Janice D. Green: Once a Kid, Still a Kid at Heart

Janice was once a kid. And her heart tells her she still is. She's at the perfect place for that!


When she was just a kid, she lived in northern Indiana. (And not far from where I grew up!)Most of that time she lived in a very small town or on a farm.  Later she moved to Tennessee (and I have family in Tennessee and lived there as a toddler,too.)


She went to college, got a job teaching, got married and had a daughter.  Now she has three grandchildren. And she was an  elementary school library media specialist for 16 years.She loved the library, but finally retired and now she is writing Bible  stories and making her own fabric pictures for children.


Let's find out about Janice's life as kid who grew up to be a kid who writes for kids!

Janice with her parents and 4/7 of her siblings when she was just a kid in Gary, Indiana (she is far left)

Childhood Ambition:  
 I wanted to sing on the radio. When we lived on the farm for three years (grades 2-4 for me) I rode a school bus to school. A friend sat with me on the bus and we sang and sang every morning. It was serious practice. Another friend taught me the song, "Let me go, Lover," from a magazine that had the lyrics of several popular songs in it. She taught another girl to sing "This Old House is Getting Shaky..." 

My brother told me I would have to practice for a hundred years before I would be able to sing well enough to sing on the radio. I haven't reached 100 yet, but somehow I don't think I'll be able to do it then either. :) 

Janice, grades 1st and 3rd school pictures, singer in the making

Fondest Memory (from back then):
 When I was in kindergarten (give or take a year) a friend taught me the words to the song "How Much Is that Doggy in the Window?" My father was the pastor of our church, so I asked him if we could sing it at the church fellowship supper. He agreed to let us sing, so we sang from a serving "window" with Puff our family puppy on a table between us. As we sang, Puff started growling and made a few barks. It got me tickled, and my friend ended up singing the song by herself while I giggled.
 

Proudest Moment (from back then): 

When I was in the first grade my class made pictures with finger paint. The teacher made the suggestion that we could use more than our fingers to make the pictures, that we could use our whole hand or even our arms. As I thought of things I might draw I remembered the way my daddy taught me to draw a fish with two curved lines that crossed just before the tail. He had shown me how to dot in the eye, add the gill mark with a fin behind it, and close in the tail with two short lines. We also added fins at the top and bottom of the fish as well. When my teacher suggested we could use our whole hand or our arm I realized it would be very easy to make the first two curves that way. Then I finished my fish the same way we had been making them at home with pencil and paper. The teacher was so impressed with it that she hung it on the classroom door where it stayed for several months, maybe to the end of the school year.

Janice's High School Photos

Biggest Challenge as a Child or Teen: 
My family moved twice while I was in elementary school as my father changed jobs, and with five kids in the family we were pretty poor. I was embarrassed with the clothes I had to wear, and I went for three years in desperate need of eyeglasses. So I didn't feel accepted by the popular kids in school and generally played with the kids who, like me, felt they didn't fit in either. Every summer after the second move I dreamed that when school started in the fall I would have more friends and be more popular. It wasn't until I was a sophomore in high school that I got my courage to choose my own friends instead of hanging out with whomever came along. I reviewed all the girls in my class thinking about who they hung out with and whether I thought they would be my friend, and I picked two girls who I could admire yet they weren't so popular that I felt they would brush me off. I started asking them to eat lunch with me and soon we were like the Three Musketeers, at least in my eyes. My self confidence improved from that time on.

Family picture in Lapel, Indiana on Easter Sunday: Mom made the dresses Joan and Janice (on left) were wearing. This was soon after their move to Lapel, Indiana.

Industrious Janice in grades 5-8. She worked to earn $20.00 to go to Girls Scout Camp--35 cents an hour! Most of these dresses were made by Janice's mom, except the last photo

My First Job : 
My first paid job was transplanting strawberries for a man who grew strawberries and Christmas trees on the land behind his house. I needed to earn $20 to pay part of my money to go to Girl Scout Camp. I believe this was when I was in the sixth or seventh grade. He paid me thirty-five cents an hour.

Watermelon Indulgence Memories in Rochester, Indiana--Janice and her siblings with huge slices of watermelon--good times!

Childhood Indulgence: 
For three years we lived on the farm that had been in my father's family since the time the land grants were first given out in the Northwest Territory. We farmed it as a truck farm, and grew all kinds of vegetables and melons. At harvest time we had a watermelon feast inviting all the neighbors and farm helpers who had worked for us and their kids. Dad cut the long melons lengthwise and gave us huge slices. Watermelon juice dripped on dresses and bare bellies, but nobody cared. It was good.

Favorite Outfit as a Child:
When my father was a pastor my mom sewed most of my dresses from fabric scraps she got at a nearby shirt factory. The pieces of fabric had been cut in the factory to make shirts, but they had been discarded for some reason. So Mom used these pieces to make beautiful dresses for my sister and me as well as for two neighbor girls and my three girl cousins. One day my neighbor and I both wore our new dresses to school on the same day. We were in the first grade. Our dresses were nearly alike and I was eager for the teacher to see them. But for some reason the teacher hadn't yet come into the classroom when the bell rang. I was so impatient for her to see our dresses that I talked Linda into going out the classroom door to look for her. The teacher was coming up the hall and scolded us for not staying in the room. If she said she liked our dresses I didn't hear it.

Linda and Janice in very special dresses--just beautiful!

Janice and sister Joan in their dresses made by mom

Favorite Childhood Movie and/or TV Show: 
When we lived on the farm my dad mowed the grass at the outdoor theater with his tractor. That gave our family a free pass to watch the movies. My favorite movie we saw was The Shaggy Dog. I also remember watching Lucy's Long Long Trailer with Lucille Ball, and Somebody Up There Likes Me, a story about a famous boxer.

Favorite Childhood Book: 

Janice's Childhood Books That She Found on Ebay

I had a history book in the third grade that I though was so cool. It had stories about children living at various times in the history of the US and at the end of each chapter was a page with a series of line pictures and instructions that told how various tasks were done at that point in history. I wanted to try every one of the activities on those pages. A few years ago I began searching for some of my favorite textbooks on eBay and elsewhere, and I found a copy of this book. The title is Pioneer Children of America. It was published in 1950 by D. C. Heath and Company.

Another favorite was Three Friends, a health book that was written like a reader. Each story taught a different lesson on good health. I have found a copy of it as well. I wish I could find the fairy tale readers I had in the second grade. I remember loving them too.

Mom used to read poems to us by James Whitcomb Riley from a book of poems we had. My favorites poems were "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie." Mom also read Tom Sawyer to us two different times. She was really good at reading with expression, something I learned to emulate as I grew older.

This picture was taken on their camping trip to Florida. The station wagon was new at the time and took them on almost all of their family vacations.

Favorite Childhood Activity/Pastime: 

I have always loved nature and being outdoors. Our family would hunt mushrooms after a rain in the spring. We lived in Indiana and my parents knew which kinds were safe to eat, so we could gather them and Mom would fry them for us for supper. We camped a lot as a family, first in our back yard on the farm, and later as the most economical way for a family of seven to go on vacation for a weekend or for a longer trip. We also tent camped on a lake for two summers in Tennessee while my father went to graduate school at MTSU. We had incredible tans when we went back to school in Indiana in the fall.

Family camping in Tennessee when dad was in school

Did you pass notes or have a pen pal as a child? My cousin, Marcia, was my age and she started writing letters to me. I was thrilled and wrote back, so we sent letters back and forth for a couple of months. Later I had a pen pal, Virginia Goode, whom I met at church camp. We wrote for quite a while but eventually lost touch. It would tickle me for her to find this blog post and write to me. I had one other pen pal for a while. I met him while my family was camping in Tennessee and my father was in graduate school. But I blew it when he asked me to be his Valentine. I said something like I was keeping my options open so he stopped writing to me.

