians in your novel Protestant.

That’s what I call music!
As you know, in real life Christians only listen to Christian music and hymns. That rock and roll, swing, blues, pop, opera, classical stuff is for the heathen characters. If Hero or Heroine happens to listen to this verboten devil’s music, he/she has mortally sinned and is heading straight for the pits of hell. As for the unbelieving characters, they can listen to it but the narrator must make it perfectly clear that it’s evil and if the unbelieving character becomes a Christian, he/she must cast out this sinful noise. As for Hero and Heroine, to show how content they are with their perfect little lives, have them hum or sing certain hymns. Because we all know that happy Christians sing and praise the Lord throughout the day, without ceasing too.

Smoking and Drinking
You cannot – I repeat, cannot- allow Hero and Heroine to drink. I mean, its common knowledge that the second you get saved, you no longer drink or smoke. Those two things are two unforgivable sins within Christianity. Puritan minister Charles Surgeon smoked, Jesus drank wine at the Last Supper and Paul urged Timothy to drink to sooth his stomach ailments- all that is irrelevant. It is a big no-no in the Christian market to smoke and drink. Secondary non-believing, sinner characters are permitted to smoke and drink, in fact it is encouraged for these kinds of characters to display how wretchedly wicked they are.

Cursed:
Okay, say if Hero (or any other Christian character) shot in least thirty-three different places and blood is gushing from four major arteries, he still cannot curse. As you well know, we Christians never curse; our vocabulary is as pure as the driven snow. Those evil sinner characters may curse, but it is a no-no in the Christian market to actually type swear words in the book. Better stick with: Villian released an oath… Villian cursed… Villian swore, etc. You get the picture. Substitute swear words like dang or crap are borderline and dangerous and you’re playing with fire, so better not even use those. What is acceptable? Blast, Aw Shucks and Swell- the kind of expletives you would find in a cheesy 1960’s war movie.

Happily [N]Ever After
Think of the cheesiest ending to a novel you have ever read (a scene that makes you want to shave your eyeballs) - because that’s what you have to do now. Hero and Heroine have conquered all of the obstacles thrown in their path and deserve to finally be together. Now don’t forget to add a final kiss between them, a “Praise the Lord for all the many blessings He has given us,” and of course those two little words: The End.

Check out Part One and Part Two!

The Nature of Christians

2010-08-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

You have to work hard to offend Christians. By nature, Christians are the most forgiving, understanding, and thoughtful group of people I’ve ever dealt with. They never assume the worst. They appreciate the importance of having different perspectives. They’re slow to anger, quick to forgive, and almost never make rash judgments or act in anything less than a spirit of total love... No, wait—I’m thinking of golden retrievers!

The Nature of Christians

2010-08-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

How To Write Christian Fiction Without Really Trying: Part 2

2010-08-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Caution:
This three-part series was written partly as a satire and partly out of personal frustration, so please don’t take this personally.

The love/hate relationship.
Or is it the hate/love relationship? Whatever it is its crucial to the progress of your story. Upon the Hero and Heroines’ introduction, they must start out on the wrong foot. Hero must behave arrogantly and offend Heroine, and Heroine must be so spunky that she lacks common sense and intelligence. Weave the love/hate relationship throughout the story, but keep in mind that Hero and Heroine are also attracted to one another and that they are fighting that attraction by acting more obnoxious than usual.

The Romantical Stuff.
This is a must in a Historical Romance. Kissing is okay but nothing too intense. Sex is a no-no because- duh- you are shooting to publish your book within the Christian market. The best way to introduce the romantic aspect in your novel is after your characters have an argument. In the heat of the moment, they could kiss. Or perhaps while the Heroine is sad over the death of her entire family from the dreaded small pox, Hero can console her and show the full extent of his love by kissing her.

Villains, you gotta have them.
What is a story without a villain? Typically in these stories, the villain is somebody from Heroine’s past. Like a former fiancée who has his own personal vendetta against our poor, put upon Heroine. He could also have some sort of connection to Hero. Its best of the villain is somehow arrested or gets killed off in the end, just as long as he gets his just desserts. There is no room in the story for a villain that seeks redemption. After all it’s a cardinal rule that in real life, all villains get punished.

Villains are monkey butt ugly.
It’s true. In these kinds of romances, the bad guys are ugly. They must repulse Heroine and reader alike so that we might comprehend how very villainous they truly are. So its best that you make your evil Villain at least four hundred pounds, with greasy hair and a mustache that he can twirl around one of his fingers. And throw in that he stinks…bad guys are known to stink because of how rotten they are. Don’t forget his teeth are yellowed from chewing tobacco and smoking like a chimney, because as in real life, only bad guys chew tobacco and smoke (more on this later).

The Climax
It had better be good, I mean, you have to keep your readers on the edge of the seats. There is a number of things that you could do to Hero and Heroine. Villain could kidnap Heroine or attempt to force her into marrying him. Hero could be shot and on the brink of death. You could kill off a much-loved character- as long as it isn’t hero and heroine; after all they must get together eventually. Hero and Heroine could have a falling out and they appear irreconcilable (but of course in the end they obviously somehow reconcile). There could be a storm that destroys a home or a barn. An illness is a possibility, but remember Hero and Heroine can’t die.

Check out Part One.
Part Three is coming soon!

How To Write Christian Fiction Without Really Trying: Part 1

2010-08-04T04:22:00.000-07:00

Caution:
This three-part series was written partly as a satire and partly out of personal frustration, so please don’t take this personally.

Introduction:
Yes, this is an easy how-to guide for a Christian who might be interested in breaking out into the Christian Fiction Market. The following steps have been developed after much observation of the currently published Christian authors already out there. They are the professionals and therefore should be held up as an example to us amateurs.

Choose a common genre that fits right in with the market.
Let’s not be a maverick here and write something revolutionary. You want to do something that is easily publishable and that leaves the reader feeling fat, dumb and happy- oops, I mean, fully satisfied. Take a look around at the Christian section at the bookstore. Most of the fiction there is romance. That’s a good avenue to go, but nothing too complicated, okay? Remember that the reader must feel happy by the story’s end. An even closer look, you’ll notice that the majority of romances are also historical. Perhaps give the 19th century a try…everybody else has.

Location, location, location!
Okay, picture this, its 1870 in…where in America should your story be set exactly? Well, if you’re going for that typical prairie romance (and believe me, you are) its best to pick a familiar setting. Kansas, Oregon, Montana, Texas, California… any of those states will do. Just borrow a couple of books from the library on your chosen state and you’ll be ready. But wait, you must choose a town too. You could go with an actual city or town that exists, but if you’d like to be creative, make up your own town. That way you can create your own history, politics, issues, geography, etc. Keep in mind that if your town is based in a certain part of a state that is prone to harsh weather (i.e. tornadoes, blizzards, floods), this could make for future dramatic scenes.

Hero(ine).
Both of your Hero and Heroine must be strong, stubborn, blunt, independent and above all attractive. I emphasize “attractive.” Let’s not go outside the box and make the Hero wear glasses, bucked-tooth or have any visible flaws. And God-forbid if the Heroine is short, curvy or has acne. I mean, c’mon people, this is not real life, this is fiction. The Hero and Heroine must look good on the cover, so think Barbie and Ken. When it comes to personalities, sometimes it’s good for them to be polar opposites. For an example: one of them likes the color red and the other likes the color blue. This is very important, take notes, okay? They could argue about this for like ten to twenty pages of the novel (more about this later). Hero and Heroine both must blunt to a fault, because later on in the story they must blurt out ridiculous things that will later come back to haunt them. For an example: Hero says, “You’re just like every other woman out there. You’re only after my trust fund that you discovered I had even before I knew that I had, that my great-grandfather’s uncle’s brother’s cousin’s friend left for me to receive only if I married by a certain age.” And the Heroine’s classic reply: “Why can’t you trust me? I’ve always been honest with you; well, except for when I lied to you about never being engaged before, and the time I withheld my true name and secret identity from you, and that I’m legally responsible for a child that is of no relation to me.”

Part Two Coming Soon…

“Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” by Eric Metaxas

2010-07-26T04:43:00.000-07:00

Who better to face the greatest evil of the 20th Century than a humble man of faith?

About the Author:
Eric Metaxas grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, and graduated Yale University in 1984. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery.” His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Atlantic Monthly, and he has appeared as a cultural commentator on CNN and Fox News. He is the founder and host of Socrates in the City, the acclaimed Manhattan speaker’s series on “life, God, and other small topics.” Eric lives in New York City with his wife and daughter. His website is ericmetaxas.com.

Book Description:
From the New York Times best-selling author of Amazing Grace, a groundbreaking biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the greatest heroes of the twentieth century, the man who stood up to Hitler. A definitive, deeply moving narrative, Bonhoeffer is a story of moral courage in the face of the monstrous evil that was Nazism. After discovering the fire of true faith in a Harlem church, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany and became one of the first to speak out against Hitler. As a double agent, he joined the plot to assassinate the Führer, and was hanged in Flossenberg concentration camp at age 39. Since his death, Bonhoeffer has grown to be one of the most fascinating, complex figures of the 20th century. Bonhoeffer presents a profoundly orthodox Christian theologian whose faith led him to boldly confront the greatest evil of the 20th century, and uncovers never-before-revealed facts, including the story of his passionate romance.

My Thoughts:
Never has there been a man like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and never will there be again, and “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” opens a window into the life of this great man. It isn’t a difficult read, but for me, even as a fast reader, it took me four or five days to complete. There is so much information on the man himself, the era and culture, and personal letters- all necessary to flesh out the character of Bonhoeffer. I’ve read my share of books on Bonhoeffer and while they were good, Metaxas’ is fantastic and a must-read for any Bonhoeffer enthusiast, Nazi Germany historian, Christian, and anyone else who requires reassurance that not every German in World War II was evil incarnate.

A Christian Writer’s Woes

2010-07-21T04:21:00.000-07:00

I’m not like most Christian writers. From what I have observed they write strictly to glorify God and while I admire that, I don’t do as they do. I love God and intend to serve Him for all of my days on earth and in heaven, but when I put pen to paper (or finger tips to keyboard) my mind is full of dialog, characters, description and plots. I think of Him off and on, but when I am scribbling or typing away, my thoughts are more focused on how attractive I can make this particular scene.

While I intend to craft a novel in such a way that points to Jesus as the Answer for all mankind, when I write it is to satisfy myself. It is the workings of an imaginative mind, the musings of a lonely heart, and the outpourings of an uncommunicative soul. You know, I can’t even recall ever asking God if it was His will for me to be a novelist. I just always assumed that since I have that kind of gift that I was destined to write. I fanaticize about the day when I can walk into any bookstore and find my works on the shelves next to other literary greats.

I rarely pray before I create a new story, character or anything of the sort. Usually I just put it all down and at some later date I talk to the Almighty about it. Sometimes the ideas come so fast that I want to flesh them out before I forget them. Sometimes I feel that words alone can’t describe how I feel about still being unpublished and I ask the Holy Spirit to relate my pain to the Lord.

Writing is really the only thing I know how to do. And do well. I have a few other gifts but the passion for them isn’t there. Whether I ever see my works in print, I have to write. It is an obsession; it is like breathing to me.

What is the number one thing on your bucket list?

2010-07-19T04:32:00.000-07:00

Get published (c'mon, you had to know that was like #1 on the list).

What are 3 books you've read that you've greatly enjoyed and recommend to others and why?

2010-07-12T04:44:00.000-07:00

1. The Bible. It's God's #1 Best Seller.

2. "Redeeming Love," by Francine Rivers. Can't describe how much I love this book and why. Just read it and you'll understand.

3. "The Shack," by William P. Young. Its Christianity in a nutshell.

Now, I command you to go forth and read all these books. :~)

140 Days of Prayer with Charles Stanley

2010-07-04T09:47:00.000-07:00

The best way to rescue America is to get on your knees and pray for God's intervention. Even if you don't want to commit officially, at the very least keep this country in your prayers. God is America's only hope.

http://www.intouch.org/resources/140-days-of-prayer

The Write Stuff

2010-06-29T04:19:00.000-07:00

I’m currently on a summer-long break from writing. For the last several years I have obsessively devoted myself to one novel and have placed it on the throne in the place of God. I was so wrapped up in my own desires I couldn’t hear God’s Voice and what He wanted of me. Not only that, I had fallen into a bad place where I envied my writer peers and begrudged them for their successes. I had lost my first love. Anyway, a few weeks ago I had finally accepted the fact my beloved novel wasn’t going to be published and must be placed on that proverbial shelf. Then I started to ask the good Lord what He wanted. No answer except that I needed to spend some time focusing on Him rather than myself. And that it might be beneficial for be to take a break from writing.

Its already been two weeks and I feel much better than I did and I’m not as stressed as what I had been. I have been tempted to work on a couple newer projects but am resolved to stick with my pact. I think that when I do return to writing in September, the quality of my work will be better and the writing won’t be as forced. The new stories will be better for it. The first one is a novella set in 1915 in my beloved state of Indiana, and a comedy. The second one is a new holocaust story that is set both in 1943 and 2003. Both are primarily written in the third person, which is a challenge for me; I usually narrate my novels in the first person.

I can’t stop writing altogether; writing is like breathing to me. I intend to write entries for my blogs, I write often in my personal journal, and there are some books and movies that I’d like to do reviews on.

Well, that’s all for now.

The Proverbial Shelf

2010-06-17T04:08:00.001-07:00

That’s where I placed my epic novel.

I had been working on it for seven years, devoting myself wholly to it. It is where I placed all my hopes and aspirations, my dreams and goals. I really thought that someone would notice how valuable it was and snatch it up. It has become like a child to me. I created it, loved and nurtured it, spent years bragging about it and showing it off to anyone who would listen.

I adore the characters, and have watched them evolve into their present state. They are like imaginary friends of mine who speak to me often and beg me to show them to the world.

The plot is unique and unlike anything else out there. It is a reflection of life at the worst and the best. It is the age-old story of good versus evil, and though evil claims a number of battles, good wins the war.

The style is fresh and to the best of my knowledge, it has never been attempted before. The best way to describe it is to say that it’s a cross between Melody Carlson’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl Series” and Scholastic’s historical “Dear America series”.

Whether it ever appears in print or not, it will live in my heart and mind forever. I live in hope that someday someone else might take an interest in it.

For the most part I’m disappointed, depressed and in desperate need of chocolate.

