A Step in the Write Direction--July 28, 2014--Will Your Writing Help Someone?

A Step in the Write Direction

July 28, 2014

Update: Not too much to report. Two of my tests came back negative, except for a hiatal hernia. The report also showed an enlarged heart, but doctor didn’t say anything about it (I read it in the report), so he must not be too concerned about it; have one more test this week. Guess it’s just the windy weather here and the progression of the COPD….Daughter and family have gone back to Oklahoma. I miss them already but glad they’re where God placed them….Such a good message this morning on the Prodigal Son titled “When God Ran.” Three points: 1) Something was lost; 2) Someone was concerned; 3) There was a celebration when the lost was found.

Thought for the Day: I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might help Him. I ended up by asking God to do His work through me (Hudson Taylor, missionary).

Song for the Day:

The only time I ever saw him run,

Was when…

He ran to me,

He took me in His arms,

Held my head to His chest,

Said, “My son’s come home again!”

Lifted my face,

Wiped the tears from my eyes,

With forgiveness in His voice He said,

“Son, do you know I still love You?”

He caught me by surprise, When God ran…

            —“When God Ran,” John Parenti, Benny Ray Hester

Laugh for the Day: A man was told he needed surgery.  "Let me tell you how quickly I work," said the doctor.  "I believe in getting my patients up and around very quickly.  Three hours following the operation you'll sit up.  Five hours after, you'll stand up.  Eight hours later you'll be walking."

"Fine," the patient agreed, "but will you let me lie down during the operation?"

Writer’s Tips: (#6 from unpublished Writer’s Devotional book)

Playing Chopsticks

The one who calls you is faithful

and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

The story is told that at one of Paderewski’s concerts, a restless five-year-old sat

near the front of the huge hall. Waiting for the concert to begin, the boy slipped away from his mother, crawled onto the platform, and sat at the grand piano. He began to play “Chopsticks” with one finger.

As the audience sat in shocked silence, the great pianist walked out and stood behind the boy. Bending over the child, Paderewski improvised a beautiful arrangement of “Chopsticks” as he whispered, “Keep playing, son. You’re doing a great job.”

Do you ever feel like you’re just playing “Chopsticks” in your writing? You take an article to a writers’ group and the members tear it apart? You send manuscripts to editors and they come back with a form rejection note? You meet an editor at a conference who sounds excited about your book and takes it back with him, but you never hear from him or her again? “I’m giving up,” you say, and stuff all your writing materials on the top shelf of the closet.

A conference speaker tells of attending a camp meeting. He stopped at the book stand where he saw a minister friend who had been going through a rough time. The minister picked up one book after another, looked at it, and put it back down. “There’s nothing here for me,” he said and walked away. “Did God call you to write a book that might have helped this minister?” the speaker asked the conferees.

Will a devotional you write get someone through a depressing time? Perhaps a poem God gave you can be the means of encouraging a family member or friend. At the end of a songwriting workshop, the instructor gave the students the chance to share a song they had written. After one woman sang her song, the instructor kindly said, “That’s good, but I’m not sure it’s marketable.”

“Maybe it isn’t,” the woman replied, “but every time I sing it in church, someone comes up to me afterwards and says, ‘You wrote that song just for me.’”

The instructor then told the class, “There’s a lesson here. Not everything we write is meant to be published. If it gets you or someone else through a rough time, that may be the reason God gave it to you.”

You may just be playing “Chopsticks” today, but maybe that is what someone needs to hear. God will fill in the missing notes as He whispers in your ear, “Keep playing, child. You’re doing a great job.”

Has God called you to write something specific that would help someone? What’s the first step you need to take to begin that project? Ask Him for help to start it today!

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

 

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

A Step in the Write Direction--July 21, 2014--Recycling Your Manuscripts

A Step in the Write Direction

July 21, 2014

Update: Another week. The year is more than half over. Where has the time gone? My mom used to say that the older you get, the faster the time goes—and she was right….This week brought some good news in that most of my tests came out okay. One culture hasn’t come back yet. Doctor still isn’t sure if the coughing is caused by the COPD, or perhaps mold in our mobile home. Will get that checked out this week….Tomorrow we’ll say good-bye to our daughter and family who are going back to Oklahoma after their visit here. They were supposed to leave today but our son-in-law got pneumonia while here, so they’re waiting another day.…Finishing up the corrections on the new “Step” book; trying to figure out how to scan forms on my new printer, then it’ll be done. (If I can’t scan them, will either have to learn how to type them or hire someone smarter than me to do it!)

