• Philip Van Doren Stern, author of the short story that inspired the movie;
• Frank Capra, the immigrant who produced the film; 
• Jimmy Stewart, aka George Bailey.

Before the release of this perennial favorite, none of them were having a wonderful life.

The 1930s and 1940s, the decades in which the short story and the movie first appeared in public, were challenging for most Americans. Barely a decade after the Great Depression that left millions desperate, Europe’s Second World War erupted, eventually drawing in the USA. It was not a wonderful life for families who lost sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers in the war. It wasn’t a wonderful life at home either, as people made sacrifices large and small to support the war effort.

Once again, we see conflicts all over the globe displacing millions, destroying cities and lives, and turning colleagues and neighbors into enemies. May we find encouragement from the story behind the ever-popular movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.”  

Philip Van Doren Stern

This beloved film is based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1939 short story, “The Greatest Gift.” He was already a well-established author and editor when a dream inspired him to write the 4,000-word short story. When he failed to find anyone willing to publish it, he ran off 200 copies and sent them out as Christmas cards in 1943.

Stern wanted readers to see the value of each person’s life, especially in the midst of challenges, conflicts, and crises. What an appropriate message for all of us today. Reader’s Scope eventually published the story in 1944. That same year, Good Housekeeping ran it as “The Man Who Was Never Born.”  Stern eventually published it as an illustrated book, which is still available from Simon and Schuster as The Greatest Gift.

Frank Capra

Sicilian immigrant Frank Capra bought the movie rights and convinced a reluctant Jimmy Steward to take the part of George Bailey. It’s hard to imagine a Christmas season without this movie, but if our broken immigration system had not granted Frank Capra’s family entrance into the United States, we would likely not have this classic treasure. Capra, born in 1897 in Sicily, immigrated with his family to New York in 1903. His family traveled by train from New York to California, where Frank’s older brother lived. Capra recalled that they ate only bread and bananas for the duration of the trip because that was what they could order with their limited English. 

When World War I broke out, Capra enlisted in the Army and became a naturalized citizen in 1920. Influenza sent him back to his brother’s California home to recuperate. While there, he answered a call for a movie extra, which began his film career. By the 1930s, he was considered Hollywood’s most successful director, but in the years prior to that, he lived a rags-to-riches series of failures and successes. 

He was frequently unemployed, writing short stories no one wanted to publish and tutoring the son of a wealthy gambler for a place to live. After several failed directing attempts, he was so desperate he became a hobo, riding the rails. After a decade of filmmaking ups and downs, he directed the 1931 melodrama America Madness, the precursor to the 1947 “It’s A Wonderful Life.” The American Film Institute put “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the top of their “100 Years . . . 100 Cheers” list, naming it the best film ever made.

Jimmy Stewart – aka George Bailey

Jimmy Stewart played George Bailey in his first movie after returning home from the war. He was suffering from what today we’d label as PTSD. Author Ned Forney wrote about how Stewart’s war experiences shaped his role as the desperate George Bailey. Both the actor and the character struggled to overcome what appeared to be hopeless situations. As a pilot, Stewart felt enormous stress to prevent the death of his comrades. By the end of his service, he suffered what then was called “flak-happy,” that is, shell shock or battle fatigue.

Stewart has given hope to millions with his gentle spirit and compassionate words. The agonizing dilemmas confronting George Bailey were all too real to Stewart. Those closest to the movie’s production observed that Stewart wasn’t acting as much as re-living the trauma he’d faced as a pilot in the war. Until Capra approached him to take the role of Bailey in the movie, Stewart was considering giving up acting.

Our Turn

We can easily identify events that are distressing, depressing, and desperate. Might we also identify aspects of our lives that are wonderful despite the challenges and disappointments? I am grateful for the perseverance and fortitude of three men who have gifted us a movie that offers hope and inspiration year after year. Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” is high on my list of ‘must-watch’ holiday movies each year. How about you? It can still be a wonderful life when we find ways to help each other along the way to a new and hopefully much better next year.