Janice is holding Inky and Joan is holding Crybaby near Rochester, Indiana

Any Childhood Pets? 
When we lived on the farm we had lots of cats. I loved to find the kittens when I could tell that a mama cat had suddenly become thin again. I would go around making mewing sounds and then listen for the newborn kittens to cry. I found several litters this way. In one of these litters I fell in love with a little black kitten I called Inky. At first she would back away from me with big open eyes, but I would lift her up and gently love her until soon she was no longer afraid. Then she would come to me as soon as she saw me. As she grew older she followed me everywhere. I was given a camera for my 8th birthday, but I couldn't take Inky's picture because every time I backed away to take it she would come up to me. I was supposed to be 8 feet away to take the picture according to the directions that came with the camera, so I took a picture of another cat that looked almost like Inky instead.

Childhood Hero: 

My hero was my older brother, Keith. He was so smart and it seemed he could do anything. Whenever he and the neighbor boy, Ronnie, found something interesting to do like have a clubhouse or write letters in secret code, I made up my mind to do it too. Of course I had to get a different clubhouse because little sisters weren't allowed, but I was a pretty determined kid and usually found a way. I've written about clubhouses and writing in secret code in one of my blog posts that you can read here:(http://honeycombadventures.com/2009/11/a-backwards-party-in-a-hoghouse-2/)

Janice with her hero, brother Keith

Was there anyone in your childhood who pointed you to Jesus?  
My family was always in church, so I guess I'd have to give that credit to the various Sunday school teachers I had along the way.

Share your introduction to Christ as a child or teen or a significant event that led to your walk with Jesus. 

When my father left the ministry he leaned toward more liberal teachings and church environments. Some of these teachings struck at the roots of my earlier teachings and left me with no foundation for some post-college situations. Those teachings left me believing that the Bible was too hard for us to understand, and not worth reading. I had been taught that you could prove anything with the Bible. Consequently I made many regrettable decisions over a period of about five years, and I stopped going to church so I wouldn't have to defend my lifestyle. 

But one night I experienced a nightmarish temptation that truly scared me. I felt like Satan was putting thoughts in my head to do something so terrible that there would be no rationalizing it away like I had on other things. I prayed that God would take the thoughts away but nothing changed, and the thoughts persisted. I knew God was supposed to answer prayers, and I realized at that moment that I had allowed myself to get so far away from him that he might not answer them. I made up my mind then and there that I would be in church the next morning (which happened to be Sunday.) The thoughts left me, though I was still shaken deeply.

I was back in church the next morning, and over the next few months I re-discovered the Bible and came to realize that it wasn't as hard to understand as I had been led to believe. I found it to be very readable, consistent, and believable, and it gave me a beautiful new way to look at life. My new-found passion for the Bible is the driving force behind the Bible storybooks and the blog posts I write today.

Books by Janice about her parents

About Janice's Writing: 
I have written and illustrated The Creation which is self-published. The illustrations are hand-appliquéd quilt block pictures made from fabric. The Creation can be purchased in bookstores, at online bookstores, or from my website at http://honeycombadventures.com/books

My approach to illustrating my Bible storybooks comes from my vision to have children sleeping with Bible quilts. I want to find a way to produce quilts with a large variety and number of Bible story pictures on it so that when a child goes to bed they might point to one and ask to hear that story before going to sleep. I also have a blog for encouraging people to make Bible quilts at http://biblequilts.com 

I plan to write more Bible storybooks as time and finances permit. I have created my own publishing company for these books, Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC. I use the honeycomb theme because many verses in the Bible refer to God's Word being sweeter than honey from the comb. (See Psalm 19:10.) The book I am working on now is about the first Christmas, and after that I would like to write a book about Holy Week (Easter).

I have written other books for my family. I love to write the stories and memories of years gone by for my family to keep, and have recruited the help of friends and relatives to compile these stories. I make no claims to fame with these books; I simply like to record what life was like in the past, especially when everything about our social environment with its advances in technology is changing so fast. You can find these books at www.beelinepress.biz . I have also written several slice of life type stories on my Honeycomb Adventures blog under the categories "A Memory Ago" and "Tales from the Kid in Me."
 

Janice D. Green, A Kid at Heart

Janice's Life in her words:  
I was born and raised in northern Indiana until I graduated from Lapel High School. A year after my high school graduation my family moved to Tennessee where my father was hired as a science instructor at MTSU where I immediately enrolled and earned a BS in Sociology.

I finished my last classes as a part-time student while I worked a few months at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, TN. I thoroughly enjoyed my work and sold my first children's story there. But school loans pushed me to go into teaching.

I taught four years in South Carolina before I married and became a stay-at-home mom for eleven years with my daughter.

My favorite activity as a teacher was reading children's storybooks to the students, and I became more determined to write them. I wrote a few more stories but listened to some bad advice early on. Because I wanted to write children's books, I was told not to submit my best manuscripts for magazines and take-home story-papers. Of course I got the discouraging rejection slips, and quit submitting for several years.

I then enrolled at USC where I earned my Master of Library Science Degree. I served as an elementary school librarian for over 16 years.

When I earned my Masters in Library Science Degree in 1990 I began dreaming about writing again. The seeds for my Bible storybook, The Creation, were planted at that time as my ideas for the book evolved from a Bible alphabet book, to a large Bible story collection, to The Creation. A part of my vision for this book has always been the appliquéd quilt pictures. I envision children going to bed with Bible quilts, which I hope to inspire, and pointing to one of the many Bible story pictures on the quilt top asking to hear the story again. 

The Creation as retold by Janice D. Green

The Creation coloring pages are available on Janice's website

The Creation was published in late August, 2011 by Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC, a company she established for publishing this and more Bible storybooks with similar illustrations.
 
Janice worked four years as a commercial beekeeper when in 1995 she married her second husband who owned a commercial beekeeping business. This love for bees and beekeeping surely contributed to her inspiration for the name of her publishing business, Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC.

Follow Janice on Twitter https://twitter.com/queenbjan
God's Word is sweeter than honey from the comb. (Psalm 19:10)

Honeycomb Adventures Press, LLC  |  http://honeycombadventures.com  

Bible Quilts project  |  http://biblequilts.com

https://www.amazon.com/author/janicedgreen

Renee Hand interviews Janice about her book, The Creation: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/storiesfromunknownauthors/2011/12/19/interview-with-janie-green-for-the-creation

Lillian Pierson Warren, My Mother, On Her Birthday

Lillian Pierson as a Toddler

My mother died in 1997. She had lived 39 years with only one lobe of one lung and raised two children. (She lived almost 65 years total.) She had 6 grandchildren when she died and she is missed greatly by all of us. She lived five years beyond what her doctor predicted, but hey, she lived beyond what anyone expected her to live back in 1958 when she was first diagnosed with TB. For someone who could barely draw a breath, she was very active, had a great sense of humor, was well read, and seemed to know everything.

She was tough and survived many heartaches and illnesses, but yet, almost always seemed to have a smile on her face, except at Christmas. She seemed depressed at Christmas time. I can't ever remember seeing her cry. I think I heard her crying in her room once, but when she came out, she smiled sweetly at me.

I remember another time getting her a yellow gold head scarf with my own money for one Mother's Day. I loved that color(one of my favorites,) but my mother was more at home in blues,pinks and pastels. It wasn't a flattering color for her (I don't think I ever saw her wear yellow.)I was thinking of my favorite color instead of hers (blue.) She still said she loved it and put it in her special drawer with the jewelry she kept but didn't wear. She'd get it out and admire it in front of me and I'd be satisfied.

