Hey, everybody! It’s a July Sunday – even if it does feel more like a September Sunday. We had record lows here on Friday night. Very pleasant today. I could have probably picked beans without working up too much of a sweat, but the beans had to wait for tomorrow. Anyway it is Sunday and it is July so we have a new winner of an autographed copy of my about to be released book, The Believer. And the winner is another Stephanie. The last winner was Stefanie from Kentucky. I’m not sure where this week’s winning Stephanie is from, but I’ll be contacting her for a mailing address to send her the book. There’s still another Sunday in July and then I’ll be drawing for a winner the first weekend of August, so send me a message from my website and I’ll add your name to the pot. Who knows? You might win. Nearly everyone who has won a book in my giveaways has said, “I never win anything!” But that time they did.
We started Bible School at my little country church this week. Now that I’ve got a better hookup to the internet, I’ll try to start posting some pictures here on the blog and I thought tonight that a picture of the church might be something you’d like to see. Especially those of you who read some of the Hollyhill books since I based my Mt. Pleasant Church in the books on Goshen’s building. Or at least the way it looked back in the sixties. And yes, I do remember those olden days before some of you discovered America. That’s what our pastor says happened when you were born. Besides, you missed out. The Sixties were some interesting years. Just think about the music. We went from Elvis to the Beatles and beyond.
Of course my mom has even more to remember and celebrate. She grew up during the Depression, got married right before WW II started, enjoyed the peaceful Fifties and has been on a roller coaster ride ever since. So much has changed in her lifetime. So much has changed in mine. But isn’t that what they say is the one thing you can count on? Change. At least about everything but the Lord who is the same today and yesterday and all the tomorrows. The Bible tells us so.
And that’s what we’re teaching at Bible School this week. The B-i-b-l-e. I’m guessing a lot of you sang that song at Bible School when you were kids. I’ve certainly sung it a lot since I’ve taught Bible School at Goshen every year since 1967. I sometimes think I should retire, but I enjoy being around the kids too much. If you want a fresh outlook on life just go find some kids and don’t talk. Just listen.
I did get that wireless stuff hooked up finally here in the house. My son figured out why I was pulling my hair out. I had the wrong kind of network cards. As I said on Facebook, I was trying to make a goose be a swan. It wasn’t going to work no matter how many times I tried. So I went out to the store. Got the right stuff and had it up and running in half an hour or less. Easy as pie. Only one problem, the satellite company put me in the internet corner for 24 hours because I exceeded my download quota. I’d forgotten I even had a quota. Worse, I didn’t know I’d downloaded anything. Updates perhaps for Windows or so their site suggested. But finally they let me out of the corner and I’m trying to behave and not exceed my allowed allotment. That way I won’t have to try to break out of internet jail or sit and stew for a day while the internet moves slower than dial-up ever did.
I won’t have much time for internetting or facebooking this week with VBS going on. I’ve plenty of writing publicity odds and ends to take care of. The Believer will be on Chapter-A-Week in August. I’ll post the link here on Wednesday. Then it might be good to think about what I’m going to say on Saturday morning at my booklaunch at Shaker Village. (If any of you are local, you can check out details on my website if you think you might like to be there Saturday morning. It will be fun to launch the book at the Shaker Village I based Harmony Hill on.) And I’m beginning to want to be back immersed in a new story. Can’t stay away from writing playing with grandkids and painting walls and canning beans too long. Believe me, the playing with the grandkids was the most fun in that list.
Hope you’re having a great week. I’ll tell you about the grandkids and me trekking down to Panter Rock another time. Smile – everybody will wonder what you’re up to.