The Entry Without a Title

2010-06-12T09:27:00.001-07:00

I'd like to blog something but can't think of anything to say. My writing is in limbo right now. As of last month, the novel I have been working on turned seven, meaning that it is seven years old. I suppose its not realistic for me to continue working on it, but I can't let go. I love it too much to give up on it. I've read blogs by agents and editors, and writers too, that advise an aspiring author to move on to other projects. Tell that to Jane Austen, who spent sixteen years waiting for her beloved "First Impressions" (a.k.a. "Pride and Prejudice) to be published. Now, I'm not comparing my novel to "P&P" but I'm just as attached to the story as Austen was. I pray to God that someday, someone might realize who valuable my story is. I did finish a first draft of another project a couple of months ago and I've set that aside for a little while. I'm now working on something new; another holocaust novel. But I don't have the devotion to these newer projects that I do my seven-year-old one.

There is a quote somewhere by some other author that a piece of work must sit for nine years or so until it can be published. Well, if that's the way it is, I have two years more to wait! Part of my problem is that I've submitted it to anyone one and everyone who I thought might be interested. I should have been more particular. I have to find someone who falls head-over-heels in love with my novel. Someone - editor or agent- who can be as passionately devoted to it as I am. And I must learn humility. I'm afraid that in the past few years I've acquired an inflated ego about myself and my God-given talents. On top of that I continually take Jesus off His throne and place my own wants before others.

On the positive side, I've lost weight. Last November I was nearing 180lbs and so far I've lost nearly 13lbs. So, yay for me!

All for now.

Tuesday Tag Along

2010-06-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Here's how it works:
Create a new Tuesday Tag-Along blog post. Include the Tuesday Tag-Along button by copying and pasting the code above. (You are also welcome to copy and paste these instructions in their entirety, or any portion of this Tuesday Tag-Along blog post!)
Add your blog name and the URL of your TTA post to the MckLinky below.
Follow Twee Poppets, the hostess blog listed in the first slot. Twee Poppets will follow you back! (Note: If you want Twee Poppets to follow you back, you MUST leave her a comment saying that you are a new follower and leave a link to your blog!)
If you can, please follow the blogs in the three slots before you (e.g., if you're number 20, follow numbers 19, 18, and 17). This is not mandatory, but it will help ensure that everyone who signs up gets a few new followers!
Follow as many other blogs as you want. The more you follow, the more that will follow you back! Be sure to tell them that you're following from Tuesday Tag-Along! You may also want to leave a link to your blog so they can return your follow more easily.
When you get a new follower through Tuesday Tag-Along, be sure to follow them back! It's just common courtesy. :)
The weekly Tuesday Tag-Along MckLinky opens every Monday night at 8:59pm Pacific Standard Time (that's 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time), and the TTA blog post will be posted well in advance of that time. The MckLinky will be open to add your blog until 11:59pm Tuesday night. You then have all week long to visit blogs and return follows!

There is a new list every week. The link you enter one week will not carry over to the next week's MckLinky. Please link up again each week to join in the fun!

“The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Story of Nonna Bannister,” by Nonna Bannister

2010-06-01T04:42:00.000-07:00

For half a century, a terrible secret lay hidden, locked in a trunk in an attic…

Book Description:
“The Secret Holocaust Diaries” is a haunting eyewitness account of Nonna Bannister Lisowskaja Bannister, a remarkable Russian-American woman who saw and survived unspeakable evils as a young girl. For half a century she kept her story secret while living a normal American life. She locked all her photos, documents, diaries and dark memories from World War II in a trunk. Late in life she unlocked the trunk, first for herself, then for her husband, and now for the rest of the world.
Nonna’s story is one of suffering, torture, and death- but also of incredible acts of kindness that show the ultimate triumph of faith and love over despair and evil. “The Secret Holocaust Diaries” is in part a tragedy, yet it’s also an unforgettable true story about forgiveness, courage and hope.

My Thoughts:
Unlike the secular market, rarely is there a non-fiction book in the Christian market about the Holocaust, which makes “The Secret Holocaust Diaries,” a rare book. From the very beginning Nonna is a young girl who shows much conviction and courage in the face of evil. There are some graphic descriptions, which would probably be too much for anyone under fifteen, but this is a story that would be fine for older teens. The way the book is organized, it can be a little confusing but with some patience it is worth the while. Through out the story is the subtle faith of Nonna and her family, that provides her with the strength to survive the Nazi’s death machine. Her diary/memoir would make a fine TV movie for Hallmark or Lifetime.

For more information on Nonna, her book and her family, check out her website: The Secret Holocaust Diaries

“The Lord Is My Shepherd: The Psalm 23 Mysteries,” by Debbie Viguie

2010-05-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

Being a church secretary seemed like such a boring job… until the bodies started piling up.

Author Bio:
Debbie Viguie’s love for writing brought her from working as a church secretary to a successful career writing supernatural fiction. She is the author of “Midnight Pearls,” “Scarlet Moon,” and “Charmed: Pied Piper,” and the young adult “Sweet Seasons” series. She also is co-author of the New York Times best-selling “Wicked” book series. Debbie graduated from the University of California at Davis, where she majored in English. She and her husband, an attorney, live in Hawaii. For more information about Debbie Viguie and her books, visit her website: http://www.debbieviguie.com.

Book Description:
As church secretary Cindy Preston prepares for the Easter service, she literally stumbles across a dead body in the sanctuary. A prominent church member has been stabbed to death in the locked church. With whispers and suspicions surrounding the members of the congregation, Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman next door, helps Cindy search for the truth. As Easter Sunday draws near, the pressure mounts when the killer leaves clues that more deaths should be expected. Fighting against time, the rabbi and the church secretary work together, learning more about each other and their faiths as they seek to expose the truth. But what secret is the rabbi hiding?

My Thoughts:
Finally, a book in the Christian market that isn’t dripping with unrealistic romantic mush! I am not a big fan of fictional murder mysteries (I like to watch TV shows and movies on the subject) because on the whole they’re more about romance than the mystery. “The Lord is My Shepherd,” follows Cindy Preston and Rabbi Jeremiah Silverman from the moment they discover the first body, onto the friendship that develops between them as well as the developments of the case, to Easter Sunday when the murder is solved. Despite the suspicion of others, Cindy and Jeremiah maintain a platonic friendship that could evolve into something more, but with both being devoted to their faiths, it won’t be likely unless one of them has a change of heart. Another thing I liked was that Cindy wasn’t out to convert Jeremiah and his congregation; the faith aspect of the book was subtle, but more genuine than most of the Christian fiction that is out there.

A Story Girl Exclusive Interview with Elizabeth Bennet

2010-05-05T04:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, its finally here. The interview you have all been waiting for: the prolific Elizabeth Bennet.

Q: If you can recall, what was your earliest story about and do you still have it?
A: Hmmm…let’s see I believe my earliest piece of work was based in what I now know as Federalist America (1809) in the Boston area. It was about a young girl with a bunch of sisters who was a writer, sort of reminiscent of Little Women, but it was written horribly and now it’s revamped into a whole new novella that I hope to publish someday, but it won’t be in 1809 or Boston. I hope to write about my heroine in my native Indiana.

Q: Is Elizabeth Bennet your actual name or is it a pseudonym? What is the story behind it?
A: Elizabeth Bennet is my pseudonym. It’s a rather silly story actually, I was into doing these funny Pride and Prejudice/Austen quizzes on a site and I kept coming up as Elizabeth Bennet which is my favorite heroine of Jane Austen, it just sort of fell into place. Another reason I chose Elizabeth Bennet is because I wanted something polar opposite of my real name.

Q: What major authors or people have inspired you?
A: Well for one Jane Austen. It took years for Jane to get published and I’m still working at it. When I think it might be me, I just remember how long Jane struggled with that and now people 200 years later still love her work. A couple other authors are Melody Carlson, who I’ve spoken to on occasion and she’s always been very nice. I hope my work will be as good as hers or Lynn Austin’s or even Jack Cavanaugh’s. They are my favorite published authors.

Q: What fictional books influenced you over the years?
A: I know I keep coming back to Jane, but she has inspired me so very much! So has Lynn Austen for a stand alone novel I hope to publish someday.

Q: What non-fictional books have influenced you?
A: Let’s see, much of Mark Bando’s work really encourages me in m y hope of publishing my Airborne stand alone novel someday. Now there are stories here and there that are from real life events that I have read in books about Nazi Germany or WWII, maybe even in the 1800’s that have inspired plots.

Q: How much of your life, if any, makes it into your work?
A: A lot actually, sometimes I don’t even realize it. A lot of times my friends will point out things that I, in my subconscious, wrote in. I sometimes base characteristics and traits of my family and my life into my work. Such as family stories or things that have happened to me such as heart brake over loosing a loved one or the joy of receiving a miracle.

Q: Have you ever based a character on yourself or any body else in your life?
A: Yes!! One of my characters in my GE series, I’ll give her initials; LM is completely based on me. More so now than when I invented her back in 2001 almost ten years ago. She’s gone through so many changes and through the past ten years I think I’ve got her finally how I want her to be. Now for others, I may not have realized it, but in my latest novella I’m working on the sisters are not exactly like me and my sister, but their relationship is like ours.

Q: Have you ever created a character and then met a person like that in real life?
A: Unfortunately I have and it’s not good characters. It’s the dreaded villains that I have created I have met some like that in real life. I’ve met some people with traits of my characters, but none exactly them.

Q: How much of your Christian faith plays a factor in your work?
A: It’s the only reason I’m writing. The only reason I took an interest in writing at the age of ten was because my aunt was trying to pressure me into being something I wasn’t. In other words, I rebelled and I did it to spite her and everyone else who was trying to make me be somebody I wasn’t. In March of ’01 when I finally accepted Christ as my Savior things quickly changed in my life, by June I had come up with a story for LM. God was working in my life and my work even before I was saved. He knew that though when I was still a sinner, He was going to use that to His advantage and now I am writing completely and utterly for Him! In all I write it’s Christian fiction, not historical, or romance, but Christian fiction.

Q: What difference do you hope that your work will make?
A: That no matter what period or area in the world you are people have gone through the same difficulties that you have. And only God can get you through them. Through His love and mercy, although we may mess up from time to time (for me it’s more than from time to time it seems) God is a forgiving God. We all need redemption and hope, but you need Christ in your heart to get that hope and redemption. I want the readers to be able to relate to my characters, through God this is my way to make an impact on the world. I just pray and carry on that I will not fail him!

Q: Are any of your works based on a true story?
A: One, I have hopes of doing a novel based on the 17th Airborne which will feature my grandpa, who served with the Glider Infantry in WWII.

Q: Which era do you prefer to write in?
A: That’s so hard to choose. I love writing about any era from late 18th century to modern day events. However I do have most of my books set in the 1940’s in either America or Europe.

Q: Which era would you prefer to live in?
A: That’s another hard one to choose, there are parts I love about so many different periods around the world. Though I am completely enamored with the 1940’s so if I had to go back in time I guess it would have to be the WWII era.

Q: What do you to get in the mood to write?
A: Different things, sometimes I pray, or listen to music. Maybe after reading a book, that will make me write about a certain topic I am working on. I am constantly writing dialogue and notes for future work so that I don’t have to wing it, it’s already planned. Then at times I get a bad case of writers block, it’s sort of the equivalent to Superman’s kryptonite.

Q: What are you currently writing?
A: I am currently writing a novella set in the 1940’s, like that’s a surprise, about a young girl and her sister. Her sister falls in love with the man she is also in love with. I have also put on the shelf one other novel from GE for, I’ll only give her initials, ES a German girl in Nazi Germany and just life through those of a real Christian German against Hitler’s Reich.

Q: What topic or genre would you like to tackle someday?
A: Homosexuality, it’s something Christians shy away from. I am not sure how or what I would use to write about it, but I want to. It’s just like pre-marital sex or sex outside of marriage, some Christians act like if you are promiscuous or are gay that you’re evil, you’re not. You just need Jesus to help heal you and ask his forgiveness.

Q: Other than writing, what are your hobbies?
A: Computer graphics, I don’t have a lot of talents outside of writing. I do like to read a lot and I like crocheting and sewing. I absolutely love to sing and although I am awful at it, I still sing for my own amusement and to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. I love fashion and when someone asks my opinion, I feel like a stylist, that’s nice.

Q: After you get published and receive that royalty check, what are you going to do with it?
A: Tithe!! I have tithed some with money I’ve made in the past or was given, but this will mean I have a real job and that’s big to me. Tithing first, banking most of it, of course celebrating by going out to eat with my family (my treat) and if possible get myself a fancy schmancy camera, I’ve always wanted one, but they are so expensive!

For more information on Elizabeth Bennet and her work, go to her blog: http://lizzies-desk.blogspot.com/

First They Came for the Jews

2010-05-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

I Believe...

2010-04-28T04:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share this poem that I found on the internet. It was written during WW2, on the wall of a cellar, by a Jew in the Cologne concentration camp.

"I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there's no one there.
And I belive in God,
even when he is silent.

I believe through any trial,
there is always a way
But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter,
to know someone's there
But a voice rises within me, saying hold on
my child, I'll give you strength,
I'll give you hope. Just stay a little while.

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love
even when there's no one there
But I believe in God
even when he is silent
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.

May there someday be sunshine
May there someday be happiness
May there someday be love
May there someday be peace...."

- Unknown

Sisters Reunited with the Jews They Saved From the Nazis

2010-04-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9501b&L=poland-l&T=0&P=13577

Cesia Miller looked at the pages of Reader's Digest and realized almost immediately that the story in front of her was about the two sisters who had saved her life all those years ago.

There were the names, Stefania and Helena Podgorska, and the story of how the young girls had saved so many during the German occupation of Poland. It told of how they had hidden 13 Polish Jews for two years in a single room and a cramped attic, of how they had scrounged for food and risked their lives so often to keep them all alive.

It had to be them, Miller thought, the ones she had been seeking for almost 50 years -- the teen-ager and her 7-year-old sister who somehow hid the 13 until the Russian army arrived near the end of World War II.

"It has been like trying to find a rock in the ocean," Miller said. "But it was a thrilling end. I read the story on Sunday
and couldn't wait for Monday so I could call Reader's Digest."

Miller read the story of the Podgorska sisters late last summer. What has happened since then is a story of reunion, joy, memories and tears.

The culmination of all this will occur today when the two sisters -- one now living in a Boston suburb, the other a doctor in Poland -- will be honored at a luncheon sponsored by the Martyrs Memorial of the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles.

It will mark the first time the sisters have been honored together, the first time Helena has ever been to any kind of
ceremony dedicated to her. And it will bring together six of the 15 people who for two years were crammed into the sisters' tiny apartment with no running water.