I'm taking a few liberties here (and there's no one to dispute my answers) but here's what Lillian might say if she were the featured kid today on my When I Was Just a Kid blog (and I heard these stories many times):

Childhood Ambition: To be a librarian or a teacher and to also get married and have many children.I love children and really wanted to be a mother. I lost five children before I was able to have Crystal, right before I turned 30.

Fondest Memory: When my sister Mayme, who was 13 months older than I was, and I were little girls someone gave us a doll for Christmas.We had to share her, but it was so nice having something like that for Christmas.Mayme was my closest friend.I was also close to my sister, Adeline and brothers, Don and Grant.

I also loved it when someone in the house had a birthday. My mother would make a huge deal about it by making a crown for the birthday child, singing to him or her, and making special treats to eat all day--allowing the child to pick whatever they wanted. That person was King or Queen of the Day. It was so much fun.

I also loved it when she made lefse.

Proudest Moment: When I had my daughter, Crystal, and my son, Ricky. But that was when I was an adult. I was proud of my heritage and family, as a child, and of how I could take care of myself and the animals. I was proud of being able to draw pictures and read.

Biggest Challenge as a child or teen: When I was 5 years old, my mother died from TB. I was scared, but was told not to cry by my older sisters. I was afraid to go in where my mother was laid out on the bed and wouldn't go in there after the funeral. I was the youngest girl of five children that my mother had (I had five older half-siblings who were either living on their own, or getting ready to leave home.) My little brother was a baby of two and he went to live with one of the older sisters, so he was taken from us. My father had a farm to run and all of these little kids. He was in much grief--it was the second time a wife had died and left him with children to raise alone.He was 22 years older than she was.

She died in January, and my birthday was in September. When my birthday came, I went to the table and sat down. My older sister who was staying with us (she was a teen) looked harshly at me and said, "And just what do you think you're doing?"

I replied, "It's my birthday. I want oatmeal for breakfast." I fully expected my mother's tradition on birthdays to be carried on.

She glared at me, grabbed my arm and yanked me up to my feet. "Well, you might as well get used to being a big girl now on your birthday. You get your own breakfast. There will be no more birthdays. Today you grow up."

So, I grew up when I was 6-years-old. It was a cruel reality of what was to be for the next 12 years, and really, for the rest of my life. I really never remember being a child. I worked as hard as a man on the farm, and also had to keep house. I was the last child to leave home, though I did go four years to a private Christian academy for high school.

Lillian in the TB hospital in Ft. Wayne, IN

My First Job: Working on the farm and all of us had chores to do from the smallest (me) to the oldest. (The youngest boy,baby Don, was sent to live with my older married sister when our mother died, until he was old enough for my father to take care of him.) 

My favorite time of the year was lambing season. Almost always there would be a lamb or two who didn't have a mother, and I'd take care of them. We worked from sun up to sun down in the harsh elements of Minnesota, but always took Sabbath off from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday (though we took care of the animals every day and still did our chores.) We lived so far out in the sticks, as kids, whenever someone came up to the house, we'd run and hide because we were so shy! But we had lots of fun playing and making up games while we did our chores and work.

My second job was when I went to the academy at 14. I worked in the library. Loved the library. I also was a secretary at 18. I wrote in my boss' ledgers as she wouldn't allow anyone else to do it. She was extremely demanding, and I couldn't even leave an i undotted. She was a woman and an attorney, and I didn't realize how unusual that was at the time. She taught me quite a lot.

I also was a nurse's assistant in the nursery at the hospital at 19. I loved that job, bathing the babies and wrapping them tight, holding them. Nothing was more satisfying, except for being a mother myself,than that job.

Childhood indulgence: We didn't really get many "indulgences." Since we were in a family which worshiped on Saturday (Sabbath) and were strict about our diet, too, plus were living on a farm,our indulgences came in the form of reading. I spent a lot of my spare time reading. 

I loved to spend time outdoors, too, and watched all of the wildlife that thrived around the Lake of the Woods. One thing I do remember is making games out of daily life. We laughed a lot. 

One of the things I remember was sneaking into Papa's room while he slept to play tricks and listen to him talk in his sleep.

"Papa" Aaron Pierson on the left and his brother, Oscar, on the right who died in barn fire

He would talk in his sleep and his language was Swedish in his sleep. We were not allowed to speak Swedish at home, only English, so unless we were visiting a relative, I didn't speak it, just understood it. We would giggle and laugh, and once we brought in a bucket of cold water to stick his hand in. I'm sure he was awake, now that I am older and realize it, but back then I thought we were playing a good trick on him. He didn't even move when we plunged his hand in that water! And doggone it, he didn't do what we were told would happen if you put a sleeping person's hand in cold water. (Do you know what that was?? ha!) We were pretty pesky kids.

And he was rather indulgent of us, considering how cruel his father had been. He broke that cycle of abuse--and was a good man who loved the Lord--and he was our Papa. He had a great sense of humor. He was always giving us riddles, math problems, or telling us stories. I can tell the best stories that he told us!

Favorite Childhood Movie: Our religion forbade us to go to movies. I had never seen a movie until I was 19 years old when I left home and came to Indiana. I enjoyed seeing movies so much, I watched many, many movies after that. I particularly loved historical movies, like Gone with the Wind.

The illustration is from Girl of the Limberlost, and was done by
Wladyslaw T. Benda. (now that's a name!)

Favorite Childhood Book: A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. I imagined I was Elnora and thought the Limberlost must be a wonderful place. When I grew up, I lived within a few miles of the real Limberlost that Gene Porter wrote about. I loved Indiana and continued to spend a lot of time outdoors, fishing, gardening, observing nature and going to Indiana state parks.

All the Pierson children gathered at Papa's funeral in 1953
(Lillian) I am fourth from the left and Merlin is in the center of the brothers

The sister who told me "grow up" on my 6th birthday is to my right(your left.) When I grew up, I forgave her because her mother had died when she was young and she was having her own growing pains.

Mayme, my best friend/sister, is the last one on the right of the second row.

One sister is missing from this photo because her husband made her leave immediately

Childhood hero: My older half-brother, Merlin, who was a pastor. He was in the first family and his mother died when he was a boy. He was married by the time I came along, but was kind and loving. I was my father's 10th child and the fourth child of my father's second wife. My mother and her mother had taken care of the children from Papa's first marriage when his first wife died. My mother, Anna, allowed the older children from that marriage to name me. They had a baby sister who was the youngest of their family (the first family) and her name was Lillian Arlene Pierson--and that's exactly the name they gave me. She had died as a baby. It was really weird seeing my name on a tombstone next to their mother.

So, anyway, Merlin, was always kind to us, and particularly to me, or so I thought. He'd sit with me and draw pictures with me. I would do anything to please to him. One time I decided to draw a picture of the barnyard, so I was watching the chickens peck and cluck, and I drew them. I noticed that they were also making droppings as they went along, so I drew that into my picture, as well. I thought I was being particularly clever to include so much detail, and my, wouldn't my brother, Merlin, think I was great? He asked me about my picture, and I'm explaining in minute details about those chickens. He got this frown on his face, and told me I mustn't draw things like that--it wasn't a good thing to do. I was just crushed, as he was never displeased with me. It was a heartbreaking moment for me, but I loved him fiercely all the same.

When I was grown up and had children of my own, I saw him and his family less and less. He had two sons, one of whom was very ill and died as a child, and a daughter named Gwen, who was just a little older than my own daughter. He and his wife had a busy ministry in Minnesota. Where my brother lived there was a river and in the spring of 1965, it flooded. He, his wife and daughter got into a canoe, even though it was quite cold, and went downstream to see what damage there was to properties along the river and if there was any way to help others along the way.