Thought for the Day: "You are a remarkable gift to this world. What you bring to it is something only you can bring. Don't ever think that you have nothing to offer. You have everything because you are everything God planned for you to be" (Bob Perks); (Gospel Greats Newsletter, 7/15/14).

Song for the Day:

When the world that I've been living in collapses at my feet
When my life is shattered and torn
Though I'm windswept and battered I can cling to His cross
And find peace in the midst of my storm
There is peace in the midst of my storm tossed life
Oh there's an anchor, there's a rod to cast my faith upon.

Jesus rides in my vessel so I'll fear no alarm
He gives me peace in the midst of my storm

            —Steve Adams, written after tornado destroyed their church in Xenia, Ohio, on Good

            Friday, 1974.

Laugh for the Day: A new papa in the Armed Forces received a telegram: "Gave birth to little girl this morning; both doing well."  On the envelope carrying the message was this sticker: "When you want a boy, call Western Union."

Writer’s Tips:

Recycling Your Manuscripts

This is the day of recycling—in your writing as well as in your community. Don't ever be satisfied with selling something once! Continue to send out reprints until you know you have exhausted all the markets for that particular manuscript. Then rewrite it with a different slant.

Recall a time in your life when you struggled with a decision or a trial, but God brought you through. Write this as a personal experience article. Then, using the same incident, change the characters and location, make up a “what if” ending, and turn it into a short story.

If you’ve written this story from a mother's point of view for a woman's magazine, rewrite it from the father's point of view for a male-oriented periodical. If the story involves a family, write it from a teenager's point of view for youth magazines or take-home papers. Or change the dialogue and situations to that of a younger child for children's publications.

After you have sent to all the fiction markets, keep the same theme, do some research, add a few statistics, and turn it into a nonfiction piece. Or develop the main theme into a devotional or poem.

Dennis Hensley sold an article to a local newspaper about a high school boy who began a mobile horseshoeing business. He then sold it to a teen periodical. Because the young man was deaf, Hensley offered it to a magazine looking for stories on the hearing impaired. And since he was a Christian, the story next appeared in his denominational magazine. The teen used a Ford truck in his business, so Hensley then sold the story to Ford Times. And because he had offered only one-time rights to the local newspaper, he sold the story to other newspapers in the state, and eventually nationwide to the Grit newspaper. What a great example of recycling!

What manuscript have you had published that you can rewrite using a different slant?

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

A Step in the Write Direction--July 14, 2014--Mnemonic Spelling Hints

A Step in the Write Direction

July 14, 2014

Update: This has been quite an interesting week with a lot happening. Monday I had a cat scan on my lungs. (The doctor has been trying everything with the COPD to lessen the coughing, so he wanted to see if they’ve missed something.)…My daughter and family from Oklahoma were supposed to leave Monday for a vacation in Michigan, then a woman from their church passed away, so they had to wait until Wednesday so my son-in-law could hold the funeral. Then also on Tuesday they got a call that my son-in-law’s mom here in Mesa is going to have hip replacement surgery on the 15^th, so they changed their plans and came here instead. Got here Thursday night, so we’re enjoying their visit. (Note: If I had taken my trip to Michigan as planned, I would have missed their visit here!)….Also on Thursday I had a test I’ve never had before—a bronchoscopy, similar to an endoscopy, except this tube goes into the lungs, takes pictures and also a biopsy. So will find out the results of that and the cat scan at my appointment Thursday, July 17^th… Finally finished reading over the edited manuscript for the new edition of A Step in the Write Direction, and learned how to globally replace straight quotes with curly ones—AFTER I went through the 393 pages and did each one manually! Sent the manuscript back to the publisher last night, and will just wait now for the final page proofs. The book is scheduled to come out in September with a new cover, which I’m eager to see.