The story of the Podgorska sisters is well known to Holocaust scholars. In the late 1950s, a tree was planted in Israel in their honor. Stefania, the older sister, last year shared a podium with President Clinton at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

The story begins in 1942 during the German occupation. Stefania, then 16, found herself working in the Polish city of
Przemysl. Her father had died before the war began, and her mother and brother had been pressed into German labor camps.

Stefania started by smuggling food into the city's Jewish ghetto to the family that had once been her employer. Then came the day she decided to hide the first of the Jews, a young man who had escaped from a train headed for the death camps. His name was Max Diamant. In later years, he would change his name to Josef Burzminski and he would become Stefania's husband of 50 years.

As time passed, Diamant asked Stefania to hide others, and still others heard about the haven and showed up at the doorstep. German nurses were in the apartment next door, and there were long periods of absolute silence among those hiding in the cramped attic. Each knock at the door brought another surge of fear.

Stefania's task each day was to gather enough food for her wards without arousing suspicion. Helena often acted as a courier because a young child was less likely to draw attention to herself.

When money ran out, Stefania and others took to knitting sweaters as a way of raising cash. When the Russians finally entered Poland near the war's end, all 13 left their hiding place for the first time and scattered to points around the globe.

In 1957, Stefania and Josef immigrated to Israel, where he opened a dental practice in Tel Aviv, while Helena remained in Poland to study medicine. In 1961, the couple moved to New York and later to the Boston suburb of Brookline, raising two children along the way.

Cesia Miller went in another direction but eventually found her way to New York, and then Los Angeles. Though a child at the time of the German occupation, she never forgot the two sisters. When she traveled to Israel in 1970, she tried to find them there. But Diamant was by then Burzminski and there was no trail to follow.

When she was in Poland a decade ago, Miller again launched a search, but found nothing. Helena by then was married and working as a radiologist in Warsaw.

There were two times when Miller, who lives in West Los Angeles, could have have seen Stefania on television. The first was at the dedication of the Holocaust museum; the second was an appearance by Stefania and Josef last year on Oprah Winfrey's TV show. Miller missed the first event and never watches daytime television.

Ironically, her daughter, Sharon, did see the "Oprah" show but did not make the connection. Neither the town nor the number who had been saved were mentioned, so she had no reason to think the people on the screen had anything to do with her mother.

Meanwhile, in Brookline, Stefania began working on her memoirs, which would eventually grow to 350 typed pages.

"I wanted people to know about helping one another, not to kill but just to be human beings," said Stefania in recalling why she began writing the memoir. "People should learn to live together."

On the Monday after Miller saw the article in Reader's Digest, she did, indeed, find Stefania in Brookline.

"That's you, really you?" asked Miller.

"Yes," Stefania replied.

"I found you," said Miller.

"You found me and I found you," she replied.

Since that time, one thing has led to another. An anonymous benefactor donated a round-trip ticket from Poland to the United States, and Helena has been here for the last three weeks.

The Burzminskis, both now retired, have been here as well. Their son, Ed, lives in Los Angeles and they will visit for the next two months.

Another of the group flew in over the weekend from Germany for the occasion.

On Monday, Stefania and Josef were having lunch, talking about the past. The only thing they didn't want to discuss was the actual time of hiding. They had done it enough, including telling their story in detail as part of research for a proposed movie about the sisters.

Then Josef spoke fondly of Stefania, of all the years they had spent together.

"She put her life in jeopardy to save my life. That was a good test," he said. "She's not only a good wife, she's a friend."

A Hero's Kiss Goodbye

2010-04-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

http://fountainheadzero.com/2008/12/heros-kiss-goodbye.html

Too often in life, extraordinary people pass away and leave a legacy behind worthy of the world’s notice but never receive it. They lived lives that many of us could only dream of, lives that are so rich in history and experience that they are what good books is made of. Pain, sorrow, anguish all mixed together with joy and happiness—that is what makes for an extraordinary life.

Mr. Alex Kiss was this kind of man. He died over the weekend in White House, Tennessee—a tiny little town nestled among beautiful hills that serve as footnotes of time and mystery. He was just a boy in Hungary when the dawn of World War II threatened to change his life forever. When Hitler rounded up young men to serve in the Nazi Youth, Mr. Kiss and his best friend were among them. Thus began his legacy…

I cannot imagine being swept into a movement anything like the Nazi Youth. When I was a child, life was more carefree than what should have been allowed. But to be forced to learn to hate and fight in the way that the Nazis did…is unthinkable. Mr. Kiss and his best friend were handed a gun and a uniform. They were sent out on patrols that I imagine started out innocent enough. The grown men probably offered them their first cigarette on a blistery dark night as they stood nervously clinging to their guns. They would have learned how to use swear words correctly in the rough and tumble military world they were falling into. The hate was all around them. The Jews were bad. They were the root of all evil, the cause of all the world’s problems. They must be held at bay. They must be killed.

I cannot imagine…

Alex Kiss saw hate in its raw form: unadulterated, unleashed, unrestrained and ugly. Eventually, the thin veil fell away and revealed the true intent of what the Nazi Youth was being trained to do. They were to kill—murder their fellow citizens.

Alex was only a boy when he witnessed what the heart of man was capable of. Being drug from their homes, Jewish men were stripped of their clothes in the town square for all to see. In the frigid temperatures, buckets of water were poured over their heads. Some passerby’s mocked the men and ridiculed them. Others tried not to hear the blood-chilling cries of the wife who begged the Nazis to stop only to be silenced by the slap of a hand or crushed by the butt of a rifle. Children cowered, much like Alex Kiss did—confused and afraid of what was happening before their eyes. The nightmare was only finished when the poor Jewish man froze to death, naked, exposed and left lying in the town square.

“Sich in Reih und Glied aufstellen!”

I cannot imagine what must have raced through Alex’s mind as he and his best friend held innocent Jews by gunpoint. His heart must have raced, afraid of what would happen next as Jewish men, women, and even children were lined up along a river. I am sure he stared into the eyes of a boy just like him—eyes wide with fear—heart pounding like mad.

“Feuer!”

When the shots were fired, he flinched. The echo shook the earth and birds exploded from the trees. The world slowed and spun around him as the bodies fell lifeless into the water. Rich, velvety blood was caught up in the rushing ripples that washed over the dead. Tears hung from his lashes as Alex’s breath caught in his throat. What kind of world had he been born into?

It was during the night that he and his best friend decided that they had to escape. They would not become monsters. They refused to kill innocent men and women. They could not watch another child be killed ever again. But it was risky. Anyone caught fleeing would be shot on sight.

“We’ll run.” His friend’s voice was hushed, his eyes serious. “We’ll run and never stop…never look back. Do you hear me?” Alex barely nodded. “If we hear gunshots, we won’t stop. No matter what, Alex, don’t stop!”

It was a dark night with pristine snow casting an eerie look over the land. The men were on patrol when Alex and his friend slipped away. Taking a deep breath, they stared ahead, looked one last time in each other’s eyes where a silent pact shone…

…And then they ran.

The German shouts only made Alex’s legs pump harder, his heart racing. “Keep running!” His friend commanded…

…And then the shots rang out.

Alex flinched, heard a hollow thud in the snow behind him, but he never stopped running. Silent tears slid down his cheeks. His best friend, his co-conspirator in boyhood mischief…was gone.

Over the last many years, Mr. Alex Kiss was just an old Hungarian man to most people in White House, Tennessee. He was a nice man that made friends easily. A member of the White House Methodist Church, he would often visit the church office during the week. This was where he waited for his wife to pick him up for Chemo treatments. He was dying of cancer, but no one would have known it by the life that radiated from him.

He came to the church office to sit a while and talk about nothing in particular with the pretty lady that worked there. She happens to be my Aunt. If you knew her, you would understand why it was the place Alex would want to be before the dreaded Chemo. My Aunt is vivacious, to say the least. She’s easy to talk to, and when you spend time with her, the world doesn’t seem so serious.

On one of these visits, my Aunt’s eight-year-old son happened to notice a strange tattoo on Mr. Kiss’s arm—a faded line of numbers. Like most nosey young boys, Corey asked why he had such a funny tattoo. Alex’s answer came in the form of a story; a story about his best friend and how Alex was captured and imprisoned in a concentration camp. He told him about his days in the Nazi Youth…and the evil that one man sowed in an entire generation of young boys.

Perhaps they were stories that some may deem inappropriate to tell to an eight-year-old boy, but Corey looked at Mr. Alex like one would look at a superhero. Even though Mr. Alex told his stories with tears pouring down his cheeks, to Corey, Mr. Alex was a hero.

Some people die and the world never knows. Though Mr. Alex’s stories may never be read in a thrilling novel, be seen on the silver screen, or grace the headlines of the media—they will forever be hidden in the heart of my cousin Corey. Alex Kiss was his superhero with a legacy that will forever haunt his boyish heart.

May there be more men that live and breathe lives worthy of such boyish praise.

The Gold and Ivory Tablecloth

2010-04-13T04:21:00.000-07:00

by Howard C. Schade

At Christmas time men and women everywhere gather in their churches to wonder anew at the greatest miracle the world has ever known. But the story I like best to recall was not a miracle -- not exactly.

It happened to a pastor who was very young. His church was very old. Once, long ago, it had flourished. Famous men had preached from its pulpit, prayed before its altar. Rich and poor alike had worshipped there and built it beautifully. Now the good days had passed from the section of town where it stood. But the pastor and his young wife believed in their run-down church. They felt that with paint, hammer, and faith they could get it in shape. Together they went to work.

But late in December a severe storm whipped through the river valley, and the worst blow fell on the little church -- a huge chunk of rain-soaked plaster fell out of the inside wall just behind the altar. Sorrowfully the pastor and his wife swept away the mess, but they couldn't hide the ragged hole.

The pastor looked at it and had to remind himself quickly, "Thy will be done!" But his wife wept, "Christmas is only two days away!"

That afternoon the dispirited couple attended the auction held for the benefit of a youth group. The auctioneer opened a box and shook out of its folds a handsome gold and ivory lace tablecloth. It was a magnificent item, nearly 15 feet long. but it, too, dated from a long vanished era. Who, today, had any use for such a thing? There were a few halfhearted bids. Then the pastor was seized with what he thought was a great idea.

He bid it in for $6.50.

He carried the cloth back to the church and tacked it up on the wall behind the altar. It completely hid the hole! And the extraordinary beauty of its shimmering handwork cast a fine, holiday glow over the chancel. It was a great triumph. Happily he went back to preparing his Christmas sermon.

Just before noon on the day of Christmas Eve, as the pastor was opening the church, he noticed a woman standing in the cold at the bus stop. "The bus won't be here for 40 minutes!" he called, and invited her into the church to get warm.

She told him that she had come from the city that morning to be interviewed for a job as governess to the children of one of the wealthy families in town but she had been turned down. A war refugee, her English was imperfect.

The woman sat down in a pew and chafed her hands and rested. After a while she dropped her head and prayed. She looked up as the pastor began to adjust the great gold and ivory cloth across the hole. She rose suddenly and walked up the steps of the chancel. She looked at the tablecloth. The pastor smiled and started to tell her about the storm damage, but she didn't seem to listen. She took up a fold of the cloth and rubbed it between her fingers.

"It is mine!" she said. "It is my banquet cloth!" She lifted up a corner and showed the surprised pastor that there were initials monogrammed on it. "My husband had the cloth made especially for me in Brussels! There could not be another like it."

For the next few minutes the woman and the pastor talked excitedly together. She explained that she was Viennese; that she and her husband had opposed the Nazis and decided to leave the country. They were advised to go separately. Her husband put her on a train for Switzerland. They planned that he would join her as soon as he could arrange to ship their household goods across the border. She never saw him again. Later she heard that he had died in a concentration camp.

"I have always felt that it was my fault -- to leave without him," she said. "Perhaps these years of wandering have been my punishment!" The pastor tried to comfort her and urged her to take the cloth with her. She refused. Then she went away.

As the church began to fill on Christmas Eve, it was clear that the cloth was going to be a great success. It had been skillfully designed to look its best by candlelight.

After the service, the pastor stood at the doorway. Many people told him that the church looked beautiful. One gentle-faced middle-aged man -- he was the local clock-and-watch repairman -- looked rather puzzled.

"It is strange," he said in his soft accent. "Many years ago my wife - God rest her -- and I owned such a cloth. In our home in Vienna, my wife put it on the table" -- and here he smiled -- "only when the bishop came to dinner."

The pastor suddenly became very excited. He told the jeweler about the woman who had been in church earlier that day. The startled jeweler clutched the pastor's arm. "Can it be? Does she live?"

Together the two got in touch with the family who had interviewed her. Then, in the pastor's car they started for the city. And as Christmas Day was born, this man and his wife, who had been separated through so many saddened Yule tides, were reunited.

To all who hear this story, the joyful purpose of the storm that had knocked a hole in the wall of the church was now quite clear. Of course, people said it was a miracle, but I think you will agree it was the season for it!

True love seems to find a way.

The Holocast Wedding Gown

2010-04-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

This is a very interesting story.
The Wedding Gown That Made History!

Lilly Friedman doesn't remember the last name of the woman who designed and sewed the wedding gown she wore when she walked down the aisle over 60 years ago. But the grandmother of seven does recall that when she first told her fiancé Ludwig that she had always dreamed of being married in a white gown he realized he had his work cut out for him.
For the tall, lanky 21-year-old who had survived hunger, disease and torture this was a different kind of challenge. How was he ever going to find such a dress in the Bergen Belsen Displaced Person's camp where they felt grateful for the clothes on their backs?
Fate would intervene in the guise of a former German pilot who walked into the food distribution center where Ludwig worked, eager to make a trade for his worthless parachute. In exchange for two pounds of coffee beans and a couple of packs of cigarettes Lilly would have her wedding gown.
For two weeks Miriam the seamstress worked under the curious eyes of her fellow DPs, carefully fashioning the six parachute panels into a simple, long sleeved gown with a rolled collar and a fitted waist that tied in the back with a bow. When the dress was completed she sewed the leftover material into a matching shirt for the groom.
A white wedding gown may have seemed like a frivolous request in the surreal environment of the camps, but for Lilly the dress symbolized the innocent, normal life she and her family had once led before the world descended into madness. Lilly and her siblings were raised in a Torah observant home in the small town of Zarica, Czechoslovakia where her father was a melamed, respected and well liked by the young yeshiva students he taught in nearby Irsheva.
He and his two sons were marked for extermination immediately upon arriving at Auschwitz. For Lilly and her sisters it was only their first stop on their long journey of persecution, which included Plashof, Neustadt, Gross Rosen and finally Bergen Belsen.
Four hundred people marched 15 miles in the snow to the town of Celle on January 27, 1946 to attend Lilly and Ludwig's wedding. The town synagogue, damaged and desecrated, had been lovingly renovated by the DPs with the meager materials available to them. When a Sefer Torah arrived from England they converted an old kitchen cabinet into a makeshift Aron Kodesh.