When they got to a bridge, the water was flowing over the bridge. The water was going so rapidly, even though he was quite strong, he couldn't stop the boat. The boat overturned and witnesses say he grabbed onto the bridge, but his wife, Hulda, and daughter, Gwen, went under. He was a very strong swimmer, but he could not pull them up to safety and he could not overcome the undercurrent, not to mention the frigid temperatures. They all drowned and that was one of the hardest funerals I've ever been to--to lose my hero, my brother, Merlin, and his family.

They had one son who wasn't with them that day--he was away at school. That son grew up to be a dentist and was a missionary in Africa for many years (Kenya.) I was very proud of him.

Crystal here: It is a great privilege for me to have had such a wonderful mother. I hope that I am even half the mother to my boys, that she was to me.

Lynda Schab: Mind Over Madi, I Mean Matter!

Lynda Schab as a baby cutie and short model

Lynda Schab got her writing start in greeting cards. From there, she went on to write articles, web content, and dozens of short stories, many of which have been published in articles and anthologies. She has been a finalist in several national contests, including the RWA chapter’s Get your Stiletto in the Door, and American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis contest for the past three years. 

Award-winning Lynda Schab

Currently, she handles several monthly freelance assignments. She is the Grand Rapids Christian Writing Examiner and the National Christian Writing Examiner for Examiner.com. A few months ago, she also started as a regular book reviewer for FaithfulReader.com.  

Lynda's childhood shaped her to infuse humor into handling her obstacles and trials, so as an adult that same unique outlook shapes her characters in their conflicts. Be on the lookout for Lynda's byline in days to come and watch her hair (read below to find out about that.) Let's find out some more about Lynda's childhood and how she outgrew all those haircuts:

Childhood Ambition: Modeling. I was convinced I would be the first 5’4” runway model.

Lynda's senior photo: She wanted to be the first 5'4" Runway Model

Fondest Memory (from back then): Going up to my grandparent’s trailer on the lake every summer. Lots of great memories of fishing with my grandpa, swimming, canoeing …I was heartbroken when my grandpa died and Grandma had to sell the place.

 Proudest Moment (from back then): Graduating from high school. There were times I wasn’t so sure I would. LOL.

My Three Sons? Another one of Lynda's haircuts at age 11 and the last family photo before her parents' divorce

Biggest Challenge as a Child or Teen: My parents’ divorce – definitely. I was twelve when they split up and I was told later that this is the toughest age for kids to go through divorce. Lots of stuff that I struggle with today stem from that time in my life. I went through a period of hating my dad, getting near-failing grades, rebelling in various ways, and major insecurity issues. Yet, at the same time, in so many ways, I am so thankful to have gone through it, as it shaped me into the person I am today. By the grace of God, I turned out okay. Then again, my family might not completely agree with that statement.

Oh, the hair~! Lynda says: "Mom, how could you!"

 

My First Job (paid or unpaid—something you feel is significant) : My first “real” job was working at Kentucky Fried Chicken. I hated it. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the job didn’t like me either. I got fired for – and I quote – “not doing the dishes fast enough.” That, and I couldn’t quite grasp the dark meat/white meat thing. Hey…I was sixteen, what can I say?

Childhood Indulgence: Ice cream. Was then, is now! Only now my indulgence turns into big bulgence. Ugh.

Our trip to Kentucky--I was often mistaken for a boy with some of my haircuts!

Favorite Outfit as a Child: Oh, wow. Um…I honestly only remember the dreadful outfits my mom used to make me wear on picture day. My favorite worst outfit was a matching light blue pants and top that kids at school used to tease looked like pajamas. And don’t even get me started on the haircuts I was forced into. The Dorothy Hamill cut, the Toni Tennille cut…there were a couple of years I was mistaken for a boy. Seriously.

Lynda age 4 with decent hair

Favorite Childhood Movie and/or TV Show: I’ve always been a huge television and movie lover. The first movie I remember seeing in the theater was "The Apple Dumpling Gang." I think if I had to name a favorite, it would be "The Wizard of Oz." Never tired of that one, even if the wicked witch did visit me in my dreams. Television-wise, favorites included "Happy Days," "Eight is Enough," and "The Land of the Lost" (which was nothing like Will Ferrell’s disgusting movie version, by the way). I also remember my dad wouldn’t let us watch "Scooby Doo" because it was too scary. Yet, he took my brothers and me to the midnight movies to see "Jaws" in 3D. Am I the only one who questions this? 

Lynda Disney Parade - During a trip to Disney World in Florida, she was selected to be in the parade. :-)

Favorite Childhood Book: Every time we’d visit my grandparents, I’d pull the Dr. Seuss books off the shelf, two in particular - oversized copies of The Sneeches and Yertle the Turtle. Loved those. As I got older, I devoured books. The Bobsey Twins series, The Little House on the Prairie series, Cherry Ames, Ramona the Pest…I do remember a series I read as a teenager that I couldn’t get enough of. It was by author John Benton and all the titles had individual girl’s names. The main characters were prostitutes, drug addicts, and alcoholics and they always found God, ending up at a Christian half-way house. I haven’t been able to find those books since. But they affected me deeply at that time.

Favorite Childhood Activity/Pastime: This sounds really silly, but I used to lie on my bedroom floor against my closet and throw a super ball up at the wall for hours, making up story after story. Then again, it may not sound all that silly to those who know me. LOL. Another thing I loved to do was write stories and draw caricature pictures to go along with them. I also used to rework popular plays like Cinderella, changing the words, for my cousins and me to perform. And, of course, reading was always at the top of my list of things to do.

Lynda in another haircut and on the phone (with her imaginary characters?)

Did you pass notes or have a pen pal as a child? Both. I constantly wrote notes and letters to my friends and boyfriends. I also had a Pen Pal from Ohio. I wish I could remember her name.

Best friends?: They changed through the years. I had lots of good friends, but I’d honestly say I never had a friend who totally “got” me and that I clicked with as much as when I started meeting other writers. 

Any Childhood Pets? We had several parakeets. Only one at a time, though. Tiki was the bird we had the longest. He eventually died from starvation because no one fed him. I still feel guilty about that. TikiToo didn’t last as long but at least we weren’t to blame for his death. We also had the longest living goldfish in the history of the world, I think. He lived for several years. Until someone poured beer in the bowl at one of my B.C. (before Christ) parties. Not one of my proudest moments. (I hope I don’t get hate mail about this. I’ve repented…really!) 

Anything else you would like to share with readers about your childhood which affected the writer you have become? I started out writing poetry (horrendous, horrendous poetry). The first short story I remember writing was called The Summer I Went to Honolulu, with caricature drawings to go with it. My 6^th grade teacher loved the first few pages and encouraged me to submit it to a particular contest. I never finished it and never entered. I regret that, but I remember that as being the first time I considered writing as a possibility for me.

Check out Lynda's very popular blog: On the Write Track

More from Lynda:

Lynda, now, with a great haircut, I might add

"My ultimate dream is to get published in full length fiction, so that’s what I’m striving for. I do feel I’m getting closer. I signed with my agent, Terry Burns of Hartline, a year ago and he is working to sell my first novel, Mind over Madi, a contemporary women’s fiction with elements of humor. I have a few other projects started, including a mystery that finaled in the Genesis two years in a row, another women’s fiction, as well as a newly started YA. 

Other than that, I keep pretty busy with my freelance work. I write monthly newsletters, am the new member welcoming committee, and maintain the blog for FaithWriters.com. I also review books for http://www.faithfulreader.com, and am a contributing blogger for http://www.thebarndoor.net. In between all of that, I regularly submit material to magazines, greeting card companies, and other markets and am slowly building my portfolio."

