The Storyteller | Mary Vee

Photo by Mary Vee It was a Wednesday when a volunteer pianist came to play for the residents in the nursing home. The aids and visiting family members wheeled in men and women with varying disabilities.  When the last person arrived, all the available seats were full. Not every activity gets a crowd, but this one does. For one hour the pianist played hymns from long ago. At first everyone listened to the piano, then one by one, compelled by their memories, the listeners hummed.  A blind woman, sitting to the side, broke into song. Her lovely soprano voice sang every word encouraging others to join with their voices. She wasn't a senior, but in need of care. An elderly gentleman rubbed his forehead and looked down while singing. He didn't smile, and seemed somewhere else in thought. Still, his voice rang clear and strong. A group of sisters visited their mother who had dementia. Two visited from different states. The girls sang harmony to their mother's so

Today we welcome author: Betsy St. Amant One commenter will win a copy of  Betsy's new release:  Love Arrives in Pieces Mary here. Betsy is an awesome friend. She spent time with the Alley cats at the last ACFW conference, enduring all our crazy. In her post below you will see she is full of energy and has experienced more than a bucketful of life already. Her website shows a list of her published books. I asked Betsy to share how God has led her on her writing journey You're gonna love reading her God story. Here is what she said: God is Evident on My Journey I was asked to write a post about how the Lord has led me on my writing journey. And all I could think of was the phrase “kicking and screaming”.  ::grin:: You’ve probably seen the cartoon of the stick figure Jesus and the Christian. Jesus is pointing out the footsteps in the sand. “Those multiple set of prints are where I walked beside you. Those single footprints are wher

Photo Courtesy The incredible group of ladies met for breakfast at a small town restaurant.  The first lady arrived at the same time hubby and I pulled into the lot. She parked in the handicap spot, walked into the restaurant with her walker and requested seating at a group of tables that had one long bench joining them. She sat by herself, ordered coffee and patiently waited, speaking occasionally with the waitress. Two other ladies, both donning short, white permed hair and glasses greeted their friend and sat with her. Their chatter sounded like best friends continuing a conversation where they last left off. Over the next twenty minutes, ten more ladies joined the group, each one hopping in the conversation as they sat. At two minutes before twelve, two last ladies walked toward the table. There were no more chairs. One of the two ladies stiffened her back and frowned. "Well," she huffed. "We should have set the time for a half hour ago."

Today we welcome author: Amanda Cabot Mary here. After inviting Amanda to join us, I had a chance to read her amazing post below. As you will soon see, Amanda speaks from a heart that has been touched in a special way by God. A wonderful tell of how her books read. I asked Amanda to share how God has led her on her writing journey. Here is what she said: A Time For Change “What do you want to be when you grow up?”   From the time I was seven, there was only one answer: I wanted to be a writer. The question became, what kind of writer, and the answer seemed to vary by the day. In grade school I wrote and produced two plays, both of which received enormous critical acclaim. Admittedly, that might be a slight exaggeration, but “All About Thermometers” and “Hawaii: The Fiftieth State” did play to sold-out audiences.   (Translation: everyone in the fifth grade had to attend.) I also dabbled with creating and publishing a neighborhood newspaper – n

Photo Courtesy I attended a meeting where a very polished and gifted speaker stumbled on his words. The cause, I think, was a well meaning person in the audience who verbalized whenever she agreed with what the speaker said.  No one hushed the person in the audience because the individual had a disability. While the verbalized words were well meaning, and we all understood, human nature did push it's way into the situation.  Did the speaker eye the individual? Nope. Did the speaker make a comment regarding the distraction? Nope. Did the speaker call on someone to help? Nope. For this reason, I had such respect for the speaker. I prayed for him that he could continue through to the end of his message without losing his purpose and intent. Then something awesome happened. The speaker cited a Scripture verse. It was a well know verse that most of us would be able to say ourselves. Halfway through the verse he stumbled. He rewound his words and tried again. Aft

Photo Courtesy Yeah! Today is my birthday. So this weekend, I am my guest. And since I am the guest, I will be doing the book giveaways. Someday I will feature my own book, but, for now, I will be giving away some awesome author books to as many commenters as I can. Those of you who have stopped in to read previous posts probably know I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to travel. So, hubby searched this year's list of conferences and found one in the beautiful mountains of Alaska. And it happened to fall during this week--my birthday.  Of course I said--YES! Let's go. Everything you see in black is written before we left. Everything written in burgundy is fabulous news from Alaska! I've posted the winning photos so far.  Wow it was a really difficult choice!! Photo by Mary Vee - Alyeska Resort We, of course, will suffer in a beautiful mountain resort, will have to endure fresh caught fish for a meal or two, be dragged on board a one-day cruise to see glaciers