Thank you for taking the time to read about this classic Christmas movie. Share it with a friend or sign up for your own free subscription at HowWiseThen. I will not sell your information. SPECIAL DECEMBER SALE – BOTH MAYFLOWER HISTORICAL NOVELS FOR $35 OR EITHER ONE FOR $22. EMAIL kathrynhaueisen@gmail.com FOR DETAILS.

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary BrewsterAmazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster
Autographed copies are available on my website.

The post A Wonderful Life? appeared first on How Wise Then.

Then someone has to publish and distribute the book. That someone could be the author, but it is just as likely to be a publisher who can navigate the ever-changing world of modern book production and distribution in electronic, print, and audio formats. I’ve been privileged to work with dozens of word lovers who have chosen coaching, editing, graphic design, marketing, printing or publishing as a career path. I am grateful to all of them. For without them, everything I’ve ever written would be languishing in notebooks and computer files.

Publisher Van Velzer Press

It is impossible to name the dozens of people who have helped get my words into print since my first article was published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer back in 1968. Allow me to introduce you to one of my teammates. Trish Lewis, the founder of Van Velzer Press, is the publisher of Mary Brewster’s Love Life: Matriarch of the Mayflower.

Publishing runs in Trish’s family. Her great-great-uncle, F. C. Van Velzer, and his father, as well as his father’s father, were traveling newspapermen. They traveled from the East Coast across the expanding United States in the 1800s, leaving behind them a trail of small-town newspapers. They stopped in towns lacking any reliable contact with the outside world and stayed long enough to establish a local paper. Then they traveled to another town in need of a paper. Eventually, they settled in California, near San Diego, where they launched another weekly newspaper in 1902.

Connection to Walt Whitman

Trish says her family tree includes Louisa Van Velsor, the mother of Walt Whitman. Trish is carrying on the family business by publishing books. “We are proud to continue the family business in the art of literary magic. Van Velzer Press concentrates on our glorious country that boasts of such a rambling, brave, innovative history.”

I met Trish at a Vermont writers’ event, where she was available to assist six of us authors competing for a publishing contract. At the time, I was working on Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures. I found her suggestions insightful and helpful. When I decided to write a second Mayflower historical novel from Mary Brewster’s perspective, I asked Trish if she’d be interested in publishing it. We both thought Mary ought to come out of the shadows of historical obscurity into the sunlight of appreciation for her role in the fledgling Pilgrim community.

Mothers Who Research Family History

Trish and I have in common mothers who put in the long, tedious hours required to trace our respective families’ heritages. Trish credits her mother and her grandmother, a dignified lady Trish knows as Grammy, for populating her family tree with names and details. I have my mother to thank for her detailed notes, which connect our family to William and Mary Brewster, who were part of the Mayflower voyage.

Aware of the strong publishing background in her DNA, she launched Van Velzer Press in 2019. “Yep, right before the pandemic hit, and tossed all my plans for my first year up in the air. No one but my husband and my mother encouraged me; everyone else just gave me a side eye and stayed quiet. I forged on ahead.”

Trish earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology in Pennsylvania, which has helped her prepare for her current vocational passion. She’s over halfway through the credits required for a double master’s degree in of all things Microbiology and Political Science. It helps that she worked as a book editor for nine years before launching her own publishing business.

Joys and Challenges

When I asked her what gives her the greatest satisfaction from publishing, she told me, “Creating a quality book involves a heavy amount of research, even fiction, and lots of time rewriting, fussing, and rethinking. So, when authors hold their galley copies in their hands, it is like a Christmas present. I love to see their joy. I also like helping produce stories that have an overall positive energy to give to the world.”

Trish says her greatest challenges have been access to good software and the high costs of printing and distribution. Like the authors she publishes, she finds the creative stuff a breeze and the rewarding part. I asked her if she could start over and if she’d do anything differently. “Like planting a tree, I would have started earlier. I had the skills long before I realized I had built them up strong enough to be a publisher.”