About Lynda:

Lynda is represented by Terry Burns, of Hartline Literary, who is working to sell her first novel, Mind over Madi, a Women’s Fiction with elements of humor. 

She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband of twenty-two years and two teenagers, who keep her young and provide much inspiration for the humor found in her fiction. She is also a member of the writing team for her church’s creative arts department.

Leave Lynda a comment or ask her about how to final in writing contests!

POSTSCRIPT: Lynda has now published her book, Mind Over Madi!  Dreams really do come true!

Mind Over Madi: (Published by OakTara)

Madi McCall admits her husband lacks a little in the romance department, but all in all, he’s been a good husband, a good father. Now, though, she suspects Rich is having an affair with Fawn Witchburn, the mother of one of his fourth-grade students. To say Fawn shows off her “assets” more than should be legally allowed in public is an understatement, and Madi’s insecurities kick into high gear. When, in a heated moment, she asks Rich to leave and he complies, Madi is forced to deal with her issues--issues of love and trust she’s tried so hard to avoid. Issues that trail all the way back to her childhood and make her act like a total moron.
 

Sally Chambers (nee Kessell): When I Was Just a Kid: Happy Birthday, Sally!

 Are you sure you want to brave Crystal's Kid Interview? Sally as she is today! Happy birthday, Sally!

Sally braved Crystal's Questions and Prompts so,ok, here goes! At the computer ready to reveal her heart.

Sally Chambers' Memories

Little Sally with Mom and Dad in 1938

This was a fun interview. I've known Sally Chambers as the list hostess on the Christian Writers Fellowship International (now Writers in Christian Fellowship on Facebook and as a list group on YahooGroups) for...a long time. Today is her birthday! And she has some great photos to go along with her story. Because this is her 73rd birthday, she has many stories to tell, so settle in with a cup of cocoa and travel through horses, first love and sharing with WWII victims. First, she tells her story in her own words. Then, she's responded to the familiar prompts I have for those who are my Kids List. There is much history here and I think you'll agree with me that she has many interesting memories. And her story is not over. Happy birthday, Sally, and many, many more!

Sally in 1938 held by mother Helen with great grandmother and grandmother Jessie

Come along....

Sally Kessell, age 5

Sally's Story

By Sally Kessell Chambers

The whole thing began when the Heavenly Father decided he needed a little girl born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and a guardian angel held her breath to prepare for the ride of her life—which, I’m happy to report, isn’t over yet.

My father was a civil engineer with the Corps of Engineers, Boston District the year I was born. He joined the Du Pont Corporation in 1940 and for several years we lived in Ilion and Utica, NY. Some snapshot memories I have from that time are of our forever-smiling, ample, beloved, dark-skinned Katie, our housekeeper; a huge old house we rented with a massive empty ballroom on the top floor and a gazillion bees in one of the walls; rides in a little cart pulled by a goat; an awful flood when sewage backed up into the entire first floor of our house, and one more memory from back then that helped shape my life which I’ll relate later. 

Du Pont relocated us to Richland, Washington in 1944. Not long after we arrived, General Electric took over the operations, and Dad remained with them until he retired. I was entering my freshman year in high school when we moved from Richland to Madeira, Ohio, but my growing-up and best-remembered years were those spend in Richland.

Some of those childhood memories are of tumbleweeds rolling down the streets of Richland, sitting in the midst of our gravel driveway, finding beautiful agates, holding them up to the sun to discover their beauty, occasional fierce dust storms with winds so violent my dad had to carry me from the car to the house, light wintertime snows that quickly melted beneath the warm Chinook winds, finding dozens of arrowheads on the banks of where the Snake and Columbia Rivers meet at Sacajawea State Park, camping on the American River, carving the name, Rebecca Simmons, (the name I wanted to use when I became an actress!) into the wood handrail of a swinging bridge, dust-filled whirlwinds dancing in the sunshine beside the roadways, Saturday afternoon drives in our faithful Pontiac, Jezebel, that ended with a surprise night at the drive-in movies, long drives with visits to vineyards full of fat purple Concord grapes and a farm that scented the air along the roadway with peppermint from the rows and rows of green mint leaves, seeing fields of golden wheat rolling beneath the wind; having a cardboard box with some of my collections of bronze horse statues stolen from school the day of show and tell; Dad getting Jezebel stuck at the very edge of a road that looked more like a sand dune with a terrifying drop-off inches away and my mother’s prayers and sending my brother and I on a walk away from the danger while Dad got the car out of the sand; and endless waves of the spectacular Northern Lights in the night sky, learning of art and music through my parents, who surrounded us with both along with countless books.

His thing was planes and mine was babydolls. Somehow my friend and I got along. He put up with me.

Walking to the stables, passing beside huge orchards filled with ripening Washington apples. And then there were the many hours spent when my mother would take us to watch the planes take off and land at the airfield.  I’ll never forget the breath-holding time I rode “shotgun” in the passenger seat of a 1940 Ford, watching the speedometer rise to 100 mph, my parent’s friend at the wheel, racing down the runway, pulling the glider my parents were in, up into the eagle’s domain. Then I worked for an hour, mucking stalls and soaping saddles so I could ride a horse for an hour. I learned to use a lasso to rope a horse and saddle him up for a waiting rider. When I joined the Richland Ramblers, a group who rode their horses together, Ray, the manager of the riding stable taught me how to shape my new straw hat. The hat was part of our “getup” of jeans, white shirts, vests and those straw hats shaped to match. Ray had me dunk it into the horse trough to soften and shape it up.

I remember things like looking at lots of knees when I first went to church, and will never forget how my heart responded in awe at hearing Holy, Holy, Holy sung by the congregation  in the church my parents helped to start.  I remember saying grace before we ate, and after stories every night, kneeling beside my bed and saying my prayers with “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray thee Lord, my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take, if I should live for other days, I pray the Lord to guide my days.” And the endless, God blesses for everyone and everything.

I have the cutest little brothers! This is Jimmy. We were being good.

We somehow always seemed to have enough, but things became much more difficult when my youngest brother, Jon, was born with a hole in his little heart. There’s seven years difference in age between Jonny and me.  Jimmy and I begged for my parents to have another baby, and we adored our little brother. When Jonny was old enough to travel, my parents traveled by train to take him to Boston Children’s Hospital where he was one of the first little ones ever to have had the delicate open-heart surgery to repair his heart. The hospital has followed his life, and he continues to remain strong and healthy with a beautiful family and a good career. How can I ever, ever not praise God for my life!

Sally in a movie star pose

Childhood Ambition: With an endless imagination happily fueled by my parents, I wanted to attend Pasadena Playhouse and become a movie star like Margaret O’Brien. I spent hours putting myself in her roles and poring over any movie magazine I could get my hands on. Dream on, Sally!

A pregnant Cindy and me on the Tampien Farm

Fondest Memory (from back then):  Oh how I adored horses. I remember sitting on a step of the staircase, chin in hands, crying tears of pure love for horses because there were no words. I felt love beyond expression and that was the way it flowed from my heart. The only other time in my life I’ve felt that inexpressible love was when I opened the door to my heart and Jesus came in, and I adore him for doing that. So that love sets the scene for the most awesome memory of my childhood, the Christmas/birthday (thirteen days apart) gift of my horse, Cindy, one memorable Christmas morning.