Thought for the Day:

Lord, take me where You want me to go,

Let me meet whom You want me to meet,

Help me to say what You want me to say,

And keep me from getting in Your way.

                        —Father Mychal Judge, who lost his life on

    9/11/01, at the World Trade Center

Song for the Day:

I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord,

Over mountain, or plain, or sea.

I’ll say where You want me to say, dear Lord,

I’ll be what You want me to be.

            —Mary Brown, “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go”

Laugh for the Day:

"Do you believe in life after death?" a supervisor asked his clerk. 

"Oh yes, sir," she replied. 

"That's good," the employer said, "because yesterday after you left early to attend your grandfather's funeral, he stopped by to see you."

Writer’s Tips:

Mnemonic Spelling Hints

Affect, as v., alter, sway; as n., psychological state

Effect, as v., establish; as n., end result

All right, two words; remember its antonym, all wrong

Anoint, use an ointment

Balloon, two l’s as in ball

Battalion, two t’s, one l, as in battle

Capitol, building as in dome

Capital, city as in an area

Connecticut, first I connect, then I cut.

Deductible, i as in IRS.

Dependent, take dependents to the dentist.

Descendant, descendants come from ancestors.

February, “Br! It’s cold.”

Friend, a friend to the end.

Grammar, bad grammar will mar your progress.

Gray, a as in America; grey, the English spelling, e as in England.

Inoculate, one n, one c, as in inject.

Memento, mem as in memory.

Minuscule, contains minus.

Piece, a piece of pie.

Privilege, a privilege gives you a leg up.

Recommend/recommendation, contain the word commend.

Rhythm, divide six letters into two groups, each with an h in the middle.

Separate, break into parts.

Stationary, stand still.

Stationery, write on it (or remember e stands for envelope).[1]

* * *

And a great way to remember the names of the Great Lakes: Sailors refer to them as their HOMES—Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.

---

[1] Source unknown. Received in conference handout.

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

 

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

A Step in the Write Direction--July 7, 2014--Editing Tips

A Step in the Write Direction

July 7, 2014

Update: To my disappointment, on the advice of my lung specialist, I had to cancel not only the writing workshop but my whole vacation in Michigan scheduled for June 10-21. I had also intended to visit friends and family, my home church, and camp meeting in which my nephew is having charge of the music. Hopefully I can reschedule the workshop for next year as my ticket is good until June 20, 2015….I’ll be having a lung cat scan on Monday, and then a new test called a “bronchoscopy,” so appreciate your prayers….Am now reading the page proofs of the new Step in the Write Direction and hope to have that back to the publisher sometime this week.

Thought for the Week: “It is easy to surrender [to God] when you know that nothing but Love and Mercy are on the other side” (Richard Rohr, Spirituality and the 12 Steps).

Song for the Week:

            As a chalice cast of gold, burnished, bright and brimmed with wine

Make me, Lord, as fit to hold grace and truth and love divine.

Let my praise and worship start with the cleansing of my heart.. . . .

Let my actions, Lord, express what my tongue and lips profess.”

—Thomas H.  Troeger, “As a Chalice Cast of Gold,” vs. 1-2,

    Glory to God,  Presbyterian Hymnal, 2013, 429.

Laugh for the Week: Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, “Why is the bride dressed in white?” The mother replied, “Because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.” The child thought about this for a moment then said, “So why is the groom wearing black?”

Special This Week:

Shelia Shares....
"Frogs On A Log"
In a management training seminar, the executives were admonished to make decisions and act on those decisions. The leader gave an example. "If you had five frogs on a log and three of them decided to jump, how many frogs would you have left on the log?"

The executives were unanimous in their answer. "Two."

The leader explained that they were all wrong. There would still be five frogs on the log. Deciding to jump and jumping are not the same.

In our Christian lives, often it is difficult to make decisions regarding future actions. We don't want to make a wrong decision. But, once the decision is made, do we follow through with actions or do we sit and do nothing? (The Gospel Greats Weekly Newsletter).

