500

Bedtime Story, 1883

My 500th post is dedicated to the memory of my “Poppop”, John S. Nagy. It was he who passed on to me a love of newspapers, especially the “funnies” section. Every summer I would visit him and Nanna in their Apollo Beach, Florida home for two weeks. He would wake up at around 5:00 every morning, make coffee for Nanna, and walk with Penny to get the newspaper. Then he would make eggs and sausages for breakfast. He taught me how to do the cryptoquote, and would cut them out for me and mail them in an envelope because we didn’t get the paper at home. To this day I do the cryptoquote and read Peanuts daily, and recently published a Wordy Gurdy rhyme in Newsday. When Poppop learned that I was a writer, he became one of my biggest fans and encouraged me to do it professionally. I know he is up in Heaven cheering me on.

As great as the Internet is, I hope that newspapers never die. We love to spread ours out on the kitchen table as we eat breakfast. The kids read the sports section, I read the weather and news headlines, and my husband goes through pretty much the whole thing. We cut out Peanuts cartoons that have to do with baseball and put them up on the fridge. Newspapers are also great for wrapping presents, lining pets’ cages, making kites, insulating drafty garages, and making you feel like you’re doing something for the world by recycling them.

My friend Leticia has been my greatest inspiration when it comes to publishing on the Internet. Loren Christie leaves uplifting comments on almost every one of my posts. My mom is my biggest fan and is helping me to build a book that is based on my best devotional essays. Julie lets me know when she really likes what I’ve written, and passes it on to others. My siblings Joanna and James have always encouraged me. My husband supports me in all my endeavors and my kids of course are the source of all my writing ideas. Last but not least are my readers. Knowing that you are clicking over expecting another post keeps me writing every day. Thank you.

Encouraging the Discouraged

Two Girls at the Piano

I was feeling discouraged this week by a number of things: the kids’ being sick, negative comments made by complete strangers, and the rejection of one of my most precious manuscripts.

It’s funny how you realize, while facing adversity yourself, that you can’t seem to give yourself the advice you would give others in the same situation. Yet, what bore me up were all those little things my friends said to try to make me feel better. Even just the fact that they were trying was a help.

Often one feels put in an uncomfortable position when trying to think of what to say to a person in need of comfort. If you ever were on the silent end of a phone while a friend grieved the death of a loved one, you know what I mean.

But anything is better than nothing. Even what you might think of as “lame” helps to bolster. Those little pebbles fill in the gaps between the more substantial rocks. And when you speak the truth in love, that forms one of the boulders your friend will lean on for support.

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.”
Sirach 6: 14-17 (NAB)