Words of Wisdom for Authors

She has advice for authors about working with a publisher. “Many authors think their stuff is great right out of the gate. Well, it is not.  Authors write for themselves, and that is great.  Publishers then help shape the final book for readers, which means a decidedly different end product. The craft of writing — the skills — is something most hopeful artists fail to spend enough time perfecting. So, an author needs to know there will be changes to the manuscript. They need to enter into the process with a spirit of teamwork. Then it is all happy days and golden sunshine.”

I know many people who dream of writing a book. The difference between a dream and an accomplishment is the willingness to put in the hours required to learn the craft and produce the product. Trish’s advice to would-be authors is “Start by writing your story and not worrying about a thing.  Then, don’t be lazy – do rewrites and rewrites and rewrites until you think your manuscript is perfect. Then laugh when you see all the red a good editor puts on that screen for yet another rewrite.”

Editors as Advocates

It helps if an author can send his or her ego on vacation when the book is ready for serious editing. Red ink is not a grade about the author as a person or the value of the author’s work. Instead, it is rather a professional’s opinion on how to make a piece of good work better. Anyone who does much reading at all can quickly spot books published by authors who tried to skip this step of writing a book.

Thank you, Trish Lewis, for being part of my team and adding your red ink to my efforts.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Share it with a friend or sign up for your own free subscription at HowWiseThen. I will not sell your information. Select a monthly newsletter and/or weekly articles about whatever’s on my mind that week.

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
Amazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster
Autographed copies are available on my website.

The post Van Velzer Press appeared first on How Wise Then.

Yet, if we turn off the flow of news and spend time among the people around us, we will see people quietly and calmly going about their lives. I spent last Saturday at a book festival at a huge outlet mall. Dozens of us were set up at the various entrances into the outdoor corridors leading to the shops and dining venues. This is the tale of that day.

A Community of Strangers

It took me three tries to find the check-in place, but I got there thanks to the directions given to me by other authors who were busy setting up. Near the check-in table, I found two young women struggling to set up their canopy. Since I’d just rehearsed how to set mine up the previous day, I told them I’d gladly help them as soon as I unloaded my car, in exchange for their help.

When I returned, I learned a plastic piece of their canopy had broken, rendering it fit only for the curb trash pick-up pile. I offered them space in mine once we got it up. We three worked on it with moderate results. Then the husband of another author assigned to our location finished the task for us. I later learned he’s a retired engineer who proudly claims that he fixes things. Over the next half hour, we set out our materials and got acquainted.

Unforeseen Problems

Another man representing a non-profit showed up, and soon four hopeful authors, plus two who came along to provide encouragement, waited to greet the shoppers as they began to trickle in. It turns out that, for reasons I never learned, the power was out, so none of the shops were open. That included the coffee shop located a few yards from our tables. I had intended to reward myself for the effort to get there and set up with a treat from there, but that plan didn’t work out very well.

We waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, a few folks came by and we four authors began trading books for cash. I earned enough to cover my entrance fee for the space. More importantly, I had conversations with some remarkable people.  Taryn just graduated from Ohio State University and has already published two volumes of her poetry. She was accompanied by her roommate, also a new graduate. Some of their friends stopped by to greet them and stayed for a while. Another college student joined the conversation. He spoke with me for a long time about his plans to attend graduate school to become a licensed mental health professional. I gave him a copy of A Ready Hope about what happens in the first year after a disaster hits a community. It has a lot of information about responding to people who’ve been through a disaster of some sort.

Connections Everywhere

The author on my other side was a mid-fifties woman who had to completely reinvent herself after both her job and marriage fell apart a while back. I gave her a copy of Asunder, as I’ve experienced the same thing. She writes poetry, along with being a massage therapist. Not the occupation English majors typically pursue, but a woman does what she has to do to keep going.

