Saturday, April 21, 2007

I GUESS I'M A WRITER!



This is my new business card. The photo is my
painting that goes with my book, "The Tale of Robin
Lyth", and the quill is of course, the symbol to show
that I finally admit to being a writer. It took me
more than half a day to design it so I think it will be
a while before I change the design!

I guess I'm a writer now, since I have four books
published (and one still unpublished).

This week I decided to start a new one. I have
already written the introduction and half the first
chapter. The title for now is "What Christians
Believe About the Old Testament". In it I will try
to present exactly what the title says. It will be
slanted for those who do not profess to be Christians,
but genuinely want to know.

It should also be of help to those Christians who
are not very familiar with the Old Testament and
would like to know of what value it is to us today.

I don't intend to make it an academic treatise, but
will hopefully try to make it more readable in style.
Most of us know some Old Testament stories from
here and there, but how do they hang together?
What is the overall message that evangelical
Christians believe God conveyed to us through these
ancient writings? Do they relate to our lives today?
Does it matter?


Perhaps next time I will tell you why I decided to write
this particular book.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Family Photos

I was asked for photos of my sons and this is the
best I could come up with! Time to take more
photos, I think. They take photos all the time,
but not of themselves.


This is Glyn at least 5 years ago, maybe 10!
Taking me for a ride on an old train near us.
He is a great photographer.



This is Owen, last year up at least 10,000 feet,
having slept in the snow overnight. He leads
teams of hikers into the wilderness, hiking and
snowshoeing, etc.


(The sun glasses are obviously 'in'.)
Both 'boys' own their own businesses and will not
thanks me for putting these photos on display.
We did take a family photo on the spur of the
moment at Dad's memorial service in Wales two
years ago, but they were awful and will never see
the light of day. I will try to do better soon.

Friday, April 6, 2007

GOOD FRIDAY 2007

-
I did this painting on Good Friday 1956, when I was 18 years old. I belonged to a youth group at Christ Church in Bridlington, UK. The vicar asked the young people to do something meaningful on Good Friday and not just fritter it away, since it is such an important day in our Christian experience.

This was the first time in my life that I discovered I could draw and paint! This is, of course, a copy of Salvador Dali's
Christ of St. John of the Cross, and I copied it by hand. I'm not saying that it is brilliant, but I am saying that the gift I discovered that day has brought me much joy over the past 51 years. I don't consider myself a real artist because I have to have something to copy from. If you asked me to draw a cat, I couldn't do it from memory. But I can copy, and that gives me satisfaction.
It is a wonderful gift from the One who gave the greatest gift!


Tuesday, April 3, 2007

GOOD NEWS!





My book on Micronesia, "Good News Comes to Pohnpei" has finally come from the publisher and I must proof read it ASAP.
EXCITING!

xxxxxxxxxx

ALSO:

I have just opened my new photo ATC blog page at www.fotoatc.blogspot.com. Check the links list to the right and you will find it. It is called Chris J Photo ATC's. How original! I hope to post more there soon, but first the proof reading.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Sunday Surprise



A couple of Sundays ago we were in church and had such a lovely surprise. About 12 friends from the island of Pohnpei, Micronesia joined us!

My husband travels to Micronesia once or twice a year to conduct Pastor's Classes for the pastors who live and work on the many islands in Micronesia. I have also been to Pohnpei a couple of times and led workshops for teachers in the Christian schools over there. We met one of our visitors a year or so ago, because she now lives in our area. We met her because ABJ recognized her as Micronesian as she was checking us out of our local WalMart store. The occasion for the Sunday Surprise was that her sister and brother-in-law had just arrived from Pohnpei for a short visit to their relatives in the USA. Since they already knew ABJ from the classes on Pohnpei they all came to visit at our church.

Everyone in the photo is related to one another as are most of the islanders. The Micronesians are wonderful people, happy, kind and generous. The man on the far right is one who still lives on the island and has a good position with the government there. His wife is the one hiding at the back beside the the blue and red flag.

It was a delight to have this happy, though brief reunion.