"My sisters and I lost everything - our parents, our two brothers, our homes. The most important thing was to build a new home." Six months later, Lilly's sister Ilona wore the dress when she married Max Traeger. After that came Cousin Rosie. How many brides wore Lilly's dress? "I stopped counting after 17." With the camps experiencing the highest marriage rate in the world, Lilly's gown was in great demand.

In 1948 when President Harry Truman finally permitted the 100,000 Jews who had been languishing in DP camps since the end of the war to emigrate, the gown accompanied Lilly across the ocean to America. Unable to part with her dress, it lay at the bottom of her bedroom closet for the next 50 years, "not even good enough for a garage sale. I was happy when it found such a good home."

Home was the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. When Lily's niece, a volunteer, told museum officials about her aunt's dress, they immediately recognized its historical significance and displayed the gown in a specially designed showcase, guaranteed to preserve it for 500 years.
But Lilly Friedman's dress had one more journey to make. Bergen Belsen, the museum, opened its doors on October 28, 2007. The German government invited Lilly and her sisters to be their guests for the grand opening. They initially declined, but finally traveled to Hanover the following year with their children, their grandchildren and extended families to view the extraordinary exhibit created for the wedding dress made from a parachute.
Lilly's family, who were all familiar with the stories about the wedding in Celle, were eager to visit the synagogue. They found the building had been completely renovated and modernized. But when they pulled aside the handsome curtain they were astounded to find that the Aron Kodesh, made from a kitchen cabinet, had remained untouched as a testament to the profound faith of the survivors. As Lilly stood on the bimah once again she beckoned to her granddaughter, Jackie, to stand beside her where she was once a kallah. "It was an emotional trip. We cried a lot."

Two weeks later, the woman who had once stood trembling before the selective eyes of the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele returned home and witnessed the marriage of her granddaughter.

The three Lax sisters - Lilly, Ilona and Eva, who together survived Auschwitz, a forced labor camp, a death march and Bergen Belsen - have remained close and today live within walking distance of each other in Brooklyn. As mere teenagers, they managed to outwit and outlive a monstrous killing machine, then went on to marry, have children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and were ultimately honored by the country that had earmarked them for extinction.

As young brides, they had stood underneath the chuppah and recited the blessings that their ancestors had been saying for thousands of years. In doing so, they chose to honor the legacy of those who had perished by choosing life.

In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated with the German and Russian peoples looking the other way!

Now, more than ever, with Iraq, Iran and others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.

Abducted from the Hands of the Aggressor

2010-04-06T04:31:00.000-07:00

The Rescue of Jewish Children in Belgium
by Dr. Mordecai Paldiel

On 20 May 1943, just before 10:00 p.m., the doorbell of the Très- Saint-Sauveur convent in Brussels, Belgium rang. Two armed men forced their way in, shouting "Hands up!" They were followed by several other armed men and one woman who stormed the convent, cut the phone lines, and ordered all the nuns to assemble in the Mother Superior's office. The nuns were forced to prepare 15 of their wards—Jewish girls who had been hidden under the guise of Catholic children in need—for a journey. In under an hour, the abductors had taken the children, locked up the nuns in the office, and Sister Marie Amélie (Leloup Eugénie)—the Mother Superior—in an upstairs room. On the way out, to reassure the children, one of the men whispered a few words in Yiddish. Who were these unusual abductors? In September 1942, Cardinal Van Roey, head of the Belgian Catholic church in Malines/ Mechelen, and the Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ), a Jewish clandestine rescue organization, encouraged the Mother Superior of the Trés-Saint-Sauveur convent to take 15 Jewish girls into hiding.

For nine months, the girls lived comfortably in the convent, adapting to their new surroundings and attending Christian religious lessons. On 20 May 1943, having received information of the Jewish children, the Gestapo raided the premises. Discovering that three girls were absent, they decided to return the next morning to collect all the children at once. "It is not to kill them," the head Gestapo agent told the Mother Superior sarcastically, "but to unite them with their families." Frantic, Sister Marie Amélie contacted Miss Jeanne (the wartime pseudonym of Ida Sterno, a Jewish activist with the CDJ) for help. She also appealed to Cardinal Van Roey who contacted Elisabeth, the Queen Mother of Belgium, through one of his aides. Elisabeth intervened but failed to persuade the German authorities to alter their plans. Throughout that day, Sister Marie Amélie and her nuns prayed for divine intervention, while simultaneously preparing the children's belongings for the following day's "departure." That night just before 10:00 p.m. their prayers were answered in the form of an unusual abduction. The leader of the raiding party was 23-year-old Paul Halter, a Jewish commander in the Belgian armed resistance.

Earlier that day, he had visited his friend, Toby Cymberknopf. "I found him very upset," Halter recalls. "He informed me that our friend, Bernard Fenerberg, had learned about the Gestapo's visit to the convent and their intent to return to collect the children. We realized that we only had a few hours at our disposal and thus decided to take it upon ourselves to rescue the children."

Halter, Cymberknopf, and Fenerberg, were joined by fellow-Jew, Jankiel Parancevitch, as well as Andrée Ermel and Floris Desmedt from the Belgian resistance. The six waited for dark, knowing the operation had to take place before the 10:00 p.m. curfew.

"We then forced our way in at gunpoint. We locked up the Mother Superior, ripped out the phone line, and tied the nuns to chairs in the convent's office," says Halter.Half an hour after the "kidnapping" one of the nuns managed to reach the window and alert a passer-by who called the Belgian police. The nuns told the police of the kidnapping and the police carried out their investigation until the next morning, before alerting the Gestapo (giving the kidnappers time to escape with the children). When the Gestapo appeared at the convent the next morning at 11:00 a.m. the children were long gone. From the convent, some had been handed over to their parents, four were brought to Halter's home, and others were taken to Cymberknopf's house. That morning, they had all been transferred to safe locations with help from the CDJ. The Gestapo interrogated the Mother Superior, who said she was certain the men had been sent by the Gestapo.

"Did they have a Jewish appearance?"

"No, not at all."

"Were they all armed?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you scream?"

"Scream? We didn't dare; they said they would shoot if we shouted."

Unable to disprove the nuns' story, the Gestapo left and the children were saved. Halter was later arrested and in September 1943 was deported to Auschwitz. Only after the war did he discover that all 15 girls had survived. Years later in 1991, as a participant in the first Hidden Children reunion in New York, he was reunited with several of the girls he saved. Sister Marie Amélie, Mother Superior of Très-Saint-Sauveur, was honored by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations in 2001, as were Andrée Ermel and her parents, Marcel and Céline Ermel (with whom one of the children, Myriam Frydland, was placed). Yad Vashem equally pays tribute to the CDJ, and the four Jews who participated in this rescue operation—a unique episode in the annals of the Holocaust in Belgium.

A Girl and a Half

2010-04-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Stefania’s Story:
For the last sixteen months of the war in Nazi occupied Poland, 17-year-old Stefania Podgorska and her seven-year-old sister Helena hid 13 Jews in their apartment's attic. It began with sheltering Max Diamant (he later changed his name to Joseph after the war due to prejudice) and later invited his brother and his brother's girlfriend, Danuta. But as time passed, the group multiplied. Despite the constant threat of imprisonment and execution if her thirteen Jewish friends were discovered, Stefania continued to provide them a safe haven. Not only that, she fed, clothed and disposed of their waste the entire time. Even when a young suitor attempted to court her, she turned him away. Towards the end of the war, an empty building from across the street was converted into a makeshift hospital.

One afternoon, two SS soldiers knocked on her door. “You have been ordered to vacate the premises within two hours.” They read to her from an official-looking sheet of paper.

“This residence has been commandeered by the Third Reich. The penalty for noncompliance is death.”

“Two hours! How will I find a place for my sister and me in just two hours?” she cried, but the soldiers merely repeated the orders and left.

For the next hour and a half Stefania ran through every street in town - but she could find nothing that would shelter all fifteen of them. After three years of looting and deprivation, the buildings were in worse shape than ever. There were doorways but no doors; houses without ceilings; rooms filled with the rubble of loose masonry and roofing material.

[In a 1990’s interview Stefania recalls] “Just ruins, nothing more. Almost two hours had gone already. So I came home. I started to cry. I said, ‘How can I leave thirteen people to certain death? I can run out, but these people will be dead…’ There was nothing available, nothing. Only twenty minutes left. I came home. I said nothing. All my thirteen came down to me, with the three children. The pressed against me, so tightly, they looked at me. My decision. Will I leave? My decision. Will I leave them or not?

“All thirteen of them said to me, ‘Run away. You don't have to die with us. We have to, but you don't have to die with us. You cannot help us anymore. Save your life and your little sister and run away, because you still have 10 minutes.’ Joseph pushed me. They said, ‘Run away. Don’t die with us. You cannot help us anymore. What you could do you did, but not now. Save your life and Helena. Go. Run away.’

“And all these people watched me, the children pressed so close I could hear their breathing, my sister too. So I really, I didn't know what to do. I said to them, ‘Well, first of all, come on. We will pray. We will ask God.’ You see, I had a picture which I bought as a little girl, of Jesus and his mother, and it always hung on my wall. And I said, ‘Come on - we will pray. We will ask God.’

“First I knelt, then my sister and all the thirteen after, behind me. And I prayed, and I turned to look. All thirteen were in deep, deep prayer. And I asked God not to let us be killed. Help, somehow. I cannot leave this apartment. I cannot leave thirteen people for certain death. I will be alive if I go, but thirteen lives will be finished - children too, and young people. I asked God, ‘Help, somehow.’

“And again I heard a voice, a woman’s voice. It was so beautiful, so nice, so quiet. She said to me, ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be all right. You will not leave your apartment. You will stay here, and they will take only one room. Everything will be all right. I am with you.’ And she told me, ‘Be quiet. I’ll tell you what to do.’ She said, ‘Send your people to the bunker. Open the door. Open the windows. Clean your apartment and sing.’

“I was like hypnotized. My head was bent down, and I was listening, I was listening and the voice said again, ‘Everything will be all right.’ Then it disappeared. I listened a few minutes more, but nothing more came.

“So I got up and said to my people, ‘Go the attic,’ exactly like the lady told me. I said, ‘I will not move from my apartment. I will stay here, so go to the attic and be quiet, very quiet.’

“And you see, I was completely different. My people looked at me, all my thirteen, and they thought something was wrong with my mind. But I said, ‘Okay now, go out, go to the bunker. Everything will be all right if you stay quiet over there.’

“And I opened the window and the doors, and I cleaned. I started to sing. I don't know how I became so happy. And all the neighbors came, and they said, ‘Miss Podgorska, what happened? Why haven't you moved? The Gestapo, the SS will come. They will kill you. This is war, this is the military. They have no mercy for the enemy - and they are our enemy. Go out. We don't want to see you killed. You're too nice, too young to be dead.’

“I said, ‘I have no place to go.’ They said, ‘Don't you have a friend? Go stay with her.’ I said, ‘No, I will not leave my apartment.’ And they also thought something was wrong with me.

“The janitor's husband came, and he said, ‘Miss Podgorska, I will throw you out. Go out, I don't want to see you be killed - I have no place to bury you.’ And he was serious. … I said, ‘No, I am sorry, I will not move from my apartment.’ And he said, ‘Something is wrong with you,’ but he left.

“I kept singing and cleaning my apartment, and exactly ten minutes past the two hours an SS man came. He was so friendly. He was laughing to me from a few yards away. He came closer to the window and he said - he spoke a little Polish, very broken but he spoke - and he said it was good that I hadn’t moved from my apartment because they would take only one room. This last room, they would take. He said, ‘Very well, you can stay.’”

However, two German nurses moved in, claiming one room as their own. But they were none the wiser of what was going on right over their heads. Months passed and the Russians conquered their village and for them the war was over. All thirteen Jews survived the persecution and were finally granted freedom. When the Russian soldiers realized what happened, they were amazed. Two girls, no, “a girl and a half” saved thirteen lives.

Max/Joseph and Stefania later married, immigrated to Israel and then eventually settled in America. Together they had one son. Stefania wrote down her inspirational story but it was rejected because according the publishers there are just too many holocaust stories out there. However, her story was adapted into a TV movie, called "Hidden in Silence" in 1996. It starred Kellie Martin as Stefania "Fusia" Podgorska, Tom Radcliffe as Max Diamant, Marian Ross as Mrs. Diamant, and Joss Ackland as a factory manager.

Max/Joseph has since passed away, but Stefania still lives in California.

Anne Frank Was Storyteller at Nazi Camp

2010-03-18T08:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/anne-frank-told-stories-to-district-children-at-concentration-camp-survivor-says/19404021?icid=main|main|dl1|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fworld%2Farticle%2Fanne-frank-told-stories-to-district-children-at-concentration-camp-survivor-says%2F19404021

AMSTERDAM (March 17) - Frail, bone-cold and surrounded by death, Jewish teenager Anne Frank did her best to distract younger children from the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp by telling them fairy tales, a Holocaust survivor says.

The account by Berthe Meijer, now 71, of being a 6-year-old inmate of Bergen Belsen offers a rare glimpse of Anne in the final weeks of her life in the German camp, struggling to keep up her own spirits even as she tried to lift the morale of the smaller children.

That Anne had a gift for storytelling was evident from the diary she kept during two years in hiding with her family in Amsterdam. The scattered pages were collected and published after the war in what became the most widely read book to emerge from the Holocaust.

But Meijer's memoir, being published in Dutch later this month, is the first to mention Anne's talent for spinning tales even in the despair of the camp.

The memoir deals with Meijer's acquaintance with Anne Frank in only a few pages, but she said she titled it "Life After Anne Frank" because it continues the tale of Holocaust victims where the famous diary leaves off.

"The dividing line is where the diary of Anne Frank ends. Because then you fall into a big black hole," Meijer told The Associated Press at her Amsterdam home.

Anne's final diary entry was on Aug. 1, 1944, three days before she and her family were arrested. She and her older sister Margot died in March 1945 in a typhus epidemic that swept through Bergen Belsen, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. Anne was 15.