Sally on her first horse

 
A highlight of my life, all the gifts for my two younger brothers and me were opened. There hadn’t been a shred of evidence beneath the tree of the one gift I’d been yearning, hoping, and praying for—a horse named Cindy I’d “met” and knew was for sale. I dragged my disappointed self to the breakfast table, trying my very best to put on a happy face and be grateful for all that I did receive. We all sat down. The blessing was said. And then came the moment—the one so indelibly engraved in my memory. My daddy pulled an envelope out from beneath the maple table. He looked at me with his handsome face and crystal blue eyes and handed it to me, saying “It has your name on it, Sally!” and told me that I needed to open that envelope. I couldn’t imagine what could possibly be in that small white square of paper. But I opened it, and I read it.

Yes, this is the card Sally's Dad gave to her!

Cindy says, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, with me! I’m at the Tampien Farm waiting patiently for you! Yes!—Cindy’s yours!—our best Christmas and birthday wish to you. Mother & Daddy.

I laughed and cried all at once. You never saw such hugging and kissing and loving and jumping up and down going on at a breakfast table in your life—all five of us! I could barely stay inside my skin, I was so happy.

Me and Cindy with her first filly on Tampien's Farm :Love at First Sight

Proudest Moment (from back then): Giving my favorite, much beloved, big doll to another little girl, who didn’t have a doll. Corry Rensing lived (and maybe still does, we lost track years ago) in Tiel, Holland. The story? Jane Jones, a young reporter for the Richland Villager newspaper, started a charitable outreach program from Richland (Washington) to help the war-ravaged European city of Tiel, Holland, after WW II ended. Many families in Richland “adopted” families in Tiel. My family adopted two families, but the one I remember is the Rensing family of four. Albert, Johanna, and their two daughters, Gerda and Corry. 

When we first “met” them, the family had not had any soap for two months. Cereals, flour, and oatmeal were scarce. Most of their food and clothing was rationed or not available at all. Fuel was hard to find, electricity was rationed, and they had no window glass, only plastic panes that were little or no protection from the cold. The only spread they had for their bread was lard! I remember how appalled I was when the older daughter, Gerda, wrote in December 1946 “. . . we have had such a terrible time here. We can really say that we have cheated death. As we slept in the cellar, we slept with picks and shovels by our beds so that we could dig ourselves out if necessary.”

In reply to our first letter to them asking them what they’d like us to send them, Johanna wrote that Corry would like a doll. Although she was twelve years old then, through the five years of war she had not had a doll and wished for one. My eight-year-old heart went out to her. I had lots of dolls and couldn’t imagine her not having at least one.

I remember placing my big baby doll into a box. I had many dolls by my side at night. Corry had slept with picks, shovels, and fear at night. Dolls were not an option or even a privilege for her. I had a chance to change that as my mother and I placed my big beautiful baby doll in a sturdy cardboard box, the first of many, for Corry along with cocoa, coffee, flour, sugar, yarn, Crisco, and hope, for a long journey to a friend and her family.   

Another proud moment when I was sixteen happened when my beautiful and elegant Aunt Ruth, gave me the three-pearl ring my Uncle Paul had gotten for her when they were the diplomatic corps in Japan. To me, it’s symbolic of her love for me, as is the cross I always wear symbolic of Jesus’ love for me and mine for Him. Every ring I have and wear has a story or two behind it.

Biggest Challenge as a Child or Teen: It’s awfully hard to name just one. I suppose as a child, overcoming shyness was my biggest challenge—I felt too tall and gangly. I knew I had the ugliest elbows in the whole world and hid them the best I could. Having a very lazy left eye and having to wear a big black patch over my good one to make the other work, was another blow to my self-confidence. Suffering from asthma, hay fever, and sinusitis and doing things anyway—like trying to play the flute!

And another challenge was to tone down my fearlessness—taking dares from the boys in a park to launch myself on a seesaw and walking on the edges of stone walls (ruining my poor coccyx on one of those edge-walks, couldn’t sit comfortably for years, and never told a soul!)  and that’s the tip of my foolhardy and precarious iceberg, ☺

Then as a teen, the challenge of having to part with my beloved horses, moving across the country, entering a strange new high school knowing no one, then having to transfer to yet another high school as we moved from renting to buying a new home. And later, trying to understand and deal with the shocking shooting murder of a friend and her father and the paralyzing injury to her mother by her ex-boyfriend.

But speaking of boyfriends, the Lord had a new kind of love for me to experience after the heartbreak of parting with my friends and horses when leaving Richland. I dated others, but when I was 14, I met and fell in love with my high school sweetheart, Jerry. We met in the basement of the Methodist Church where he was the president of the Methodist Youth Fellowship! He was a year behind me in school, but I’m five days older than he is. (And so he has the privilege of calling me “his old lady!”)

Jerry took this of me the summer of 1955. Photography, including processng and developing, was his hobby

We became engaged when we were 17, just after my graduation. I went to Business College for a time as my mother insisted I must have skills to work and I can’t thank her enough for that! Later that year, Dad was relocated once more and I moved with my family to Norwalk, CT. There, with my new “skills,” I went to work for Perkin-Elmer as a secretary until Jerry and I married.

Loved those black suede baby doll shoes!Sally at 16.

From l to r: Dad, Grandma Walker, me, Jerry, Bro Jim, and Janet Doerr

During the time we were apart, my sweetheart, instead of taking the usual trip to Washington DC with his senior class, made the drive from Cincinnati to Norwalk just to be with me again. He returned to graduate with his class. Then on July 7, 1956, we were married in Norwalk in a simple and lovely home wedding.  I walked down the staircase and arm-in-arm with my Dad, walked with him to stand before our beautiful pine and stone fireplace where he gave me in marriage to my Jerry with my family and the Lord as witnesses.

Jerry and Sally Chambers. I carried a white Bible and orchids.

My First Job (paid or unpaid—something you feel is significant):  (Back in Richland ☺) An hour’s worth of work in The Barn for an hour-long horseback ride. That was the agreement my dad and the owner of the riding stable we called The Barn, Ray arrived at. And that was before I had my own horse. I learned to groom, saddle and bridle horses, muck stalls, soap saddles, pitch hay, and use a lasso. I learned the names of every one of the hundred (at least that’s how many Ray said we had) head of horses kept in the corral, and their personalities. Riders would come in and Ray, or Lloyd, his helper/sidekick, would let me cut out the horse-of-choice with my lasso, bring him in, curry, and saddle him up for the rider. Most of the time Dad drove me to The Barn, but it was different way back then—safer. And there were some times when I walked to those stables, by myself, past orchards full of reddening Washington apples and crossed a new highway nicknamed the Speedball Highway.

I was 10 and Colonel was the first horse I ever loved. That's The Barn and Ray and Lloyd, who ran the riding stable. I rode out into a desert area behind the barn. Lots of sand, barbed wire, and rattlers out there. I worked an hour to earn an hour's ride.

Cindy and me, pretty determined to make that jump! Behind us is the corral. You can see the trough where Ray and I dunked my new straw hat and shaped it. I knew the names of the horses and could cut them out, lassooing them  to saddle them up for riders.

Favorite Outfit as a Child: Blue jeans, cowboy boots, and that straw hat that Ray showed me how to shape after a dunk in the corral’s watering trough. And the girlie side of me adored the white silk dress with the full circle skirt, my Grandma Jessie sent me when I was 8. I remember sitting atop Daddy’s huge wooden trunk beside the front door, decked out in that dress spread full circle around me, allowed to greet the guests coming to one of their clam chowder parties! What a diva I was! Hmm and maybe still am?

I was 14, about to ride Cindy in a parade and a rodeo with the Richland Ramblers. I met Chill Wills and Tim Holt at the Desert Inn that day!

