This article of mine just came out in the Spring issue of Parent Update by the American Association of Christian Schools. #writing #Christianeducation #teachers #teaching #writers #education #publishing #family

One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting on the couch beside my grandfather (we called him Pappaw) in his house while he silently read his Bible. I watched his hands as he read, tracking his progress along the lines of text with his calloused and arthritis-gnarled index finger. But Pappaw’s wisdom was not the erudite wisdom of philosophers, articulated in esoteric and academic terms that too often confuse rather than enlighten. His was a common-sense wisdom that wa

Holidays can be many things to different people, depending on their circumstances  and environments and a host of other factors. For example, Christmas is filled with excitement for little kids. (I once was one, so I know!) It can also be exciting for older adults, especially if they have the opportunity to spend the time with out-of-state family members. (I experience that excitement every odd-yeared Christmas as we and our four daughters and their husbands and children gath

I remember hearing my Nannie Summers comment that time flew faster and faster as one got older. I never understood that as a child. It seemed to me that Christmas would never arrive. Now that I’ve reached the Social Security-and-Medicare age, however, my opinion has changed. Nannie’s wisdom about time was amazing. It seems that we just got the tinsel and pine needles and shreds of wrapping paper from last year cleaned up when, lo and behold, Christmas is upon us again! We had

I’m thankful that I live in a country that affords me great freedoms, of expression, of worship, of opportunities to better myself, and of so much more that people of other countries far different would die for. No matter how turbulent, divided, muddied, and poisoned the political waters are at the moment, I’m still privileged to live in the greatest country on earth. I’m thankful for so much more, but time and space won’t allow me to keep listing them all. The act of giving

Readers of this blog know by now that I’m a bibliophile, I love books and reading them. Granted, I’m selective in what I read, but within certain categories I read avidly. I must be selective in my reading because there are just so many books to choose from. Therefore, I also seldom re-read a book, although I have done so with a few. (So many books, so little time!) As Sir Francis Bacon famously said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be ch

Perhaps you recall the famous lines about “the best laid plans of mice and men.” Often, the flow of “normal” life events tends to discombobulate those plans, and “catching up” afterward often takes longer than we anticipate or hope. What other responsibilities so demanded my attention that I had to resort to such drastic measures? The first was the arrival of the edited draft of my book manuscript. Since my editor was on a deadline, I had to put my review on a deadline. That

I was impressed the minute the man got out of his truck. My appreciation for him grew by the minute. When the installer arrived, two young boys exited his truck with him. I greeted them and said to the man, “I see you brought plenty of help with you today.” After returning my greeting and shaking hands with me, the installer said, “These are my grandsons. They’re shadowing me today to begin learning the trade.” He then turned to the boys and said in a low voice, “Introduce yo

A writer’s work is never done, even during vacations. If a writer is not looking for ideas, then he or she is doing research, people watching for character types, eavesdropping for speech patterns, or conjuring plots. This is true for both fiction and nonfiction writers. And it was definitely true for me the past ten or twelve days. A highlight of the trip for me was reconstructing an event from my first trip West as a kid. During that trip, we stopped at the Petrified Forest

Just when I had about concluded that true chivalry was dead, I saw the living embodiment of that very quality. It wasn’t exhibited by some old codger like myself who was reared to believe that chivalrous conduct was the normal attribute of a Southern gentleman; it was lived out by one of the younger generation whom we older folk so often castigate for their lacking that quality (among others). All that seems to have changed. Now that the legal code and common practice have ma

We buried Virginia Mae Dietterich, my wife’s mother and my mother-in-law, on Monday. (In case you’ve been wondering, that’s why I haven’t posted recently.) My own mother had been killed by a drunk driver only about four years after I married. I’ve written about her before. (See https://dlpedit.wordpress.com/2018/04/24/growing-up-rich/ and https://dlpedit.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/reflections-on-mother.) I knew Mother for only 27 years. I knew my mother-in-law, however, for 42

Happy New Year to all the readers and followers of this blog. A new year is also an opportunity to evaluate what was done in the past and to make adjustments as necessary. Often, however, it’s good to find someone to help us do those evaluations and make the changes that we determine are necessary. I’m doing exactly that with this blog. I need and value your input. I have considered the possibility of reducing my posts to once a week. If I do that, however, I need to know whi

Good Old Days, January-February 2018 issue: #reading #writers #marriage #Memories #publishing #romance #family #Lessonslearned #ValentinesDay

My father-in-law was experiencing atrial fibrillation, his heart rate approaching 200. His doctors were sequentially trying several medications to get it back down to normal. It looked as though he might have to spend Christmas in the hospital. Such incidents around the holidays, days that are supposed to be filled with joy and laughter, are especially hard on family members. And those memories returned to my mind as I visited my father-in-law. Then the next day we got word t

It’s always been hard, it seems, to get “back in the swing” once I’ve been away for a while, and the week just past has been no exception. It’s hard enough returning to work, but it’s especially hard when that work is writing and one’s office is in his own home, as mine is. I also ate too much, and lot of what I ate was the wrong things. There was the traditional turkey and cranberry sauce, Daddy’s hot sausage dressing (I guess the Yankees call it “stuffing,” but it never was

He was born on this date in 1928, about 11 months before the big crash. Most of his formative, pre-adolescent years were within that life-changing economic period, and much of his later life reflected it. His adolescent years were under the shadow of World War II. Until his last years of high school, the only president he and his classmates knew was Franklin Roosevelt. Ralph was the fourth child of Blaine and Omega, the first to live beyond infancy. He later was joined in the

It’s usually the little things in life that make the difference. Perhaps we can’t see the significance, potential, or danger of such things at the moment, but time tells, and they are proven to be very important. Take, for instance, some of the following “little” things that occurred on this day in history and that proved, in the end, to be greatly significant. In 1873, P.T. Barnum introduced to New York City what he promoted as “The Greatest Show on Earth.” That was the begi

It’s interesting how something small and seemingly insignificant to others can trigger in one a vivid memory. This phenomenon can be, for a writer, a valuable catalyst for writing ideas and descriptive phrases. A simple sound or smell, unnoticed by others, can open the floodgates of creativity for an observant writer. It can elicit nostalgic feelings in nonwriters. Take smells, for instance. Frequently, late on a summer Saturday afternoon, as the sun began to trek toward the

On this date in history, several important events occurred. Columbus landed on San Salvador, discovering the New World in his quest to reach the East by sailing west. That event, of course, was first celebrated in the United States on this date in 1792. More than a hundred years later, the song “Three Blind Mice” was published in London. But that was by no means an earth-shattering, life-changing event, unless you were one of the three sightless rodents. And in 1859, Emperor

For several years, I had read various comments and articles about and notices and advertisements for the Write2Ignite Christian writers’ conference. They had generated enough interest that I determined that some day I would attend that conference. But every year the conference was scheduled, I always had some other pressing commitment and could not attend. Until this year. My slate was clean. Nothing was pressing. Nothing was in the way to prevent my going. To top it off, if