Thursday, September 25, 2008

FAILURE IS REQUIRED
by Beka
(c) 2004


I read a little snippet in the Reader's Digest not long ago that
said statistics show every person who is a successful person has a high number of failures behind him. Statistically speaking, every time we fail, we are that much closer to our success!

Of course the statistics measure money success. But it
helps me tremendously to consider that when I mess up, at anything, the failed step I took has value. It's brought me closer than before to my success at reaching whatever goal.

I especially like to apply this "getting closer to the goal" thing to my spiritual walk. When I fall, I reach up for
God's help. But being human, and stubborn, I let go of His help. Now I'm trying, with this failure t0 success idea, to hold on just a little longer each time than the last time.

For me this is the real key to final success after multiple
failures - learning how to not let go of the LORD!!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

An important and helpful member of FrogsnEagles has been posting a Word of the Day. [come on by, we'd love to have you, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FROGSnEAGLES/] I've enjoyed expanding my vocabulary and I just had to write this. New words I've learned lately are set off by italics:

Words of the Weak

I hope this won't irrupt into your life too much today,
This flippant little poem which is nettlesome but gay.

With great aplomb I know I'm writin'
English words that can be lissom.

But I'm spoony over words!
Words not dissolute (not much).
(I'm sure you've often heard,
To the trash I relegate such!)

This selfless benefaction
Will bring you satisfaction.
You ask me how I know this? Just take my word, I say!

Brother Bill more words please send?
Though my mind they sometimes bend.
My preconceptions you might slay, yet I do love you anyway!

heh heh heh

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What these new **words mean in the poem - in my own words that is:

Words of the Weak (that's me . . .)

I hope this won't eagerly stick it's nose in into your life too much today,
This seriously not serious little poem which is pesky but gay.

With great stuffed shirtedness I know I'm writin'
English words that can be lotsa give = can be bent easily).

But I'm sappy-in-love over words!
Words not naughty, naughty (not much).
(I'm sure you've often heard,
To the trash I send to a less than worthy task/place [such!] a less than worthy person/thing )

This selfless lotsa give = can be taken happily
Will bring you satisfaction.

And so on!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**Ya might wanna lookem' up for accuracy (;

And again - heh heh heh

by Beka copyright 2008

Becky's Writing Tips

I try to remember what I call grace editing. It's about the feelings of my reader: respect, warmth, clarity, empathy, that kind of thing. Basically caring about my reader. It can be as simple as using "my reader" rather than "the reader". Today I'm talking about writing in personal letters or informational writing (such as newsletters or lessons).

I just wrote an email to the manager who runs the home my daughter lives in. I re-read it and it was too formal. My writing without careful editing can be too strong. I've had teachers and such in the past take offense and feel threatened by me, even from short notes about homework . . . Well, any reader can be put off by an author's words, and subconsciously react negatively.

#1 I needed to use contractions (saying "I'll" instead of "I will", etc) in my email to the home manager. I use contractions as often as feels comfortable because it's more informal and personable. It's more like people actually talking together! Some words, without being made into contractions, sound too emphatic when speaking.

EXAMPLE: "Do not open up too much to strangers." is more demanding than "Don't open up too much . . ." "I would not walk an untrained dog." is stronger than "I wouldn't walk . . ."

EXCEPTION: By "as feels comfortable", I mean some contractions just don't sound right in the sentence. "I will not describe it to you." sounds more stilted and adamant than "I won't describe it to you." But "If I'd have described . . ." sounds stilted also! "If I would have . . ." is more like people actually talk. The important thing is to make the reader comfortable with you, the writer.

#2 Avoiding the use of "you"/"yours"/etc. keeps the focus of writing comfortable for the reader. In my email to the manager, I was giving direct instructions. I was "telling" her how to shop with my daughter, saying "you" first do this, then "you" do that. Writing about something using the pronoun "you" can give an impression of "telling", rather than sharing with, your reader. It can even seem like you're judging his feelings or opinions. Since this home manager has expertise with disabilities, it could be insulting for me to give "directions" about how to help my daughter. She could think I found her expertise lacking or think I didn't expect her to USE her expertise. She could also think I considered her uncaring toward my daughter and the other women she is responsible for.