The stories Anne told were "fairy tales in which nasty things happened, and that was of course very much related to the war," Meijer said.

"But as a kid you get lifted out of the everyday nastiness. That's something I remember. You're listening to someone telling something that has nothing to do with what's happening around you - so it's a bit of escape."

In addition to her diary, Frank wrote several essays and fragments of fiction while in hiding, including stories about a fairy and a gnome, though they are usually considered only of historical interest. They have been published as "Tales From the Secret Annex."

The stories she told in the camp were "about princes and elves and those kind of figures," Meijer said. Despite having unhappy twists, the tales were "quite a bit less terrible than what we saw around us. So you thought: they didn't have it so bad. As a child, you think very primitively about that kind of thing."

Around 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands before the 1940-45 Nazi occupation. Of those, 107,000 were deported to Germany and only 5,200 survived.

The Meijers and the Franks were acquaintances before the war: members of both families had fled Germany during the rise of Hitler's regime and found a place in the tightly-knit Jewish community in Amsterdam. The Meijers lived on the same street where Anne attended a Montessori elementary school.

The Franks went into hiding in a secret apartment above a canal-side warehouse where Otto Frank, Anne's father, had his business.

The Meijers hid in their own home, boarding up the windows and hanging a sign on the door that read "contagious disease" to discourage visitors. They were caught in early 1944 and deported from the Netherlands that March. Both of Berthe's parents died at Bergen Belsen in January 1945.

Dr. Alan Hilfer, director of psychology at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, said it's plausible that Meijer would have recognized Frank and stored the memory all these years if she knew her before the war and if she met her again at the camp.

A child of six or seven can "form memories reasonably well and hold on to them, though not in the same way as an adult," he said.

Records obtained by The Associated Press from Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial authority, show that Berthe was an inmate of Bergen Belsen for 13 months until it was liberated in April 1945.

Annemarie Bekker, a spokeswoman for the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam said Berthe Meijer has previously been interviewed by museum historians and she had no reason to doubt Meijer's testimony.

"It could very well be true," Bekker said. "We can't confirm it or deny it."

Hannah Pick-Goslar, a childhood friend of Anne Frank who also met her in Bergen Belsen, said she doubted Meijer's recollection was accurate.

"In that condition, you almost died," she said in a telephone call from her home in Jerusalem. "You had no strength to tell stories."

Meijer acknowledged that her recollections of the Frank sisters were fleeting.

She said there were many reasons she had waited until now to tell her story - not least that she was busy growing up, having a career and raising a family. She said a dedication ceremony at Bergen Belsen in 2006 made her realize how few Dutch survivors are still alive, and that there is little record of the impact the camp had on their later lives.

In addition, she suppressed her memories for years, and the horror of the camps have always been a difficult or taboo subject: at the orphanage where Meijer grew up, in polite company afterward, and even among her fellow survivors.

Still, "you remember a lot at age 7," she said. Meijer turned 7 in April 1945.

"You had to take off your clothes because there were lice in them that spread typhus. And you were wrapped in those blankets. And you sat somewhere in a corner half-frozen."

She said Margot had asked Anne to tell stories to cheer up the children, and that it was difficult for Anne to summon the enthusiasm.

The last time she saw Anne was in the camp infirmary, but they were both sick and "too weak and sad to even be pleasant to each other," she wrote.

In some ways, Meijer grew up to be the person Anne had hoped to be, a journalist, a columnist and an author, albeit of a popular Dutch cookbook.

In her diary Anne wrote in April 1944: "I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. But, and that is the great question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?"

Although Meijer associated with leading Dutch writers and artists, she said she suffered lifelong symptoms of post-traumatic stress, with overwhelming memories and emotions surfacing unexpectedly.

To this day she has a paralyzing fear of crowds and public transportation.

In her book, she wonders about her choices in marrying first a gifted, but alcoholic architect and later one of the Netherlands' most famed journalists - not coincidentally, another Bergen Belsen survivor.

She says she can laugh "through the tears" about having become a culinary expert years after fantasizing endlessly about food while starving at the camp.

She describes how the simple act of cleaning sauce from a pan with her finger can trigger the ambiguously pleasant memory of being allowed to lick one of the camp's enormous cooking vats.

And she proudly shows off a concealed crawl space behind an opening in her cellar where she could hide if need be.

In history books, "the war ends when we were liberated. No. Not for a lot of people," she says.

"Not for the lives of the people who survived those camps or went into hiding or had traumatic experiences because of that war. Those things, they don't go away."

The White Rose (a.k.a.: Die Weiße Rose)

2010-03-05T04:31:00.001-08:00

Movie Description:
The beautiful Lena Stolze stars in this acclaimed feature based on the true story of five German students and their professor who formed a secret society dedicated to protesting the Nazi regime. Known collectively as the “White Rose”, the Munich-based group distributed anti-Hitler literature in a resistance effort which cost them their lives. Initially, the German government refused to allow the film to be shown abroad due to an epilogue which pointedly observed that the legal judgment condemning the White Rose society had never been rescinded. Ultimately, the political controversy surrounding Verhoeven's film directly caused the German government to officially invalidate the Nazi “People's Court” system that sentenced the group to death.

Summary:
The movie opens with Sophie Scholl arriving in Munich on a train, to attend the university with her brother. Upon arrival she meets Hans’ close knit group friends and they kindly throw her a birthday party. Although she enjoys her classes, her newfound friends, she is none the wiser about her brother’s peculiar activities until she stumbles upon this eye opening leaflet written by the clandestine group, the White Rose. Sophie agrees with the leaflet and hangs onto it, and is stunned when she discovers that her brother is one of the authors of it. Despite the group’s opposition to allow her to take part, she forces her way in and runs errands for them, soon becoming a full-fledged member. The movie closely follows the groups escapades, from stealing paper to buying an enormous amount of stamps (which was forbidden and suspicious in the days of Nazi Germany) to the Scholl’s father’s arrest for making a derogatory comment against Hitler.
When the men of the group are sent to the eastern front, they must temporarily suspend their leaflet distribution until they return. Hans and his friends witness the execution of Jewish prisoners and it inspires them to continue their mission no matter what. While Hans is in the east, Sophie works at an ammunition factory and while she is working, she watches with satisfaction and foreign prisoner sabotage her work.
When the students return for the winter semester, they are faced with new challenges. The acceptance of two new members, Professor Huber and Gisela Schertling. The professor makes an excellent contribution of writing his own leaflet, however, there is a confrontation when it is edited. As for Gisela, she listens to a mandatory speech (which the core members of the White Rose skip) of Gauleiter Geisler and when he insults the female students with degrading and lewd comments, a spontaneous protest erupts from the majority of the students there.
With this new development, along with the dismal surrender at Stalingrad, Hans and Sophie decide to make the daring move of distributing the sixth leaflet at the university itself, in broad daylight. Their decision seals their fate. Observed by a custodian, they are reported and arrested, and interrogated. Within five days, they are executed.

My Thoughts:
For when it was made, the White Rose is a good movie but it is also a product of its time. It’s a little cheesy at times, considering the music and some of the melodramatic acting. To me the only convincing actor of the film was Ulrich Turkur who portrayed Willi Graf. He plays a relatively small roll but he is a fine actor. Counting this role, he has acted in three other movies based in Nazi Germany: “Bonhoeffer,” “Amen,” and “Stauffenberg.” Lena Stolze, who portrayed Sophie, did an okay job at displaying Sophie’s youth and enthusiasm; she looked the age and she even looked like the Sophie herself. But at times the character came across as silly as a young teen when she was in fact in her twenties. She failed to capture Sophie’s depth and inner strength. I wish to high heavens that somebody would remake this movie. A few years ago, Angelica Houston was working to bring the story to the big screen once again, but unfortunately it has fallen by the way side. Christina Ricci was slated to star as Sophie, Albert Finney was to be Robert Mohr, and Liam Neeson had a role as well. I think with the release of “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days” over in Germany, Angelica Houston opted not to go through with it. However, I hope (and sometimes pray) that she might revive this project.

Sex/Nudity:
During an argument between Hans and Sophie, Hans is without a shirt and it appears he is about to take a bath. In a scene closer to the end of the movie, Sophie is struggling to get into her sweater just as Hans enters the room.
There are three objectionable scenes that stick out in my mind. The first scene involves Sophie and her boyfriend Fritz, who is on leave and visiting her. As they kiss and are on the verge of sex, Sophie’s blouse is off and her bra is on, he is kissing her upper body. A disagreement prevents them from going any further. The second scene is of Hans and his current girlfriend Traute. They are outside and it is implied they just had sex, she is upset with him and struggling to get into her bra, and her bare chest is partially in view. The third scene is not sexual or romantic. It is when Hans and his friends are on the eastern front; they observe a group of Jewish men who are nude and awaiting their execution. There is one last scene, that isn’t sexual but it appeared odd to me. Days before Hans and Sophie pass out the final leaflet, Sophie goes to Hans when he is in his bed and climbs in beside him, and places her head on his chest. I know it was meant to be innocent, but in this day and age it was strange. Of course it could be possible that over in Europe siblings are more affectionate.

Violence:
I don’t recall much violence, except for one part and no one is physically harmed. On one of their missions at night, the men of the group paint anti-Nazi and anti-Hitler slogans on walls and monuments. They are caught and to get away, one of the members knocks a can of paint onto the head of a Gestapo agent. Also, when protest erupts at the Gauleiter’s speech, the women are forcibly restrained and forbidden to leave. Angered by this action against the ladies, the men of the university burst through the doors and overtake the guards.

Language:
There is one use of the d-word and Sophie and her friend mention the s-word in singing a little ditty. The main language concern of this movie stems from the historic speech by Gauleiter Geisler. He not only states that women do not belong at the university, that they more useful birthing a son for Hitler and goes as far as offering one of his adjutants so that women could have an enjoyable experience.

Religion:
Most of the members of the White Rose were professing Christians, but for the most part of the movie this is downplayed. There is a mention of the famous sermon by Count von Galen. He was a bishop of Munster and was the only clergyman to vehemently and publicly oppose the Nazi regime. Though Hitler and the Nazis had hoped to have von Galen arrested and sent to prison, the bishop could not be touched due to the devotion of his followers. The Scholl’s collected his sermons and passed them out as well. The most obvious reference to faith was close to the end of the movie, before the execution, when Sophie is speaking to her mother. Her mother reminds her of Jesus and Sophie encourages her mother to remember Him too.

For Further References:

Movies:
Five Last Days (Fünf letzte Tage) (1982)- Details the last five days of Sophie Scholl’s life from the point of view of her cell mate, Else Gebel. This movie was actually made prior to “The White Rose” and by a different director. Unfortunately I have never watched it (it is difficult to find) but if you have a chance, I suggest you see it.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)- In my personal opinion, this is the best movie ever made on Sophie Scholl and the White Rose. It follows the final days of Sophie Scholl’s life; the distribution of the leaflets at the university, arrest, interrogations, trial and ultimately her death. The director and scriptwriter delved into the personal lives of the White Rose members, the transcripts of the interrogations, letters, interviews, biographies, etc. The psychological and intellectual battles between Sophie and Gestapo agent Robert Mohr are superb. I command you to watch this; you’ll walk away a different person.

Books:
“The Rose of Treason,” by James DeVita- A play based on the White Rose group and their activities.

“Sophie Scholl and the White Rose,” by Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn- (originally titled, “Shattering the German Night”) a newly re-released biography on Sophie Scholl, her life and involvement with the White Rose.

“Ceremony of Innocence,” by James D. Forman- A bio-fiction on Hans Scholl, written in the 1970’s. Although it is entertaining, newly discovered facts on Hans and the White Rose makes this book dated.

“A Nobel Treason,” by Richard Hanser- A fantastic non-fiction book on the White Rose and the personal lives of those involved in the group. Much detail, I highly recommend it.

“Sophie Scholl: The Real Story Behind Germany’s Resistance Heroine,” by Frank McDonough- A new biography on Sophie Scholl, nicely written but I wish it were longer and that it went deeper on her personal life, and reasons for joining the White Rose.

“At the Heart of the White Rose,” by Hans and Sophie Scholl- The diaries and letters of Hans and Sophie Scholl. Although obviously pre-selected and edited, it delves into their hearts and minds and their motives of why the White Rose was formed.

“The White Rose,” by Inge Scholl (originally, “Students Against Tyranny”)- The original book to shed light on the resistance group, written by Hans and Sophie’s older sister, Inge. A must read for any White Rose enthusiast.

“The Short Life of Sophie Scholl,” by Hermann Vinke- A nice biography on Sophie, I wish I could complement it more but it has been awhile since I’ve read it.

“Self-Control,” by Mary Brunton

2010-02-25T04:39:00.000-08:00

Author Bio:
Mary Brunton (née Balfour) (1 November 1778 – 7 December 1818) was a Scottish novelist.
Mary was the daughter Colonel Thomas Balfour of Elwick, a British Army officer and Frances Ligonier, sister of the second earl of Ligonier. She was born on 1 November 1778 in the Orkney Islands. Mary's early education was limited, though her mother did teach her music, Italian, and French.
Around 1798, Mary met and fell in love with the Reverend Alexander Brunton, a Church of Scotland minister, who later became a Professor of Oriental Languages in the University of Edinburgh. Although Mary's mother disapproved of the match, she married Brunton in 1798 and they had a happy marriage, which included companionship and mutual interests. After twenty years of marriage, Mary finally became pregnant at age forty, but she died in 1818 in Edinburgh after giving birth to a still-born son.
Brunton started to write her first novel in 1809. Like many of her fellow novelists, she also recorded bits and pieces of daily life in a journal. In her lifetime, Brunton wrote two complete novels, Self-Control (1811) and Discipline (1814). After her death, her unfinished work Emmeline, along with a Memoir, was published by her husband in 1819.

My Description:
“Self-Control” is the little-known tale of Laura Montreville, a seventeen-year-old girl living in the Regency Era, daughter of a widowed Captain Montreville. What makes this piece of work stand out from most classics of the Regency Era is the heroine’s strong faith in Christ. Not only does she “talk the talk” she “walks the walk.” There are several scenes of Laura praying, speaking of her faith and following the ways of God rather than the ways of man. When family-friend, Colonel Hargrave, confesses to her of his passionate and violent love for her, and continually pursues her even after she refuses him, it takes all of her self-control to hold fast to the faith she professes.

