Categories

As I look at the list of categories now in July of 2017, it has expanded considerably – but the group I began with several years back is still helpful in outlining the major purpose of the blog.

Books:                 If you like books, read here

Because I love reading, there’s a “books” category where I talk about books I’ve read, why I read them, what I got out of them, what they did to my “big picture” of life, history, heaven, good and bad things, places to go, things to see, what others have done.  These posts will always have clipart of a little stack of old books.

Scripture:          If you agree that the truths of Scripture are absolutely indispensable to sane, peaceful, forgiven living~~or if you wonder why Bible-clingers cling to their Bibles~~ you might enjoy this.

Because I need the truth of Scripture, there’s a “Scripture” category which is where I put notes about things I’ve learned from Scripture; sometimes those notes simply repeat what Scripture says in other words, and I wrote it out in longhand to help fix it in my mind.  Then I transcribed it here to save it for anyone who cares to look at something the Spirit of God used in my thinking. The icon for this category presents the Latin  for:  Scripture Alone; Grace Alone; Faith Alone; Christ Alone; Glory to God Alone.

Heritage:              If you’re curious about why I think the way I do, about where I grew up, about why I hate grasshoppers~~or  if you just enjoy reading Word Pictures that take you somewhere else for a few moments,  take a look.

Psalm 16:6 says “The lines have fallen for me pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance!”  (exclamation point mine)  Inheritance is (inherently!!) something that is given to me.  I can’t buy it.  I can’t earn it.  It is given to me.  The deliciousness of God’s blessing to me both in my human family heritage and the spiritual life that is my inheritance in Christ never ceases to blow my mind, so I document a lot about inheritance.  Thinking about inheritance and writing about it is simply recognition of what God has given me; and an act of gratitude, acknowledging that my inheritance is a gift.  Heritage is always “given forward” but it intrigues me that in acknowledging familiar blessings and discovering hidden blessings, it can be enjoyed backward as well.  So I like the icon of the open door: heritage is the blest past, the blest present and the blest future.

Poems: If you like original poetry and word pictures that describe loss and gain,  pain and joy~~read the full description of this category on the page tab called The Poems.

As I Remember It:    If you like a little nostalgia to sprinkle around your heart, these snapshots are just a paragraph or three of a very specific memory.  Several years ago, our daughter-in-law gave me a blank book for mothers with primer questions on each page, details of memories to be filled in.  Each of these snapshots is one completed page from that book.  Snapshots will always have the Home, Sweet Home clipart house.

History:      If you appreciate history in small doses, these might suit you; or, if you could happily eat, sleep and drink history for a month at a time, check them for a few moments of brain fun. If you find any factual errors, please do me the honor of posting a kind comment pointing out the error.   I have written these in the form of narrative history intending to make it a pleasant read for grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but by no means am I content to have “narrative” become a synonym  for inaccurate.  History matters. We need to get it right.

Journaling:     If you enjoy the highly personal jotted notes that find expression in journaling, have at it. The  big red book with a fat blue pen will always indicate a Journaling post. Journaling posts will be transcribed exactly as they first appeared in my handwritten journals 6 months ago, 10 years ago, 28 years ago.  They report what I learned in the crucible when the Word of God and the Spirit of God were instructing me, comforting me, revealing me to myself and causing me to understand things I had not understood earlier.  Phrases such as “we need to understand” or “we must acknowledge” are not an effort  to instruct the reader:  The journaling excerpts are a report on the intelligence I was gathering and the reconnaissance I was doing on the battle front where I learned more of grace.  99% of the journaling entries appear exactly as they originally written.

Letters to Rosebud: During the fall of 1925 into the spring of 1926 when they married on April 10, our father wrote frequently to our mother, separated as they were by about 50 miles of poor Montana prairie roads, with a Model A for transportation. She saved all those letters.  We still have them.  Here they are transcribed in the order they were written, each of them introduced with an icon recalling the beautiful wild roses that somehow bloomed, predictably, in the dry Montana road ditches.

Bible Study Notes:  Some of my Journaling about Scripture becomes more tightly edited study materials. That “more orderly material” is what is presented within the Bible Study Notes category. Material within Bible Study Notes is always identified as a sub-category such as Comfort, Joy, Forgiveness, Unbelief. Each of these will be a single post, which will begin smaller and become larger as all the material for that particular subject (i.e., Comfort) is added. Whenever new material is added to any Bible Study Notes category, the link for that subject (i.e., Comfort) will be posted so interested readers can click back in and see what has been added.  Just for fun, since I really do think that music is a fair and glorious gift of God, I’m using musical notes as the icon for Bible Study Notes.

Fresh Thoughts:   This category has been created for a place to put things I write today, (whatever “today” it is),  as I continue journaling when I’m reading Scripture and praying, noticing new lessons or want to simply write a note about the present, share a Scripture, record an event. I’ve been writing for 30 years and just this year began transferring my writing here.  Obviously I haven’t stopped writing when I started this blog.   Fresh Thoughts is the category where new writing is entered. These entries will carry additional category designations as to the subject: a poem, journaling, a Scripture, a snapshot, etc.  It will always have a meadowlark as its introductory icon.  The meadowlark is my favorite bird, has the most beautiful song a bird could sing, is the prettiest bird on the prairie and the best childhood memory.  There is nothing finer than a meadowlark’s song in the middle of June coming from over behind some lilac bush.