FYI

Blogtober is HERE!

/ SaxophoneWife / 84 Comments

Hello, Fellow Bloggers!

I want to invite you all to join me for Blogtober 2021. What is Blogtober? It’s a blogging challenge. For me that has simply meant striving to blog every day. That is a big challenge for me, because it means…

  • …making time to write.
  • …choosing to write over doing something else.
  • …and, forcing myself not to focus on perfection, but on completion.

I think that last point is something any writer can appreciate. We know it’s never going to be perfect, but we always hope it can be better, right? Well, thanks to my imaginary world where perfect sentences flow into perfect paragraphs, I’m a better editor than a writer, and that bums me out.

Hence, Blogtober—a chance to give that editor a break and just enjoy communicating through the written word the way I did when editing meant turning an e into an a, like when I was a kid sending letters to my friends with S.W.A.K* scrawled across the back of the envelope. The only thing that mattered was getting that reply in the mail as fast as possible.

A FEW INSTRUCTIONS
Now, some folks who host Blogtobers come up with writing prompts for each day. I wouldn’t want anyone who joins this to feel obliged to write to a prompt, but sometimes a little inspiration is needed. So, I will post my version of writing prompts at the end.

Remember, if you’re just starting out, a blog post is what you decide a blog post is, whether it’s five words or 5,000. Read this post from a few weeks ago, if you need some encouragement: CLICK HERE Also, there is so much out there on how to blog, how to start a blog, writing advice, blog tips, Blogtober, etc. Do a little research. Keep it free, though. It doesn’t have to cost you anything to blog.

If you are going to join me in this effort, please comment below with your blog site. I will share your blogs throughout the month to make sure everyone has a chance to check out your work. Please, feel free to share the graphic above and invite other bloggers to join the challenge.

I guess that’s all there is to say. I really hope you’ll join me, even if you join late and even if you know you won’t be able to post daily. And, I really hope someone reading this will be inspired to launch their first blog, or revive their old blog this month. That would make me very excited!

Looking forward to reading lots of blogs this month!
❤

*S.W.A.K. is supposed to mean Sealed With A Kiss, but my friend Irma was very clever. She said it meant Sealed With A Knee. She also came up with the classic S.W.A.B.—Sealed With A Band-Aid, applying an actual Band-Aid to the envelope. I was so impressed. Irma, Misty, and I wrote each other all that summer. We looked forward to starting Jr. High together, but Misty and I ended up moving. She and I lost touch, but Irma and I wrote each other for a couple of years. They were the best!

What Hea-Woo Did in Prison

/ SaxophoneWife / 2 Comments

This is the story of Hea-Woo.

Hea-Woo is from North Korea.

One day, she escaped across a river to China.

While she was in China, someone witnessed to her about Jesus Christ. Hea-Woo came to know Christ as Lord and Savior, and and began learning about her new faith.

It was not long, though, before she was captured by the secret police and returned to North Korea. There, she was sentenced to a prison camp.

At that prison camp, she made a few important decisions. She decided to:

  1. Tell her fellow prisoners about Jesus.
  2. Witness to her fellow prisoners by helping them (sharing her rice with the sick, helping others wash their clothes, etc.).
  3. Begin a secret church. They met in the prison bathroom.

Her church really captured my interest.

  • Her church met on Sundays and on Christmas.
  • Without access to a Bible, she could only from what she remembered learning in China. Whatever songs or Bible verses she remembered, she would teach her tiny congregation.
  • Their singing had to be as quiet as possible to avoid detection. It was almost imperceptible.

Hea-Woo ultimately was released from the prison camp, and later escaped to South Korea.

During her time in the North Korean prison camp, she lead five people to salvation. She says, “They were on the edge of death, and I could give them the message of hope.”

You Play A Part

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

You may look at some people in your life and wonder what they’re doing there.

[They may not matter much to you.]

Yet, the truth is you have no idea how important they may be to your future.

[Or, how important you might be to theirs.]

God is not random. He has a Big Plan, and it has to do with people.

The people…
…who always seems to show up;
…you can’t seem to lose;
…who rub you the wrong way;
…you see everyday, yet they are strangers to you;
…you wish you could know more.

All those people. 

So, don’t ignore them.
Consider them.
Reconsider your relationship with them.
Give them your respect.
Treat them with gentleness.
Help them, encourage them, and bless them.
Look for the opportunity to love them.
Pray God’s will for their lives, lift them up when they are down.
A little time and compassion matter.

And, always remember that no matter what you might think about their life right now, or the choices they’ve made so far, God has always had a plan and a purpose for their lives.

Maybe,
just maybe,
He’s been waiting for you to play your part.  

14 August 2011