My Thoughts:
I really loved “Self-Control” and I consider it on par with Jane Austen’s canon, unfortunately neither the author nor this story has received much attention the last few decades. Published a year prior to “Sense and Sensibility,” it shares a lot of common themes with Austen’s first published work. Like Marianne Dashwood, Laura discovers that though passion and attraction often awakens love, it seldom lasts. She learns that love grounded in friendship, respect and selflessness is the love that never ends. I wish that someone would take notice of this novel and have it reissued into a brand-spanking new edition, the way Bethany House has done with Austen’s classics. The edition I read had the characters’ dialogs running together and it made it difficult to decipher who was speaking. Also, I firmly believe that “Self-Control” would transfer well to screen (hint, hint Emma Thompson, or BBC). Anyway, anybody who loves Austen or “Sense and Sensibility”, I highly recommend this book for you.

I’m Taking a Break

2010-02-16T04:36:00.000-08:00

No, not from the blog world, but from the subject I have been writing about and researching for the last seven years straight: the Holocaust. Actually, I have been reading about the holocaust longer than that. When I was twelve and received “The Diary of a Young Girl” for my birthday, I had to do some background research to completely understand what was going on in the Netherlands when Anne Frank wrote in her diary. And then in 2003 I decided to write about the Holocaust in Poland and have surrounded myself with that dark period in history every since. Not only that, for the last two years I have dug deeper into the subject of Nazi Germany for a future fictional series that I would like to tackle.

In the last six months or so, I have become overwhelmed and a little depressed at times and I think its due to consistently reading about the Holocaust. So, I need a break from writing and reading about it. It won’t be forever, but it needs to be for awhile so I can regroup emotionally.

In the mean time, I plan to write about more lighthearted subjects. In fact, two other authors and I intend to write a series together which should be awesome. Right now I’m beginning a story that is based in the Edwardian era in my own beloved state.

Perhaps six months to a year from now I can pick up where I left off. Until then, its going to be refreshing to write about something that isn’t connected to genocide, hatred, evil, etc…

Have you ever seen a miracle?

2010-02-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

Yes, my entire life and existance on earth is one big miracle. I shouldn't even be alive. Our family doctor at the time miscalculated my due date and I ended up being a month overdue. My mom was in labor off and on for an entire month. Come December 30th, Mom went into the hospital and my heart beat had dropped, along with the fact that the cord detached itself and I was receiving no nutrition. The family doctor was no where to be found. Instead another doctor was in the ER who wasn't supposed to be there that day but he was checking on another patient of his. He performed a c-section on my mom and saved my life. Talk about Divine Appointment!

We are a family who doesn't just believe in miracles, we rely on them.

The Attack

2010-01-26T04:17:00.000-08:00

I was scrounging through the rack full of blouses, enjoying myself when I could feel it sneaking up upon me. It had surprised me numerous times before, usually when I am completely unaware and having fun. I could be spending an hour at the library looking for books or out to eat with my family or even at church. Wherever I am, I am in my own little world when it strikes. However, this time I was at Wal-Mart shopping for clothes, with my back turned, so I couldn’t see it coming.

I ducked my head, in hopes of eluding it. My eyes scan the area; I must distract myself. If I let it overcome me I am once again the victim. I frantically tore through the clothing, agitated that my plan isn’t working and I move on to the next part of the store: the movies. I must get my mind on something else and fast! Still, it follows me, a darkness intent on wholly engulfing me. This darkness held me captive for almost four years; therefore I must fight it.

I pray, knowing fully well that my prayers are always heard and answered. Though it strengthens me, I am still shaky and am thinking that it is time for me to go to the check out. Heading into the main aisle at the front of the store, the wide white open space, I begin to feel heated. This is how it always starts: the chase that used to end with me in tears and fleeing to my comfort zone.

I cough. Sometimes this terror makes my throat feel swollen even though it’s not. I break out into a sweat. Okay, it is now sinking its sharp claws into me, determined to tear into me and leave its mark. My heart is palpitating faster and faster, I am beginning to feel dizzy as the room whirls around me.

I am almost there! If I can just last a little longer I will make it.

It makes once last attempt to break me: a wave of nausea hits me full force. Usually this is a last measure and one not used often, yet this time it is close to being successful.

I reach the counter, manage a few words of small talk and pay for my items. It feels like eternity but somehow I make it without fainting or dropping into the fetal position. I walk out the sliding doors and to the car with my head held high, triumph and pride fills me. This time I survived its attack and am able to go throughout the day as if nothing happened.

It slinks away in defeat… but plots the day when it will attack me again. Until then I am victorious over my anxiety attacks and will not let it make me a victim any longer.

What are the top 5 things off your Bucket List?

2010-01-19T04:46:00.000-08:00

1. Get published (c'mon, you had to know that was like #1 on the list)
2. Overcome my anxiety
3. Stand up for myself and fight my own battles instead of letting others fight them for me.
4. Accept that life won't happen the way I expect it to.
5. Stop fearing the unknown.

If I Were...

2010-01-15T04:13:00.000-08:00

If I were a month, I would be May.
If I were a day of the week, I would be Sunday.
If I were a time of the day, I would be the afternoon.
If I were a planet, I would be Pluto.
If I were a sea animal, I would be a dolphine.
If I were a direction, I would be north.
If I were a piece of furniture, I would be my wooden lapdesk.
If I were a liquid, I would be sun tea.
If I were a gemstone, I would be a delicate diamond.
If I were a tree, I would be a magnolia tree at springtime, in full-bloom, with a few pink blossoms cascading to the roots below.
If I were a tool, I would be a hammer.
If I were a flower, I would be a my grandma's tulips.
If I were a kind of weather, I would be sunny with a gentle spring breeze that played with windchimes.
If I were a musical instrument, I would be a violin.
If I were a color, I would be powder blue.
If I were an emotion, I would be peace.
If I were a fruit, I would be a tomato.
If I were an element, I would be copper.
If I were a sound, I would be a windchime.
If I were a car, I would be anything out of the 1950's.
If I were a food, I would be pizza.
If I were a place, I would be a peaceful Indiana countryside.
If I were a material, I would be satin.
If I were a taste, I would be chocolate.
If I were a scent, I would be vanilla.
If I were an animal, I would be a lion.
If I were an object, I would be a book.
If I were a body part, I would be the eyes.
If I were a facial expression, I would be a grin.
If I were a pair of shoes, I would be a cute pair of sandles.

Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank, dies at 100

2010-01-12T09:04:00.000-08:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_re_eu/eu_netherlands_obit_miep_gies

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Miep Gies, the office secretary who defied the Nazi occupiers to hide Anne Frank and her family for two years and saved the teenager's diary, has died, the Anne Frank House museum said Tuesday. She was 100.

Gies died from a neck injury sustained in a fall at her home shortly before Christmas, museum spokeswoman Annemarie Bekker said.

Gies was the last of the few non-Jews who supplied food, books and good cheer to the secret annex behind the canal warehouse where Anne, her parents, sister and four other Jews hid for 25 months during World War II.

After the apartment was raided by the German police, Gies gathered up Anne's scattered notebooks and papers and locked them in a drawer for her return after the war. The diary, which Frank had been given on her 13th birthday, chronicles her life in hiding from June 12, 1942 until August 1, 1944.

Gies refused to read the papers, saying even a teenager's privacy was sacred. Later, she said if she had read them she would have had to burn them because they incriminated the "helpers."

Frank died of typhus at age 15 in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated. Gies gave the diary to Frank's father Otto, the only survivor, who published it in 1947.

"Every day for over two years she put herself in danger by hiding Jews from the Nazis," said Anne Frank's cousin, Bernd "Buddy" Elias, who last saw Gies on her 100th birthday. "If they had caught her, she would have been put in a concentration camp herself."

Her death removed one of the last living direct links to Anne Frank, with only Elias and a few of her childhood friends still alive.

An online registry quickly recorded hundreds of condolences from around the world.

After the diary was published, Gies tirelessly promoted causes of tolerance. She brushed aside the accolades for helping hide the Frank family as more than she deserved — as if, she said, she had tried to save all the Jews of occupied Holland.

"This is very unfair. So many others have done the same or even far more dangerous work," she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press days before her 100th birthday in February.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" was the first popular book about the Holocaust, and has been read by millions of children and adults around the world in 70 languages.

For her courage, Gies was bestowed with the "Righteous Gentile" title by the Israeli Holocaust museum Yad Vashem. She has also been honored by the German Government, Dutch monarchy and educational institutions.

Nevertheless, Gies resisted being made a character study of heroism for the young.

"I don't want to be considered a hero," she said in a 1997 online chat with schoolchildren.

"Imagine young people would grow up with the feeling that you have to be a hero to do your human duty. I am afraid nobody would ever help other people, because who is a hero? I was not. I was just an ordinary housewife and secretary."

Born Hermine Santrouschitz on Feb. 15, 1909 in Vienna, Gies moved to Amsterdam when she was 11 to escape food shortages in Austria. She lived with a host family who gave her the nickname Miep.

In 1933, Gies took a job as an office assistant in the spice business of Otto Frank. After refusing to join a Nazi organization in 1941, she avoided deportation to Austria by marrying her Dutch boyfriend, Jan Gies.

As the Nazis ramped up their arrests and deportations of Dutch Jews, Otto Frank asked Gies in July 1942 to help hide his family in the annex above the company's canal-side warehouse on Prinsengracht 263 and to bring them food and supplies.

"I answered, 'Yes, of course.' It seemed perfectly natural to me. I could help these people. They were powerless, they didn't know where to turn," she said years later.

Jan and Miep Gies worked with four other employees in the firm to sustain the Franks and four other Jews sharing the annex. Jan secured extra food ration cards from the underground resistance. Miep cycled around the city, alternating grocers to ward off suspicions from this highly dangerous activity.

In her e-mail to the AP in February, Gies remembered her husband, who died in 1993, as one of Holland's unsung war heroes. "He was a resistance man who said nothing but did a lot. During the war he refused to say anything about his work, only that he might not come back one night. People like him existed in thousands but were never heard," she wrote.

Touched by Anne Frank's precocious intelligence and loneliness, Miep also brought her books and newspapers while remembering everybody's birthdays and special days with gifts.

"It seems as if we are never far from Miep's thoughts," Frank wrote.

In her own book, "Anne Frank Remembered," Gies recalled being in the office when the German police, acting on a tip that historians have failed to trace, raided the hide-out in August 1944.

A policeman opened the door to the main office and pointed a revolver at the three employees, telling them to sit quietly. "Bep, we've had it," Gies whispered to Bep Voskuijl.

After the arrests, she went to the police station to offer a bribe for the Franks' release, but it was too late. On Aug. 8, they were sent to Westerbork, a concentration camp in eastern Holland from where they were later packed into cattle cars and deported to Auschwitz. A few months later, Anne and her sister Margot were transported to Bergen-Belsen.

Two of the helpers, Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman, were sent to labor camps, but survived the war.

Around 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands before the 1940-45 Nazi occupation. Of those, 107,000 were deported to Germany and only 5,200 survived. Some 24,000 Jews went into hiding, of which 8,000 were hunted down or turned in.

After the war, Otto Frank returned to Amsterdam and lived with the Gies family until he remarried in 1952. Miep worked for him as he compiled the diary, then devoted herself to talking about the diary and answering piles of letters with questions from around the world.

After Otto Frank's death in 1980, Gies continued to campaign against Holocaust-deniers and to refute allegations that the diary was a forgery.

She suffered a stroke in 1997 which slightly affected her speech, but she remained generally in good health and mentally alert.

Her son Paul Gies said last year she was still receiving "a sizable amount of mail" which she handled with the help of a family friend. She spent her days at the apartment where she lived since 2000 in the northern town of Hoorn reading two daily newspapers and following television news and talk shows. She recently moved to a nursing facility, before the fall at her home.

She is survived by her son and three grandchildren.

Winter in Indiana

2010-01-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't write this, I found it in an e-mail. Hope all you Hoosiers out there enjoy it!

It's winter in Indiana
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Indiana
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Indiana
Cuz I'm frozen to the ground!

Have a great day...

What Have I Done?

2010-01-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

For those who know me, I’m desperate to get published and I’m trying to promote myself. Though I already have three blogs, I added another to my list. So if you’re interested in looking at any of them or your want to connect, here they are:

http://veronicaleigh.blogspot.com
http://veronica_leigh.xanga.com
http://www.shoutlife.com/veronicaleigh
http://edgychristianfictionlovers.ning.com/profile/VeronicaLeigh

Also, I’m on facebook, so look me up.

A Rant About Christian Fiction

2010-01-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

I haven’t been writing lately. Not because I’m creatively challenged, but out of choice. While I’m on a brief hiatus from my series in Poland, I’m collecting information for a new series that is to be based in Nazi Germany. It’s a heck of a whole lot of books to scrounge through, but the more I learn about that period in history the more fascinated I am. And equally disturbed too. There are so many similarities between Nazi Germany was and what modern day America has become. But that’s another story for another time. Though the books on Nazi Germany and German Occupied Poland are plentiful, I haven’t been reading much Christian fiction lately.

I borrow enough Christian fiction from the library, but by the time I get around to them they are too ridiculous to read. Or I do read them and find them so mind-numbingly stupid that I feel like my head is about to explode. All of them are romances; I mean I like a good romance too, but there is rarely anything out there that isn’t a love story. Hero meets heroine, they fight, they have feelings, they kiss, they have troubles, they end up together, the end. There are a couple authors that do go rogue and publish something thought provoking, but the books that those authors released this year were a disappointment.

Want to hear a synopsis of a romance that I once read? Once upon a time, a Heroine gets stood up at the altar and the groom runs off with all her money. She decides the only logical thing to do is track him down and kill him. Being a devout Christian she struggles with this, but somehow reasons that it won’t be too bad to take a life. Heroine crosses paths with groom’s brother, fights with him and continues on her journey to whack her ex-fiancé’. The brother (who is actually the Hero of this story) and the Heroine encounter all kinds of misadventures. Eventually Hero and Heroine fall in love and before they end up together, she realizes that she can’t actually go through with committing murder after all. And Hero and Heroine life happily ever after. The End.

How can anyone (Christian authors, Christian publishers and Christian fiction market) expect a story like this to reach the lost? Believe it or not the synopsis above was of a book written originally as a secular story and “Christian-ized” for the Christian market, and the author is a popular and best-selling author at a prestigious Christian publisher. Such fiction is so frustrating to me; it isn’t a reflection of life, or the heart and soul and yet it somehow gets published.

According to most Christian publishers, I’m not educated and I don’t have the background to meet their criteria, but I know in my heart of hearts that I can do just as well as they do- maybe even better. Well, at the very least my Heroine won’t be a deranged, but devout Christian killer.