Reading the above brought the thought to mind that “deciding to write” and “writing” are not the same. To be a writer, you have to write. (dg)

Writer’s Tips:

Some suggestions I sent to an author whose manuscript I edited this week:

·        The biggest thing I noticed is the overuse of all caps, boldface, and underline. You don't need all of them. Pick up a Bible study book you may have in your library and see how seldom all of these are used. They really detract from the message you so very ably put across, and also break the train of thought for the reader. Delete most of these from one page, print it out, and see how much easier it is to read. You want the reader to see the Lord, not you.

·        Underlines could be used perhaps in subheads, but not in the main title, nor should your title or subheads be in all caps. For example, the word PREFACE would simply be Preface.

·        Since you're putting all your Scripture in italics, if you want to emphasize a word or words, rather than underline them, delete the italic and put them in Roman (normal font).

·        The word EXAMPLE that you use so often could be Example. Just be consistent all the way through.  

·         I don't know who you're sending this to. If it will be self-published, does your publisher require that the right margin be justified? Normally it isn't. You can highlight the entire book, then go to “paragraph” and check on “left” instead of “justified” and it’ll change the whole manuscript. (Note: If you do this, you will have to go back and center the words you want centered.)

·        The other big thing, because this Bible study is all in outline form, if you have an a) you must have a b). If you have a 1) you have to have a 2), and so on. (NOTE: I have an outline format for anyone who wants me to send it to them.)

·        When you get to the last line of a page, don't Line Return all the way down to the end of the page. This makes a lot more work for the editor. Simply Enter once to get to the next line, then Ctrl Enter, and this takes you to the top of the next page.

·         The other thing concerns the versions of the Bible you're using. If you’re using Scriptures from mostly one version, then you can put on the title page: Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture in this book is taken from ­­­_______, then give the credit line for that version. Then you go on and say: Scriptures marked NIV are taken from ______ and give that credit, etc.. (NOTE: I have a list of all the credit lines for the various versions of the Bible which I’ll send to anyone who e-mails me. This information is also included in my Step in the Write Direction book.)

·        Some words that were spelled right but misused are: prophecy/prophesy; assistants/ assistance; board/bored; entrée/entry, and prospective/perspective. Also the word gospel is lower case when referring to good news, but upper case (as also is Epistle) when referring to a book of the Bible.

·        Also, spell out the books of the Bible. Let the publisher abbreviate them in their own style if they wish.

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

  

www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

Step in the Write Direction--June 30, 2014--Would you write without a byline?

A Step in the Write Direction

June 30, 2014

Update: Not much to update this week. Still resting up from the Oklahoma trip and getting ready for the Michigan trip, and finishing several editing/proofreading jobs including the galleys for the updated Step in the Write Direction book. I do have a prayer request to share though. My “bestest” friend (friends for 69 years) is now under hospice care at home with cancer of the liver. I visited her Saturday and she was cheerful as usual, but thin and a little confused at times. Prayer request, however, is for her husband—a super nice guy, but doesn’t know the Lord and this is what bothers Kathy the most—that she won’t see him again. Say a little prayer for the two of them today, would you? Thanks!

Thought for Today: The disciplined person, the disciple, is someone who is able to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. The whole purpose of the [spiritual] disciplines is to enable you to do the right thing at the right time in the right spirit” (John Ortberg & Dallas Willard, Living in Christ’s Presence, 2014, 143).

Laugh for the Day: One day, my husband announced to the family that he was going to fast and pray. Ginny, our five-year-old, had recently learned that fasting meant not eating. "No!" she shouted. "You can't fast! You'll die!" Her dad carefully explained that many men and women fasted in Bible times. Ginny paused a moment. Then, with a flash of insight and a note of warning, she proved her point: "And they're all dead!" she said. (The Gospel Greats Newsletter, June 24, 2014)

Second laugh: Here’s 1-second video that’ll make you laugh, especially if you’re over 40:  www.youtube.com/embed/qteu4ld_SCE?rel=0

Song for the Day:

More about Jesus in His Word,

Holding communion with my Lord,

Hearing His voice in ev’ry line,

Making each faithful saying mine.