Favorite Childhood Movie and/or TV Show: Movies like Secret Garden and other movies Margaret O’Brien played in. The horse movie, Gallant Bess, and any horse or cowboy movie. Gallant Bess brings exceptionally warm memories of one special and beautiful Saturday morning. The kids in Richland went to free movies every Saturday morning back then, and that was the movie I returned home from seeing the day Cindy’s second foal was born. I’d been waiting with trepidation every day, knowing it could happen at any time. The moment I walked into the house, Dad announced the news that Dusty had entered God’s world. Talk about joy!

Sally age 12

And by the way, the Lord has a delightful, precious sense of humor in arranging countless similar things throughout my life. Even long after I was married and had a family of my own, to the point of plopping me down on an acre plus on Mustang Road, where I still love living in the “Country Gentleman Horse Ranchettes” area, zoned for horses, of course! And I still get teased with the song, “Mustang Sally.” As a teen I loved Singing in the Rain and vividly remember walking home from the movie by myself, singing and just letting go and dancing with joy and abandon, dancing my briefly-uninhibited heart out to the music fresh on my mind because it was dark and nobody cared but me. (Yes, the theater was closer than my walk to school every day.)  And I loved the movie, Oklahoma, along with all the other many wondrous musicals. And as a little girl, I listened to Inner Sanctum on the radio under the covers when I should have been asleep. Mother grew up on Cape Cod and when I was about twelve-years-old, she took me with her to visit relatives living there. A highlight of the trip was going to the Cape Playhouse to see Arsenic and Old Lace. Sun-drenched days on the beach overflowed with discussions of the drama and fascinating stories of my mother’s childhood. 

Favorite Childhood Book: King of the Wind (did I say I was horse-crazy?) I was a voracious reader and loved books. The Black Stallion series, My Friend Flicka. Little Women, Little Men, The Bobbsey Twins—the list is endless. I remember running to get the dictionary when I first read the word, odious, as in odious old man. To this day, I run to or reach for the dictionary or the thesaurus for words.

Favorite Childhood Activity/Pastime: Reading, camping, hiking, finding arrowheads and agates. Horseback rides that began at the stable, led away from the green of trees and grass, to the golden brown of the desert sand with its rolling dunes. And out there, tussles and dangers my guardian angel faced probably drove her to distraction! Like when a line of the detested barbed wire wrapped around Cindy’s fetlock or when she stopped and refused to move and seconds later I saw why as the sound and sight of a coiled rattlesnake unlocked my brain. Later, joining the Richland Ramblers and taking part in parades and rodeos held annually during Richland Days was a highlight.

Did you pass notes or have a pen pal as a child? Corry Rensing who lived on Tulipstraad in Tiel, Holland, and I exchanged post cards. And supposing I will be God’s child all my life, I’ve had a long “pen pal” relationship with a now-dear friend in Canberra, AU.

Sally's Senior Photo June 1955

Best friends? Ann Tampien, who walked with me through enduring the death of Cindy’s first foal and helped lay a huge hunk of my faith foundation when she took me by the hand early one morning after I’d spent the night on her farm. Mostly sad, I moped, but she played “It Is No Secret What God Can Do” on the old Victrola in her living room, and talked to me about how much God loved me and cared. Years later, my precious friend, Ann went to be with the Lord when she died of influenza while at college.

This is Ann Tampien with Dusty, Cindy's second filly. I was 14 then in 1952.

And then there was Patricia Kelly whose parents were from Scotland and had the most wonderful brogue. Patricia introduced me to quite formal dinners and iced, sweetened tea, which I’d never been allowed before and England’s beloved royal family through many photographs. Then, in high school, there were my two Shirleys and Beth.

I love this photo. My mother enjoyed photographing with natural light. She did a beautiful job with me watching the cat lap up the milk.

Any Childhood Pets? Tootsie the cocker spaniel became part of our family when I was seven (her full name being Tootie Roll Kessell as she was as brown as the candy), and then later, Cindy my American Standard/American Sadler horse, and Dusty (for Stardust, of course) the filly. And, by vicarious adoption, a friendly monster pig named Sam who lived on the Tampien’s farm—until I faced something very normal for the Tampiens, but not one little bit normal for me—Sam on the dinner table. I wasn’t the slightest bit hungry for anything edible that evening! And that’s another story.

Now you've done it! I broke the head off the plastic turtle.

Sally on the Tampien Farm with Cindy's first foal, Twink, a beautiful silver filly.

Childhood Hero: My dad who unabashedly adored and spoiled me, who called me Kitten when I wanted a nickname like the other daddies called their little girls, who totally embarrassed me when he swooped me up from the playground and flipped me upside down with my bleeding head beneath the Grange Hall’s water faucet. I’d taken a dare from some boys who advised 7-year-old-me that if I jumped from the monkey bars onto the upended seesaw, that I would fly! And who, rescued me from being practically blown off the planet by a terrible dust storm, and who picked me up when I was a complete dummy and walked behind Cindy and her new baby and she hauled off and kicked me with both rear hoofs smack in the back, knocking the wind out of me. I wore hoof prints for at least a week!

Then there was the time Cindy stopped short for a low-hanging tree branch—and I didn’t—and dad had to scrape me up yet again. And he’s the one who sneaked upstairs during one of my parents’ renowned Clam Chowder Parties, made me close my eyes and open my mouth as he popped in a steamed shrimp (me, who hates anything fish), which he made me admit I liked—until I opened my eyes and saw the remainder! He’s the one who in the middle of the night came and woke me and carried me outside to see the spectacular, undulating Aurora Borealis, saying it was much more important right then than sleep. He was an artist in pastel chalk, had a wonderful tenor voice, and played the piano.  He endlessly drove me to the Tampien Farm (a dear family from Sweden) and The Barn to be with my horses.

And then my hero, just before I married my high school sweetheart and left him behind, took me on the train from Norwalk where we were living, into New York City and walked with me down Fifth Avenue and bought me a beautiful faux emerald bracelet from~~no, not Sak’s~~ but Bloomingdale’s. He ended the day by surprising me when we went to see the Rockettes—this among a billion other wonderful things he did for me. I adored him.


Childhood Indulgence: Everything horses, but my parents encouraged me in all things and nearly anything I wanted to try, they worked it out. As a result I dabbled in tap, ballet, acrobat, flute, piano, and more—learned a little about a lot and was proficient in none of them. Never forced to continue with any of them, I feel I was much loved and terribly indulged! Nevertheless, because I tried, to this day I have an appreciation for them all. The one thing I stuck with was horses and anything to do with them. I was unutterably sad when they had to be sold when we moved from Richland to Madeira. But, my parents took two weeks of allowed travel time and two weeks of vacation. We saw everything we could, all the way down the west coast, Crater Lake, the Redwood Forest, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, and another indulgence, just for me, promised by my Dad an exciting and leisurely drive right through the middle of glamorous Hollywood, California!

Then, faithful old Jezebel made it past many other cars with their hoods up and steaming engines, up steep Mount Palomar to the observatory and we met and spoke with astronomers there and saw the huge telescope. From there, we dipped beneath the border into Tijuana then crossed the Mohave Desert—on and on.  So I admit to prodigious indulgence! There is not a single doubt in my mind that we were hedged about and protected by the Lord. Nor is there any doubt that it was my parents’ prayers which were graciously listened to, as with every story, real or fiction, there is more, much more. But do you know what else I see as I grow older? I see and sense the generations of my family of devout lovers of the Lord in all I am and will eternally continue to be. And I begin to see how my life and the prayers for my children and the generations to come are and will be affected by how and why I have lived. Amazing grace.