Attention All Jane Austen Lovers!!!

2009-12-28T11:16:00.000-08:00

While Sis and I were crusing Books A Million this afternoon, we stumbled upon a new edition of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." I swear, just a few weeks ago I was complaining to Sis that Bethany House should release more Jane Austen books. Of course I bought it, any obsessed Jane Austen fan would (even though she already own the book LOL!).

For those familiar with Bethany House Publishing Company, back 2007 they released the esquisite Insight Edition of "Pride and Prejudice." The "Pride and Prejudice" edition included an introduction by the highly ecclaimed author Nancy Moser, who wrote a bio-fiction of Jane Austen's life called, "Just Jane" (She is also the author of How Do I Love Thee?" the bio-fiction of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's life).

Well, the introduction of this new "Sense and Sensibility" edition was written by none other than Julie Klassen, author of Regency masterpieces "Lady of Milkweed Manor," "The Apothecary's Daughter" and the newly released "The Silent Governess."

Unlike most editions, the Insight Edition includes comments throughout the whole book, on Austen's life, little-known-facts about the book, information on the Regency Era, and tid-bits about the movies inspired by these classic books.

I'm sure within a few years time, all of Jane Austen's beloved classics shall be re-released as Insight Editions. I can't wait for Emma. Dear God, let them put Mr. Knightley on the cover!

'Call me Joseph bar Jacob'

2009-12-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

by Jerry Jenkins

I was a simple man, a carpenter in a small village.

You know my story. I was in love with a girl as beautiful inside as out, and trust me, her beauty was obvious.

She would come by at the end of my day with a fresh pot of drinking water. That was my signal that it was time to brush from my hair and beard the wood chips of a long day of planing and sawing. My hands were rough and callused, my wrist sore from swinging the mallets.

Mary demurely turned away when I loosened the top of my apron and stood bare-chested at the water trough to wash. When I was again covered, I would smile and say, “Now my sweet girl, something to drink.” There could not have been a happier man in all of Judah. That fresh, pure water Mary drew from a spring near her home cooled my throat and revived me. I would gather her tiny form and hold her close, wondering at how a man of such humble station could be blessed with such a treasure. She was my intended, my wife-to-be.

But then came the day of my tantrum. How would you have reacted? My first clue was that she had forgotten the water. I couldn’t be angry about that. Though she had been faithful with that gift every day since our betrothal, I could just as easily have drawn my own water.
But also this day she did not turn her back to me when I washed. She merely sat with her eyes cast down. In a strange way she shone, despite her secret.

“What is it?” I said, cupping her face in my hands.

“You will not believe me,” she said. “You will not understand.”

Her words cut deep. How could she question the faith and sympathy of a man who loved her more than life itself? But she was right.

“I am with child,” she whispered, and my blood ran cold. “An angel appeared to me,” she said, but before she could continue I rose and threw a plank against the wall.

We had remained pure. I had loved her too much to defile or defraud her. Who had come between us? What evil one had ruined our lives, our love? I fought hatred, revulsion. I could not picture it. There was no imagining that another could include my beloved in sinful embrace.
My lips trembled and I shuddered. I turned my back to her, wondering how I could break our engagement without further humiliating her. Despite my anger and grief, I wanted to do what was best for her.

She pleaded with me to understand, but I could not look at her.

“I have not sinned,” she told me. “What is within me is of the Holy Ghost.”

I was not moved. An angel had appeared to her, she said. The Scriptures told of such visits hundreds of years before. That didn’t happen anymore. When she hurried away in tears, my heart was broken. I could not fathom a lie from her lips, but who could believe this?

I thought of the men in the village I must see about an official putting-away of my espoused one, and I fought for self-control.

That night the angel of the Lord appeared to me. “Fear not,” he said.

I confess I disobeyed. I feared to the utmost. He told me to take Mary as my wife because the child that was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. He told me of the impending birth of Jesus the Christ.

I stole away in the night and approached Mary’s home. A candle burned near where she sat, as if she awaited me.

“Mary,” I whispered, “forgive me. The angel appeared to me too.”

She embraced me and thus began a journey that would forever change our lives and the lives of millions through the ages.

The rest is His story.

The Night God Came to Dinner

2009-12-19T12:04:00.000-08:00

Prayer Request for a sick Little Girl: Update!

2009-12-16T08:13:00.000-08:00

December 20, 2009
Okay, here's the newest on Ainsley. She originally went to the hospital thinking Pneumonia and was told it was most likely appendicitis. Well, within 45 minutes of her getting there and with all the prayers going up, the hospital realized it was not pneumonia or appendicitis. I believe they went ahead and sent her home and she went to the doctor's office the next day and learned that it was a really nasty bug.

That's a big praise, but I'd still like it if you'd pray for a full recovery. I mean she's only like 6 or 7 and Christmas is Friday. I hope and pray she is better by then so that she can enjoy the holiday. I'll let you know when or if I find out anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
December 17, 2009
Okay, I have an update. Doctors think that Ainsley is suffering with appendicitis rather than pneumonia. Still, that is an awful thing for a little girl to go through, especially around Christmas time. Please continue to pray for her and the comfort of her family. Thank you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
December 16, 2009
A few hours ago I learned that a six or seven year old girl who attends our church and AWANA could be ill with pneumonia. Her name is Ainsley and she was sick all last night and probably will end up going to the hospital. Its uncertain if its H1N1. The family is having a rough go of it; her grandfather Bob lost his mother last week and now this has happened. Please keep Ainsley and her family in your prayers. I'll update if I learn anything more. Thanks and God Bless.

The Gold and Ivory Tablecloth (aka "The Holocaust Tablecloth")

2009-12-15T07:35:00.000-08:00

A Letter From Jesus

2009-12-04T08:58:00.001-08:00

Found this in my mail box.
___________________________

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up... It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5 Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :

I LOVE YOU,

JESUS

Christmas Quiz

2009-12-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you...'Tis the Season to be NICE

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial, that way there are no squirrels in it (think Chevy Chase in "Christmas Vacation").

3. When do you put up the tree?
The Monday after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down?
After the New Year.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Not sure.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
My Sonic the Hedgehog stuffed toy. I got Tails for Easter. :~)

7. Hardest person to buy for?
The parents.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
My sister.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yep.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, of course. That way you can take them out and look at them later.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I can't recall. But one year on my birthday I opened ovenmits which was intended for my Grandma's group's Christmas party.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I have three: "The Nativity Story," "Elf," and "A Christmas Story."

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I shop throughout the year, starting as early as May.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
No, but I've sold one.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Grandma's chocolate fudge, no-bake cookies or chocolate covered pretzels.

16. Lights on the tree?
Of course! What's a tree without lights?!

17. Favorite Christmas song?
"Mary, Did You Know?" or "2,000 Decembers Age"

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay at home and have everyone travel to our house.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Donner, Blitzen, Comet, Cupid and do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolf!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Neither; we have a Santa on top.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Probably on Christmas morning since no one is coming over.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
When people take Christ out of Christmas. While Jesus wasn't born on December 25, this is the day we're celebrating His birthday. If you don't like it, you can work on Christmas. How do you like that?

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?
My baby ornament of a baby in a swing.

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner?
Something unique and italian.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
To share Christmas with someone who has never celebrated it before.

Prayer For a Young Girl: PRAISE!!!

2009-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, for those who have been praying, God has answered! I'm a little foggy on the details, but Marissa had gone to the doctors and he was the one who advised her to return to the hospital. But she only stayed there for a couple of days and went home on Thanksgiving. And she was able to come to church this morning! So that is a HUGE praise.

As for Jo- I saw her this morning and she updated us herself. She did have her nose cauterized and was given some iron pills to take. She looked bright and beautiful as usual.

Hopefully things will return to normal for this family.

Prayer For a Young Girl: Update

2009-11-26T06:56:00.000-08:00

Marissa had improved a great deal and even went home before the doctors had predicted. Unfortunately on Tuesday she had some kind of relapse and is back in the hospital. Please, please, please keep her and her family in your prayers! Yesterday was her birthday and today is Thanksgiving, and her younger sister is having her birthday in a few days. They're being bombarded.

Also, remember her grandmother Jo. Jo is in her mid-eighties and was having awful nosebleeds that sent her to the ER. She was supposed to have her nose cauterized (sp?) but I haven't heard anything more about her.

Thanks and God Bless.

“Trapped in Hitler’s Hell,” by Anita Dittman and Jan Markell

2009-11-19T05:18:00.000-08:00

A young Jewish girl discovers the Messiah’s faithfulness in the midst of the Holocaust.
Anita Dittman was just a little girl when the winds of Hitler and Nazism began to blow through Germany. By the time she was twelve, the war had begun.
Shocking and disturbing, yet hopeful and inspiring- An incredible story you’ll never forget!

Author Bios:
Anita Dittman, a Jewish believer since the age of seven, speaks to many churches and groups about her experiences during World War II in Germany. She resides in Minnesota. Jan Markell has authored nine other books. She is the director of Olive Tree Ministries, an informative, cutting edge news ministry that includes her relevant radio talk show, Understanding the Times, on KKMS (AM 980) out of Minneapolis, Minnesota and heard in multiple cities.

Book Description:
Abandoned by her father when he realized the price of being associated with a Jewish wife and family, Anita and her mother were ultimately left to fend for themselves. Anita’s teenage years spent desperately fighting for survival yet learning to trust in the One she discovered who would not leave her…

My Thoughts:
“Trapped in Hitler’s Hell” (originally titled as, “Camp Angels,” and revamped for children as “Shadow of His Hand” by Wendy Lawton) is a little known story about Anita Dittman’s survival and spiritual journey during the holocaust. Upon coming to Jesus personally, she trusts her life and fate to the only One who can truly save her. It is one of the few accounts of a Jewish person who became a Christian in that dark point of history. With the POV being from young Anita, it is somewhat reminiscent of Anne Frank’s tale, with the spiritual fulfillment of Corrie ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place.” It leaves its impression on your heart. I can easily envision this book being transformed successfully into a TV movie for Hallmark. In this new 2005 edition, actual photographs of Anita and her family are included.

Prayer Request for a Young Girl

2009-11-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hi, there is this girl at my church named Marissa who is ill with double-pneumonia. She's only 11 or 12 and she'll be in the hospital the next few weeks, over her birthday and Thanksgiving. If you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers, I know she and her family would appreciate it.

This is the time of the year when God performs the most amazing miracles (He has in my life) and I know He will do it again in this young girl.

“Ceremony of Innocence,” by James Forman

2009-10-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

About the Author:
Finding any kind of information on James Forman is virtually impossible, however I did stumble upon a short list of books that he authored. Other than “Ceremony of Innocence,” Forman wrote “Code Name Valkyrie,” which is a fictional dramatization on Count von Stauffenberg’s July 20th assassination attempt on Hitler. Then there is “My Enemy, My Brother,” a story of a young Jewish man who survives the holocaust only to face opposition when he makes a new life Israel. All three books, including “Ceremony of Innocence” are geared toward the young adult audience.

Book Synopsis:“Ceremony of Innocence” is a fictional account of the life and last days of Hans Scholl, one of the members in the resistance group The White Rose, in the darkened world of the Third Reich. The first chapter opens with the arrest of Hans and his younger sister Sophie following the distribution of the sixth leaflet at the University of Munich. They are immediately taken into Gestapo custody and for four days, Hans is interrogated and on the fifth day, he along with his sister and Christoph Probst, they are executed. Flashbacks are interweaved throughout the story, revealing Hans’ transition from a Hitler supporter into an opponent of Hitler and the development of The White Rose.

My Thoughts:
As a White Rose enthusiast, I was surprised that a bio-fic on Hans Scholl existed. With Sophie being the only female in the core group, the majority of the spotlight is on her, so its refreshing to read something from Hans’ POV. With that being said, I was a little disappointed with “Ceremony of Innocence.” The book was written in the 1970’s prior to most of the biographies written on the Scholl siblings and the White Rose group and it does not include the newly released and detailed interrogation minutes. Therefore the interrogation of Hans in this book is fictional. Also, I found the portrayal of Hans wanting; from what I’ve read about him, he appears confident and strong. In “Ceremony of Innocence” he comes across weak and unimpressive. Sophie is out of character too. Instead of the strong, intelligent and playful young woman who comes alive on screen in “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” this Sophie is flirtatious and silly, and she plays the martyr willingly and almost looks forward to death. This contradicts the attitude of the real Sophie Scholl who loved and embraced life. Profanity is sprinkled through out the dialogue, nothing too offensive and nothing you won’t hear in a PG movie.
God is esteemed and not just a belief but a fact, especially with Sophie, the devout Christian of the novel. In this story Hans is having a crisis of faith. However, according to the sources I have read, Hans did not fall away from Christ. In fact one account claimed that he accepted Catholic baptism and converted to Catholicism before the execution.

I don’t regret reading “Ceremony of Innocence” but the reader must keep in mind that it is dated and that this book is fiction loosely based on fact.

Lousia May Alcott's Story on PBS

2009-10-15T07:33:00.001-07:00

That's right, Lousia May Alcott's story finally comes to the big screen, or at least to the TV screen. It is part of the Americans Masters series on PBS. No folks, this is not another version of "Little Women". This is a docu-drama on the author and her family. It is based on the book "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women" by Harriet Reisen, which is debuting this October 27. However, Alcott's much devoted fans must wait two more months until December 28 at 9pm until the movie premieres on PBS.

Below is the list of castmembers.