I went back and changed the email to say "I" first do this, then "I" do that. I shared an example of what has worked for me and my daughter instead of giving a step by step "lesson" to a person who doesn't need lessons from me! In less personal writing or to a much bigger audience you could use "a person"/"he"/"him"/"she"/etc. instead of "I"/"me"/"you"/"yours"/etc.

EXAMPLE: Let's say I'm writing about communication. The following implies the reader doesn't know better: "You get angry and lash out. If you don't get the response you'd like, you turn your back." A better way to say this would be, "When I (or "a person") feel(s) taken for granted, I'm ("he's") tempted to get angry and lash out. If I don't ("he doesn't") get the response I'd ("he'd") like, I ("he") might turn my ("his") back." This illustrates a principle instead of suggesting I, the writer, know better or do better than my reader.

EXCEPTION: If it doesn't make sense to use "I"/"me"/"mine"/etc, or if "the person"/"him"/etc is not specific enough or is too impersonal for a specific audience, I'll use "you"/"your"/etc. In my email I asked, "Did 'you' get the letter from . . ." In a post to my writing group I said, "I don't know if 'you' all know . . ." In my group it might be too impersonal to say, "I don't know if the members know . . ." ("the members" being the same sort of thing as "a person")

#3 The other thing I noticed when re-reading the email I wrote, was that I said "she" and "her" constantly instead of naming my daughter. I used her name in the first paragraph then just the pronouns after that. In person, it's a disrespectful habit to not use a person's name. In writing it isn't good language use and can become confusing.

A standard for Proper name vs. common noun is to always use the Proper name when re-introducing a character in a paragraph. And again to use that name after having used the pronouns approx. 3 times in a paragraph. Also the Proper name(s) should be used throughout when talking about more than one character in the same paragraph, especially if they are same gender.

EXAMPLE: "There was a steep hill in the back yard. Jared started running down this hill. He stumbled and fell. Now he was tumbling head over heels. He landed in the mud. Jared didn't mind the mud so much, it was hearing Adam's laughter! When he kicked at Adam things got worse . . ." It would be too confusing to say, "When he kicked at him things got worse . . ." Who kicked whom? If starting a new paragraph here, it would need to say "When Jared kicked at Adam . . ." Or, "When he kicked at Adam things got worse, until Jared . . ."

Having stated my "rules", I want to say that in writing, rules were made to be broken! If a writer knows good general standards, he can choose to deviate in order to express a style or idea. That's called "creative writing"!! Hey - I wrote this differently for my group post. I said, "If 'you' generally remember these standards, 'you' can choose to deviate in order to express a style or idea." It seemed to work better than "a writer"? Maybe because I know these people in a sense? Or is it just that there's a choice given? Or was I wrong? Or would it matter?

This stuff can get complicated . . . just remember it's about caring for the reader. Grace editing prioritizes readers, not standards!

by Rebekah Wells
copyright 2008

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Christmas Kindness... Touched By an Angel?

For those of you who have not received
Pastor Bill's Newsletter
This post is from my Newsletter so enjoy.
Written 12-15-2007
Copyright 2007 Pastor Bill Mazzulla III
PastorBill3rd@JesusAnswers.com
(Permission to forward
Pastor Bill's Newsletter
in it's complete form is granted.)



IV Christmas Kindness

Touched By An Angel ?



Because my legs bother me constantly but worse when I am on my feet,
(except for while I preach under the anointing),
I try to use a riding cart many stores make available.
Thankfully Walmart is one of those stores.

A side note for the fist time in years, our local Walmart has lawn Nativity scenes.
This gladdens my heart, that even in their merchandising they are acknowledging Christmas and not just a "Winter Holiday". If only I could afford a set!

Anyway back to my main thought.
Usually, my wife Minister Rosemary helps me. She helps me by getting a regular grocery cart and putting all of our groceries in it as I check out. Then once I park the riding cart I lean on the regular grocery cart which now has our groceries placed in it and I push it out to the parking lot.
But she is home-bound during her recovery.