Childhood Heroine: My mother who grounded me in life and gifted me with an example of what a woman of God should be. She chose homemaking and nurturing the lives of three children over a fulfilling nursing career. Every morning of our lives, we awoke to her cheerful “Time to rise and shine.” How could you not? But if you were grumpy getting up? Go straight back and get out of the other side of the bed! She was the one who, when I was probably 4 or 5 years old and complained I had nothing to do, suggested I pick wild flowers and take them to the old man, wheelchair-bound, who lived down the street. His reaction was the most beautiful smile and words of thanks a little girl could imagine. It impressed me so much that I’ve never, ever forgotten him or the lesson my mommy and the Lord taught me of how blessed it is to give.

Sally in Sunshine in a Sunsuit

Mom, Dad and me in 1956

My mother could merely raise her left eyebrow at me (she passed that trait to me ☺,) Jimmy, or Jonny, and the mischief would come to a screeching halt. And another solution to three unruly kids? Run around outside the house three times! Guess who forgot what the fight was all about after that. When we moved, which we did quite a few times, she made wherever we were going an adventure. I watched as the globe came out and every nearby point of interest was talked about and eventually seen. And the moment the movers arrived at our new house, everything that had been on the walls surrounding us before, went right back up in the walls, making it instantly “home.” She taught me that when I was ignored or felt I was being left out, to rise above it. She opened my life to every dimension of the way Jesus taught. The Golden Rule was ingrained and healing and loving…too much more to tell you here. She wrote us an ongoing story of Simeon the Seagull with adventures that illustrated how we were to live, and she read to us every night. She sang in the choir (Dad did too.) I tried! She helped plant a church and was active in the school I attended. She was an artist and a photographer and an amazing woman and role model. She died at 92 and I still miss her.

Was there anyone in your childhood who pointed you to Jesus? My parents, whose steadfast faith was a rock in my life and who gave me the Word, my first Bible when I was 7, saying it was time I had my own Bible (I still have it), and Ann Tampien, and Sunday school teachers who rewarded me for stumbling through the memorized (sort of) books of the Bible with a bookmark of satin ribbons in rainbow colors.

Share your introduction to Christ as a child or teen or a significant event that led to your walk with Jesus. I can’t ever remember not loving Jesus…as a tiny baby in a manger with angels looking after him, I was his “Sunbeam” because he wanted me to be, and the songs told me he loved me because the Bible said so. And as I understood love, I loved him back. Mostly as I grew up, I looked at God, with such an incomplete innocent understanding, as the Big Father up there who made the world, and I simply loved him for doing that.

And when I was 8 and walking home from school when my grandparents were visiting us, and I suddenly “knew” something was very wrong and began to run. Racing through the door asking “Daddy where’s Grandma?” Finding my daddy, rocking quietly in the chair with tears in his eyes and as he pulled me to him, told me that my Grandma Jessie had passed away, that his mother, had gone to heaven to be with Jesus. It was so hard to see my daddy cry and hug him and cry with him. And when I received Cindy, she was already with foal, and I looked forward to the birth with huge excitement. The sweet filly was born on Ann’s farm, but not long after, it was Ann who took my hand and held it through the scariness of the death of Cindy’s first foal and helped me understand much more about God. And it was my daddy whose faith helped me through my tears and buried the little filly for me on the banks of the Snake River.

All those things worked together to gently pull me once and for all into his saving grace. So for a long time my Jesus was still in Bethlehem. I didn’t truly know him as my Lord and my Savior until I read Billy Graham’s World Aflame when I was 24. It happened as it did to Paul in Acts 9:18: “Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once. My eyes were opened and my spiritual sight was restored.” And so, my eyes were opened, and I know one guardian angel and more than a few other angels and “a cloud of witnesses” of my generations past, rejoiced as Jesus was born anew in me, God’s child.

Anything else you would like to share with readers about your childhood which affected the writer you have become? I think a single assignment by a grade school teacher, Mrs. Bice, to write a short story for homework probably affected me the most in the writer I’ve become. The story had to include some of the main products of any country in Central America that we decided to write about. I think my writing career began at the moment I began to put pencil to paper and record adventures of two girls visiting a pineapple plantation in Honduras and everything that happened to them. I wrote and wrote and wrote then wrote some more. I got so “into” the story that I didn’t finish the assignment on time. You can imagine the rest! 

Being encouraged to write letters and notes and post cards. Writing stories, keeping diaries and then journals, I never ceased writing. Seeing everything my parents took me to see and their forever-patience to answer my “whys,” living in a home steeped in music, arts, crafts, history, and more. All those things and more birthed and grew my love of writing.

 Sally's Links:
http://www.sallychambers.com  (see website for the complete Link Page)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cwfi-family/
http://www.acfw.com/
http://www.scwg.org/

Sally's Writing: Career Number Four:
As an author of inspirational suspense fiction laced with light romance, I’ve completed two novels. They are The Stonekeepers (a story that begins on Nantucket Island and ends up in Jerusalem) and Amazon Agenda (a story that begins in Solvang, California and ends up in Brazil and the Amazon Rain Forest). A third novel, Sub Rosa Reef, begins in Melbourne Beach, FL and takes you into the Yucatan, Mexico and Belize, is in progress. In addition to novels, I continue to write devotions, email encouragements to others, children’s stories, and poetry. I try to do all I can to help others by critiquing and editing their work. It keeps my own work challenged to help others.

Sally at her computer, writing stories, her fourth career.

From Crystal:
I can attest to Sally's  fiction writing--I pray her novels are published because she's such a good storyteller. Sally Chambers has won several awards for her poetry and short stories. She has written devotionals for The Upper Room, short stories for Standard Publishing’s Kidz Chat, newspaper articles, as well as articles and poetry for periodicals. She has also developed Sunday school material, edited two devotional books for her church and has written and recorded short stories for radio. In addition, Sally has edited two successful non-fiction books.

Following her retirement as a Nationwide Insurance agent, Sally embarked on yet another career. Her first was negotiating the joys, trials, tribulations, and triumphs of childhood, the second was marriage and motherhood, her third career was becoming one of the first women insurance agents in the area where she lived (spending a huge wedge of her life on being successful in that endeavor.) Her fourth, and current, career is that of a writer.

1970s, Big Hair and Me in my homemade minidress doing the Twist!

Sally was one of the first women insurance agents in the area! 1987, Awards Night.

Business and Bigwigs in 1988. Another Award Night after lots and lots of hard work.

Sally Playing the Fairy Godmother at a Soroptimist Conference in 1990.

Me and my BFF and partner in 1992. LOVE this photo of us.

Photo of the Agency Boss Sally 1993 snapped by my office manager in 1993

1993 Volunteering in a local public school. One of my favorite weekly getaways/giveaways. Getting away from the office and giving to the children.

Sally has been a moderator on the staff of Christian Writers Fellowship International (Cross & Quill) since 2005, and produces the weekly topic for discussion. She’s a member of The Space Coast Writers’ Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, as well as several other writing organizations. Sally has attended Florida Christian Writers Conferences and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Conference. She also participates in critique groups both online and locally.

Sally serves on the local Salvation Army Corps Advisory Board and volunteers with their many activities. She’s a member of the First United Methodist Church. Having taught youth Sunday school for many years, she currently enjoys reading and interacting with the children involved in The Master’s Workshop and attends an adult Sunday school class.

Sally lives on Florida’s Space Coast, with her husband, Jerry. They have two children, two grandchildren, and a new great granddaughter. Sally and Jerry enjoy spending summers at their home in the mountains of Western North Carolina. She maintains a presence on Facebook (join her as a friend!) and invites you to visit her Web site at www.sallychambers.com. Writing and researching for Sally’s novels is primary but critiquing friends’ work, and editing also hold strong importance. In between, she reads, does puzzles, crocheting, beading, trail walking, and spends time with family and friends. Sally is represented by literary agent Tamela Hancock Murray of Hartline Literary Agency.