Elizabeth Marvel ... Louisa May Alcott
Daniel Gerroll ... Bronson Alcott
Emily Sarah Stikeman ... Lousia May Alcott
Jane Alexander ... Ednah Cheney
Dossy Peabody ... Abigail Alcott
Molly Schreiber ... Teen Louisa
Haley Garvin ... Toddler Louisa
Marianna Bassham ... May Alcott
Maggie Quigley ... Child May Alcott
Linda Amendola ... Anna Alcott
Ellen Adair ... Teen Anna Alcott
Anna Finklestein ... Teen Beth Alcott
Eleanor Farris ... 'Lulu' May Alcott Nierecker
Ken Cheeseman ... Ralph Waldo Emerson
Beno Chapman ... Henry David Thoreau

And the official site for the book and movie is right here:
http://www.alcottfilm.com/

Cliques within the Church

2009-10-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve attended church most my life, on my own volition. For me, church is often a place that I consider my home away from home, and a place where I can learn about and freely worship God, and have some fellowship with other believers. Unfortunately, most of the churches that I have attended have also had cliques too. You wouldn’t think that’d be the case in God’s house, where people are supposedly equals and should be treated as such. After all, when you think of cliques, high school comes to mind along with the movies “Mean Girls” and “Never Been Kissed.” Church cliques usually aren’t as nasty but they certainly exist.
Instead of being called a “loser” or openly laughed at, getting the cold shoulder at church is a little more subtle. Sometimes it’s a group of women in a discussion and then just as you come along, the ladies fall silent. Other times it’s the same group at an event that you have also been invited to, but you’re made to feel out of place while you’re with them. Or perhaps it’s during a church dinner and you always end up eating at the same table instead of feeling encouraged enough to eat at a different one.
This irks me more than I let on. For crying out loud, church is not high school and people should not be broken up into groups where they feel safe and accepted. God’s house is open to all and He doesn’t play favorites, so why do some Christians?
There was a time in my life when I did belong to a church and yes, it had a clique too. But the majority of that church family was just that- a family. That church became my home away from home and a place of refuge in hard times. The people there weren’t just church members or fellow Christians, they became my family and I’m still in contact with most of them even though that church has long since closed. I have never felt God’s presence more than I did there and I’ll always reflect on that period of my life as one of my highest points, spiritually speaking.
Its too bad that many Christians don’t follow Christ’s example and love and treat everyone the same. Then perhaps non-believers would be more apt to try out church if that were the case.

A Quote From Dr. Seuss

2009-09-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Be who you are, and say what you feel...
Because those who matter don't mind...
And those who mind don't matter."
-Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

The Daily War

2009-09-11T05:40:00.001-07:00

Please check out:

The Daily War

Thank you and God Bless.

Veronica Goes to Confession

2009-09-08T05:27:00.000-07:00

1. I never wear shoes when I’m at home. In fact, I go around barefoot whenever possible.
2. I can make a strange purring sound at the back of my throat like a cat does.
3. The first time I ever kissed a boy I was seven and in the first grade. Hopefully I won’t get sued for sexual harassment. After all it was only on the cheek.
4. I can still put one of my ankles behind my head.
5. The more I study Judaism and Jewish history, the closer I feel to Jesus.
6. I’ve borrowed so many books and movies about Nazism and the Third Reich from the library, that the librarians think I’m a Nazi.
7. I love to eat peanut butter sandwiches with kosher dill pickles on the side.
8. Swing/Big Band is my favorite genre of music now.
9. My life is a cross between “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Little Women” with a side of “Secondhand Lions.”
10. Growing up I read too much “Sweet Valley Twins, ” “Goosebumps” and ridiculous romances that I neglected the classics. So I have to go back and read the great authors of the past.
11. Give me a good war movie or holocaust film rather than a romance any day.
12. My favorite movie is either “Little Women” with Winona Ryder or “Sophie Scholl: The Last Days” with Julia Jentsche.
13. I hope someday to write a coming of age series based in Indiana.
14. Though I love to write, I often speak with bad grammar. It’s just part of who I am.
15. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world than in the Wabash Valley, Indiana.

My Ancestor was a Polygamist…

2009-09-04T10:02:00.000-07:00

Or maybe a Black Widower.

My Grandma always used to tell me, “When you start to shake the family tree, anything may fall out, so beware.” Ain’t that the truth!

I have started getting involved in genealogy recently and have made some new, hilarious discoveries. For several years now I’ve been able to pin-point who one of our ancestors was; a man named Michael who’s surname shall remain blank (for the reason that I don’t feel safe putting my last name out there on the internet). Anyway, Michael was born in 1758 and married a woman named Berthena in 1783 who they had a son with; their marriage was of short duration. Either they had it annulled, or they divorced or just went their separate ways. Whatever happened between the two, Berthena isn’t mentioned again but what is interesting is that Michael later names a child after her that he has with another wife (Awkward!). Once he is single, Michael proceeds to marry a lady named Jemina who later dies in childbirth. This time Michael waits two years before wedding Elizabeth; together they have six or seven children. At some point prior to 1818, Elizabeth dies or leaves Michael because in 1818 Michael marries an eighteen-year-old named Ann. And there is actually a possibility that he had married a woman in between Elizabeth and Ann, but I haven’t found a wedding date yet.

Michael was certainly a busy boy. He lived a long life, and died in 1830, at the ripe old age of seventy-two. I know in those days that the records were sketchy and marriages were often recorded in a Bible or maybe not even at all. I’m not as familiar with the divorce/annulment process of that era, but I doubt it was as easy to end a marriage as it is today. So man had an easier time leaving his wife and marrying someone else. Does that make him a Polygamist? :~P. I might be being pessimistic here, maybe Michael outlived all of his wives.

I wonder if he really was a Black Widower…

Oh well, if you can’t laugh about it, what can you do?

A Littlle BIble Humor

2009-09-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

It doesn't hurt to have a little Biblical humor to start the day....

Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.

Q. What do they call pastors in Germany?
A. German Shepherds.

Q. Who was the greatest financier in the Bible?
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.

Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a Little prophet.

Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles were all in one Accord.

Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.

Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer
lived in Eden ?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.

Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.

Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan . The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep.

Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.

Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark ?
A. Because Noah was standing on the deck.

PS.. Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?
Yup, it's in the Bible. It says . . 'He-brews'

Republicans Are Evil

2009-08-26T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=657562

Marcia Segelstein - Guest Columnist - 8/25/2009 9:20:00 AM

Living in a part of the country that is most definitely "blue" (as opposed to "red"), it's easy to begin to feel a little isolated, and certainly out of the mainstream. So it was especially fun reading Harry Stein's latest book, I Can't Believe I'm Sitting Next to a Republican. Like me, Stein lives in the northern suburbs of New York City, in what he describes as a wildly liberal enclave of hip, culturally elite suburbanites.

Stein calls himself a libertarian-conservative and he paints a vivid picture, which I can easily relate to, of what it's like to live surrounded by liberals. The book title's origin speaks volumes. Stein and his wife attended a dinner party during the most recent presidential primary season and, as Stein describes it, "the discussion turned to the glories of The Messiah." Stein had the temerity to mention Obama's lack of experience, which was apparently over the top for at least one fellow diner. "[T]he guy beside me, who'd known me all of 15 minutes, drew back his chair, cast me a savage look, and roared...'I can't believe I'm sitting next to a Republican!'" Yes folks, welcome to Blue America.

I have always been struck by the propensity of liberals to attack conservatives. Tolerance, for liberals at least, seems to apply to everyone except conservatives. Diversity is about skin color, not diversity of thought. My views have been called repugnant, even by some near and dear to me, based purely on assumptions about what I believe. Stein writes about "how astonishingly little they [liberals] know about us."

Beyond making assumptions about what conservatives actually believe, in my experience liberals also tend to assume everyone around them is liberal, too. The beautiful, brainy daughter of close friends, a Harvard graduate now working in the northeast, echoed similar sentiments recently. "I started my job during the election," she told me, "and people made the assumption that everyone was liberal. It was perfectly fine to lambaste McCain or Palin in public." In her experience, if you're perceived as a smart, decent human being, liberals can't imagine the possibility that you might be a conservative.

What happens when people find out she is? She told me most people react with surprise, and then drop it. Much to her frustration, no one asks more about her views, or expresses any interest in them. "Liberals pride themselves on being tolerant," she told me, "but they're the most closed-minded." Stein would concur.

He describes another encounter with a liberal, a guy he knew slightly, this time in the supermarket. Stein nodded to acknowledge him, when suddenly, "he spat out: 'You people disgust me!'" All this guy actually knew about Stein was that he'd written a conservative book. "'You're disgusting," he sputtered, swiping up his shopping bag and stomping away. 'You sicken me!'"

Revealing your conservative leanings can be tricky, and sometimes it's easier just to keep quiet. One of Stein's conservative acquaintances, for example, didn't want his name used in the book. "'Why get into arguments with people?'" he told Stein. "'Your kids have to go to school with their kids, and it just leads to no good.'"

A few years ago I chose not to allow my then elementary school-aged children to attend a school assembly promoting same-sex "marriage." After babysitting them and a handful of other children in the school library until the assembly was over, I ran into a couple of mothers who'd come to watch the assembly for themselves. One was a friend who knew and accepted my point of view and gave me her take on the series of skits called "Cootie Shots." The other made it clear that she was happy about the school's decision to put on the assembly. After all, she pointedly remarked, she didn't want her kids growing up to be rednecks.

Stein asked a liberal editor at a publishing house he knows for "a candid, shorthand version of the assumptions she and her colleagues make about conservatives." Without missing a beat she replied, "Racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-choice fascists....They hate everyone who's not a rich white guy."

I have long thought that one of the striking differences between liberals and conservatives is this: liberals believe conservatives are evil, while conservatives believe liberals are wrong. Stein recounts something his friend Marlene told him, which makes the point. "[S]omeone I've known for 27 or 28 years actually said to me, 'Marlene, I know you've worked with the mentally ill, so I know you care about people. But how can you be a good person and a conservative?'"

I guess this is news we can use, as the saying goes. It's important to keep in mind that the label "conservative" (or Republican) brands us, in the minds of many liberals, as just plain bad people. And while we shouldn't worry too much about how we're perceived, we should be concerned about the future of conservatism and getting its true message across. The country our children will inherit may depend on it

“Love Finds You in Liberty, Indiana,” by Melanie Dobson: Book of the Month

2009-08-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

About the Author:
Melanie Dobson is the author of four novels and has a background in publicity and journalism. She grew up in a small Ohio town but now lives with her husband and two daughters in Oregon.
Read more about Melanie Dobson at www.melaniedobson.com

About the Book:
In a divided town during a dangerous era, who can be trusted?
Liberty, Indiana, is home to a stop on the Underground Railroad operated by Quaker abolitionists Anna Brent and her father. Harboring runaway slaves is a dangerous mission; anyone caught aiding them is subject to imprisonment. When Anna’s secret work is threatened, can she turn to the handsome yet outspoken Daniel Stanton, Liberty’s newspaper editor to ensure the safety of the runaways so dear to her? Will she and Daniel risk everything for their beliefs- including their personal liberty?

My Thoughts:
I knew that I would like this book from the moment I heard about it. Of course I was a little biased; finally a novel set in my beloved state! And then when I discovered that it was about the Underground Railroad, I was excited. I was certain that this book was going to stand out from all the others in the series and it did not disappoint me. For any Civil War or Underground Railroad enthusiast, or a lover of Indiana, this book is for you!

No one ever made it to Heaven by...

2009-08-02T09:34:00.000-07:00

watching a sunset and acknowledging that God created it.

praying or reading the Bible.

attending church or being baptised.

being good or doing good works.

or admitting that there is a Higher Power.

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with you heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."- Romans 10:9-10

Healthcare reform sets off euthanasia alarm

2009-07-26T08:58:00.001-07:00

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=616402

A health economist warns that President Obama's government-run healthcare plan may result in denying care to a significant number of Americans, especially senior citizens.

Conservative opponents of President Obama's healthcare plan have been arguing that a government takeover of healthcare will allow Washington bureaucrats to use "comparative effectiveness research" to dictate to doctors which treatments they should prescribe and how much those treatments should cost. Critics say this will lead to rationing of care.

In the medical journal The Lancet (January 2009) Obama's special health policy advisor Ezekiel Emanuel wrote that if healthcare has to be rationed, he prefers the "complete lives system," which "discriminates against older people."

Dr. Devon Herrick, a senior fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, says Emanuel believes young adults should be given preferential care over seniors because they have more years of their life ahead of them.

"I guess the implication of that is if you're older, you will be assumed to have lived a complete life; whereas if you're younger, you'd have yet to live a complete life," Herrick suggests. "So in a way I kind of see it as a method to ration care to the elderly, but trying to use an ethicist's view to justify it."

In an article written more than a decade ago for the Hastings Center Report, Dr. Emanuel suggested that health services should not be guaranteed to "individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens." He said "an obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."

'Obamacare' targets young, healthy, wealthy

A Florida congresswoman says the healthcare legislation being pushed by President Obama sends a blunt message to senior citizens: "drop dead."

On Monday, President Obama said that "the single biggest threat to our fiscal stability" and "the single thing that could drive us into long-term staggering and difficult debt" is Medicare and Medicaid.

Obama told Jim Lehrer of PBS that he wants to "stop providing $177 billion worth of subsidies to the insurance companies for a Medicare Advantage program that offers no additional benefits to seniors, compared to regular old Medicare."

Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Florida) says the House healthcare bill essentially tells senior citizens to "drop dead." (Listen to audio report)

"Despite their promise to care for our seniors, Democrats have decided that it's too expensive to care for my senior constituents and everyone else's constituents," she contends. "This bill would cut an additional $156 billion from the Medicare Advantage program in order to pay for the government expansion of healthcare for the young, the healthy, and the wealthy."

Brown-Waite argues the cut in Medicare Advantage is not the first attack on senior citizens this year. She notes that in March the Obama administration announced that Social Security recipients would not receive a cost-of-living increase.

“How Do I Love Thee?” by Nancy Moser (July 2009 Featured Book!)

2009-07-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Book Description:
A novel of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetic romance.
She dreams of love for others, but never for herself…
Elizabeth Barret is a published poet- and a virtual prisoner in her own home. Blind family loyalty ties her to a tyrannical father who forbids any of his children to marry. Bedridden by chronic illness, she has resigned herself to simply existing. That is until the letter arrives…
“I love your verses with all my heart,” writes Robert Browning, an admiring fellow poet. As friendly correspondence gives way to something more, Elizabeth discovers that Robert’s love is not for her poetry alone. Might God grand her more than mere existence? And will she risk defying her father in pursuit of true happiness?

Author Bio:
Nancy Moser is the best-selling author of twenty novels, including “Just Jane,” the Christy Award-winning Time Lottery, and the “Sister Circle” series co-authored with Campus Crusade co-founder Vonette Bright. Nancy has been married thirty-three years. She and her husband have three grown children and live in the Midwest. She loves history, has traveled extensively in Europe, and has performed in various theaters, symphonies, and choirs.

My Thoughts:
I was first introduced to Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poetry when I was in high school, first in English lit and then again by a secret pal who gave me a book of her works. At that season of my life I didn’t really enjoy the classics, but Elizabeth’s poems were different. Though they weren’t too complicated but they still contained a vast deal of passion. I didn’t know much about the author’s private life beside the author bio in the book. So when I heard that Nancy Moser was coming out with a book on Barret Browning’s life, I was excited. I hadn’t known what “Ba” went through as a writer and a woman trapped by illness. Most of all she had to follow the plan that God had for her, even though it contradicted the plan her father had for her. True love triumphs in the end.