            —Eliza E. Hewitt, 1851–1920

(Do we Hear His voice in every line we write?)

Writer’s Tips (#5 of unpublished writer’s devotional book):

Our Reward for Writing

Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize?

Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games

goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it

to get a crown that will last forever (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).

A speaker at a writer’s conference asked the question, “Would you write if you didn’t get a byline?” I’m sure, knowing we were all Christian writers, he expected all of us to answer with a resounding “Of course!”

I was a little slow at answering the question in my mind. My first thought was, Other editors might see the article and want to purchase it for their magazine. How would they know who wrote it? Then I thought, What if a reader wants to get in touch with me—not necessarily to offer praise for the article, but to let me know it helped them, or to share something they’re going through. They won’t know my name.

My final answer, however, was that the message was more important than the byline—which is why I often write deeply personal articles under a pen name.

There is an old story about the Greek Marathon. Muscular, conditioned runners paced nervously near the starting line for the long-distance race. In the midst of it all, a young stranger with an awesome physique took his place at the starting line. Taking no notice of the other contestants, he stared straight ahead. Two prizes awaited the winner: a bouquet of flowers and the honor of standing beside the king.

There was no question of who would win, and allegedly someone offered the stranger money and property not to run. Refusing the offers, he toed the mark and when the signal was given, he was the first away—and the first to cross the finish line.

At the end of the race, a bystander asked the young man if he thought the flowers were worth as much as the money and property he had refused. He replied, “I did not enter the race for the flowers. I ran so that I could stand beside my king!”

Bylines are nice, checks are more than welcome, but oh, to someday cross the finish line and stand before our King!

Would you write without a byline? Why or why not?

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

A Step in the Write Direction--June 23, 2014--The Mission Field of Writing

A Step in the Write Direction

June 23, 2014

Update: I’m glad I had most of this blog done last week as I found I’m not completely recuperated from my 10-day trip to Oklahoma. Seems I can’t do what I used to (my husband keeps telling me that). However, I do have my ticket now for my 10-day trip to Michigan. Will fly into Grand Rapids Thursday, July 10, visit my ex-sister-in-law (we’re still friends) and nephew and nieces; Friday visit my brother in Mt. Pleasant; go to my sister’s cottage in Houghton Lake on Saturday or Sunday; then Tuesday go to our district camp meeting where my nephew, Dave Clark, has charge of music for the week. My brother and wife will also be there from Tennessee….Friday I’ll go to Adrian where I’ll hold a one-day writers’ workshop Saturday, July 19 (if you know anyone in southern Michigan or in the Toledo, Ohio, area, you can let them know about this). Sunday I’m going to my home church in Jackson, then back to Grand Rapids to fly home Monday, July 21. That’s my last trip for the year!!

Thought for the Day:

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous,

teach me to serve you as you deserve,

to give and not to count the cost,

to fight and not heed the wounds,

to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labor and not to seek reward,

except that of knowing that I do your will.

—St. Ignatius of Loyola

Song for the Day:

Ready to go, ready to stay;

Ready my place to fill;

Ready for service, lowly or great;

Ready to do His will.

            —Author Unknown

Laugh for the Day: A minister had a ready Scripture for every occasion.  While he was preaching, he swallowed a fly and quickly said, "He was a stranger and I took him in."

Writer’s Tips (#4 from unpublished writer’s devotional book):

The Mission Field of Writing

I have brought you glory on earth by

completing the work you gave me to do (John 17:4).

One day, while in my senior year of high school, I pulled a verse out of my “Promise Box” which read, “I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance.” Aha! At last I knew what I would be—I was called to be a missionary!

I shared my story at missionary rallies, and when I began college and someone asked me my plans after graduation, I proudly announced, “I’m going to be a missionary.” And of course it was to Africa. Wasn’t that where everyone went?

As time went on, however, the desire grew dimmer and I began to question whether it really was a call or just a happenstance that I read that verse that day. After all, it was the next card in the Promise Box. I was embarrassed, however, to admit to friends and family that I really wasn’t called. And I didn’t want to give up my dream. When the song was sung, “Ready to go…ready to stay,” I was ready to go, but not to stay. It took years before I realized that writing is a mission field.  That although I wasn’t called to go to a foreign field, I could still pray and give and help send others.