This true story happened to me earlier this week.
I did so much shopping that the small basket in the riding cart was almost over full (grocery shopping and Christmas dinner shopping).
I was also carrying a large box (plastic shelves kit) with one hand while steering the riding cart with the other.
When I got to the check-out the woman in front of me asked if I would be able to fit everything back in the small basket of the riding cart. My response was to thank her and say something like;
"It's OK, I will get by".
She was done ringing up her stuff and I thought was gone.
The next thing I know she had an empty cart, and was putting my bagged up groceries and merchandise in the regular cart as the cashier rang them up. Then she pushed the regular cart out to the entrance for me while I parked the riding cart.
I thanked her immensely and offered her $5 for her helping me and for her time (over 20 minutes, maybe over 1/2 hour). She told me; "No that is alright. Just give it to Salvation Army".
I had to drive to the other entrance because Salvation Army was not at both entrances but after experiencing such kindness; I was glad to give to the Salvation Army who helps so many low-income families have a nicer Christmas.

It almost felt like I was in a mini-Christian Christmas version of "Touched By An Angel".
Now that lady had the Christmas Spirit. I never found out if she was a Christian or not but she had the Christmas Spirit of taking the time to give of herself and then still think of others again. People that give of themselves like that at Christmas time, often are the kind that do give of themselves all year long.
Was I touched by an Angel?
Maybe.
That stranger's kindness is one more reason that this Christmas Season special to me;
knowing that there are still strangers willing to take time to help others.

Which reminds me of something else.
Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season
and to remember it; that is an excellent start!
But I also saw this slogan recently:
"Jesus is the reason for every season."
AMEN!

Copyright 2007 Pastor Bill Mazzulla III
PastorBill3rd@JesusAnswers.com
(Permission to forward
Pastor Bill's Newsletter
in it's complete form is granted.)
Also permission to copy and/or forward this with copyright
and
Pastor Bill's Newsletter link included is OK.


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Friday, December 22, 2006


myspace codes
Myspace Codes: MyNiceSpace.com

Friday, September 22, 2006

I don't see anywhere to respond to posts.......just can't seem to get it straight:-) But I did read Pastor Bill's prayer and wanted to say Amen! to it.

LeeAnna

Monday, September 18, 2006

Be Ready!

I wrote this around the time of June 6 2006, on account of some people were getting excited about the date being 6-06-06 or 6-6-6.
Nothing big happened on that day.

I think the biggest thing is that a town called "Hell" within our USA used it to cash in making their town as a tourist attraction which from the news article I understand they also do on Halloween.
No thank you!
I would not want to live in a town like that or make money off of the devil's reputation.

Well there you go as I explained about my "free-style" poem if you could call it that,
I ended up writing some musings.

It might not be June 6 anymore but the message in this piece is still very important so here it is:

Be Ready


Regardless of the numbers in the calendar date,
regardless of what is happening in the news,
we should always be ready,
ready to live for Jesus,
ready to testify for Jesus,
then perhaps we will be ready to die for Jesus.

I think when we are ready to live for Jesus,
to testify for Him and to be ready to die for Him
then we will be ready when Jesus comes for us;
ready if it is by natural death
even ready for His suddenly coming for us through the Clouds in the sky.

Be ready.

Amen.

In Christ,
Pastor Bill Mazzulla III

Prayer for this blog.

I agree with the previous prayer/entry so I would recommend any person coming to this site, especiaslly members of this blog to pray BOTH prayers!

Dear heavenly Father ,

We ask that your name be glorified through our every day lifes and through our writings.
Please anoint those who would write for this blog let all that is said and done here be Truth, that others would find strength and encouragement through this blog.
We also pray that the poetry, prose and musings etc. in this blog not only encourage others emotionally but also encourage others to draw closer to your son Jesus Christ.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.



Note:
I said "we" in this prayer
because I expect others
to read and pray this prayer
so it is a prayer of agreement
for the writers, visitors and readers of this blog.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Lord Jesus, I pray that you would bless this blog. May Your Words flow through it and stir all those who write, read, publish and comment. I ask that You would protect this blog from all harm from the evil one and that You be glorified here. In Your Name we pray--Amen