Omaha WordSowers Writing Fun

To hobnob with other authors brings enlightenment, encouragement and laughter. Last night Jon Miller (17) drove me to Garden Café at Rockbrook Plaza for food, fellowship and fine tuning our writer skills.
Eight out of nine attendees brought a short article about a driving experience. The idea about the exercise was to fool our fellow authors, don’t write in your “usual voice.” I purposely took time to look up current slang. I’m posting my delightful piece here for posterity sake, even if it didn’t fool even one of the other writers.

East Cupcake Driving

My Best Friend (BF) drove from my house to the tullies and then said, “It’s not that hard. The gear shift shows you the direction.” We changed seats. I felt nervous and excited.
“Put your left foot on the clutch and the right on the gas,” BF said. I had to look at my feet to figure out the difference between the two. I let out the clutch too quick, the vehicle bucked and died. I felt sweat bead on my forehead and apologized.
“Now don’t pull a quebby,” BF said.
I didn’t know what a quebby was anymore than I knew how to start a stick shift. I let out on the clutch once more, hit the gas. Zero to twenty-five in one lurch.
“Take a right at the light and drive to East Cupcake, its safer thata direction,” BF said. “Easy, easy. Don’t hit the lagger. Turn, turn, turn quick.” Before I turned BF grabbed the wheel. “Shift, shift. No, not that way.”
“Don’t be haggin’ me,” I yelled at BF, placing my sweaty palm on the gear shift. “I’m not a schmuck. I can see the car ahead is slower than molasses.”
BF’s nagging subsided until we hit the dirt road of East Cupcake. “Stop. Now hit reverse?” BF instructed.
“Reverse? I don’t know how….”
“Don’t be a Palooka, look at the gear shift.”
I managed to not only reverse the vehicle I parked, stopped, started, turned it off and managed to drive the freeway in fifth gear on the way home.
“That was truly san frantastic,” I said to BF when we arrived home. “You’re a great teacher—or maybe I’m a great student.”
I felt really really proud when BF said, “Off the hinges, my friend. Off the hinges.”

HE TOOK TIME TO COUNT FISH

One of the first stories taught to children is about the fishermen. Preschoolers love to catch fish. Give them a toy boat, a make-shift net, fish crackers and have someone read the story in John 21:5-14. Many teachers read, “throw your net,” and then encourage their students to catch and scarf down their gold fish crackers.

But read on. When Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you just caught,” Simon Peter climbed aboard, dragged the net ashore. “It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” (John 21:11 NIV).

Most fishermen are like Peter and John, they see the importance of the catch—they count, weigh and photograph for posterity sake.

Add trivia to your day. Also visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/kat2009 to stay up to date with Kat's journey

Kat’s Kernals

Fringe and tassels on a garment may seem like a bunch of phoo phoo, but not so. God said, “Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments….” (Numbers 15:37). Awe, such rich symbolism. People of that day understood the hem of the garment was an extension of the individual which clarifies Ruth saying, “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are Kinsman Redeemer. (Ruth 3:9). Jesus knew about the fringed tassels, too, but He had had a different perspective. In Matthew he commented on how the Pharisees did everything for others to see “….and their tassels on their garments long.” Question: I love the added ruffles and even fringe, but then I ask myself, does my clothing today represent who God is in me or do I invite everyone to see me?

Kat Crawford©2011

Be of Good Cheer

Another strange and interesting Bible Fact:

When my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness he despaired of one more person asking, “How are you?” Yet every doctor, nurse, technician and visitor asked the same thing, “How are you?” Why not take a Bible phrase and turn it into a new greeting. “Be of good cheer.” In Matthew 14:27 Jesus said, “Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid.” John 16:33 says, “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.” (kjv)

Develop a new habit, practice saying, “Be of good cheer” to everyone you greet.

An Old Cliche by Job

Authors are reminded to avoid oft quoted cliché. Still we hear a family member, friend or co-worker use an old hat phrase on a daily basis. Ever wonder where they stem from?

Today when I searched for those little known tid-bits of the Bible, I ran smack dab into a phrase I use often. “…. by the skin of my teeth"; did you know Job is the first recorded person to say, “by the skin of my teeth?” Job 19:20 NIV.

How many other little tidbits of speech actually are derived from the ancient ones? Those who lived years before us?

The Lamb Crew

Our friends felt called to parenthood. After the birth of their third child they adopted a special needs child, then another and another. At the last count they were the proud parents of twenty-one children. A happy bunch, they call themselves the Lamb Crew.

Twenty-one children is a lot of mouths to feed, but what about our Bible character, Rehoboam. He fathered eighty-eight kids—now that, my friends, is one large family.

II Chron 11:21 niv Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters.

Just a thought from Kat for today, chew on it for awhile.

What Is It?

Manna is a honey wafer. (Exodus 16:31 NIV). The name means “What Is It?” Now think about it. God gave the people food every day. They didn’t dig the soil. Tend the garden. Fertilize the plants or even water. They simply harvested the ‘manna’ each day. They were given just enough for their needs. It seems that often we heap our plate full of the day’s offerings without a sound of thanks giving. Instead we are guilty of wrinkling our nose and like the Hebrew children we say, “Manna?” or translated, “What is it?”