I did fulfill my dream in a sense, however. After I began a Christian writers club in my home town, a friend brought me an article to critique. She ended up selling it to Decision magazine, and later shared with me that two men—in different parts of Africa—wrote and told her that because of her article, they had accepted Christ. So a little piece of me did get to Africa after all!

What is your writing mission field? Is it writing devotionals? I e-mailed a devotional to a friend one Sunday morning. She printed it off just before leaving for church. Dashing to her car, she noticed her neighbor in the yard—a single man she hadn’t become well acquainted with yet. He looked a little discouraged, she thought, so on impulse, she handed him the devotional. “Here, you might enjoy this,” she said. When she returned home, her neighbor knocked on her door. “I had planned on committing suicide this morning,” he told my friend. “My wife left me and I decided I didn’t want to live anymore. But this”—holding up the piece of paper—“this gave me hope.”

Is your mission field writing personal experience stories—sharing an experience you’ve gone through and how the Lord helped you. After writing an article about letting go of my mother eleven years after she died, I received a letter from a widower who said, “…now I can go on.”

Whatever field of writing you choose, when you know God has called you to write and when something you write helps change someone’s life, then you can know that you, too, are a missionary.

My mission field today is:

 Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com

 "A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"

A Step in the Write Direction--June 16, 2014--Father's Day

A Step in the Write Direction

June 16, 2014

Update: Home from Arizona and trying to get caught up on emails and proofreading and editing jobs. As much as I enjoyed being with my daughter and family, as Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.” Now I have the revised version of A Step in the Write Direction to proofread. I wanted to print it out first but, unfortunately, my 5-year-old printer quit working over the weekend, so the first errand tomorrow morning will be at Staples. Here’s hoping all your fathers and husbands had a great Father’s Day today!

Thought for the Day: My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, "You’re tearing up the grass."  "We’re not raising grass," Dad would reply. "We’re raising boys."  (Harmon Killebrew, former baseball player).

Song for the Day:

Faith of our fathers, living still

In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword!

Oh, how our hearts beat high with joy

Whene’er we hear that glorious word!

Faith of our fathers! holy faith!

We will be true to thee till death!

            —Frederick W. Faber, 1814–1863

Laugh for the Day: The expectant father was a little on the broke side, so he took his wife to the pizza palace to have her baby because he heard it had free delivery.

Writer’s Tips: For Father’s Day

Singing with Our Dad

                                       In days gone by we'd gather 'round

The piano we once had,

We'd sing the songs we children liked,

Then up would speak our dad:

"Sing this one song," he used to say,

"I sang it as a lad."

He'd hum a bit of a favorite song,

And we'd sing it for our dad:

            Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

            That sav'd a wretch like me!

            I once was lost, but now am found,

            Was blind, but now I see.

The years passed by; we moved away,

Then a call came on the phone,

"Your dad is sick," and once again

We gathered at our home.

"Please sing for me," his voice was weak,

"The words I do not know,

But let me hear you sing again

As you did so long ago."

            Precious mem'ries, how they linger,

            How they ever flood my soul,

            In the stillness of the midnight,

            Precious, sacred scenes unfold.

A year went by, then one more call,

"Your dad won't last the night."

We caught the plane, but he was gone

'Ere we could end our flight.

But though he's gone, those words he said,

I still can dimly hear,

"Please sing for me, just one more time,"

This song I love so dear":

            When I get to the end of the way,

            I will rest at the close of the day,

            And the toils of the road will seem nothing,

            When I get to the end of the way.

Yes, now he's gone, but one glad day,

We'll meet him on that shore,

Our family all will gather 'round,

And we shall part no more.

We'll laugh and cry and reminisce

Of memories we once had,

And then, for all eternity,

We'll sit and sing with Dad.

            Will the circle be unbroken

            By and by, Lord, by and by,

            In a better home awaiting

            In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

Have a good week spreading the

gospel through the printed page.

Donna Clark Goodrich

dgood648@aol.com

www.thewritersfriend.net

http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com