Brian, on the other side of the new OSU grads, came to the event from Cincinnati. His daughter just took a position in Columbus, so we discussed various neighborhoods in Columbus. She lives in a community west of mine.

Let There Be “Open” Signs

Around noon, the power came back on. One by one, “Closed” signs flipped to “Open” ones. I jumped up to go get my belated coffee when Mr. “I fix things” offered to get it for me so that I wouldn’t miss any of the dribble of people stopping by our tables. Ah. Coffee. Life is good.

Being an outdoor event, I was assured that my 20-pound Mini Poodle, Brandi, would be welcome. As I had anticipated, he drew folks to the table and relished the attention, along with the dog treats I encouraged visitors to give him. That generated numerous conversations about dogs. A couple of folks showed me photos of their pooches. One woman who fussed over Brandi had just come from a dog rescue run to raise money to care for and place stray and unwanted dogs. She came to the event to support poetess Taryn. Through an OSU alumni mentoring program, this author has been coaching Taryn in her authoring efforts.

The highlight of the day was the end of the day. After I had everything packed up and ready to take back to the car, it was time to dismantle the tent, a task best done with a team. In the few minutes it took me to move my car closer to the curb to load, my neighbors came together like a reverse Amish barn-raising team. They had the canopy ready to put in its case. Then Brian insisted on hauling my stuff to the car and getting it all inside for me. When I stopped for a quick fast-food lunch before starting the drive home, the cash register attendant showed me a way to save $3 on the order. I drove home smiling.

Goodness Abounds

My dear readers, the point of all this rambling is that goodness is still alive and well in the world. It is there in a retired engineer fetching coffee for a stranger. I saw it in a young college student preparing to be a mental health professional, because he believes that path best prepares him to address destructive behavior. We can see it in the veteran author helping a young woman launch a writing career. It was there in a team of strangers coming together to help this aging author participate in a book fair.

A line from one of my many favorite hymns, This is My Father’s World, puts it this way: “That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.” Was the time and effort to make a two-hour round trip, to set up a table at a mall with no power, where I sold only enough to cover the cost of being there, worth it? Absolutely. It was a powerful reminder that goodness abounds.

Goodness is everywhere and anywhere people swap stories about themselves, share photos of their dogs and family, and help one another. Those simple things make goodness grow. Goodness toward one another is the glue that holds society together. That is what gives hope; hope that displaces fear and despair.

We cannot and should not ignore the news. However, for the sake of our mental health and the well-being of our communities, we must also turn off the news and tune in to what the strangers all around us are doing. For goodness’ sake, take time to talk to strangers.

PS: It’s OK to stop by a table at a book festival and not purchase a book from the author waiting there to greet you. Authors love to chat with people who want to discuss the ideas in their work and what prompted them to write about them.

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
Amazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster Autographed copies are available on my website.

The post For Goodness Sake appeared first on How Wise Then.

I love everything about Les Mis as it is known in my family. I’ve seen it on stage in multiple theatres in two countries, wore out the cassette tape version, have two CD versions in my car, and frequently listen to them. The quote above is my favorite quote from one of my favorite songs from this immortal story.

Back in the late 60s, before we knew our daughter would soon be joining our new marriage, Jim and I had a dream about what could become our first home that wasn’t campus housing or a marginal apartment. He was finishing college at Bowling Green. I was in my first full-time adult job at The Defiance Collage 45 miles to the west. We frequently drove through the charming village of Florida about halfway between the two.

A Dream Forms

This route took us past what had once upon a time been St. Peter’s Lutheran Church. The congregation moved to a new location and sold the building pictured here.

Former St. Peter Lutheran Church, Florida, OH

Some gutsy older single woman, whose name I’ve long since forgotten, bought it and turned it into her home. She was ready to move on and put a “For Sale” sign out front. We stopped by one day on our regular travels between Defiance and Bowling to get the tour. It was love at first sight. We wanted to live there.

What had been the chancel was now her living room. She created her bedroom in the choir loft, accessible only by a steep flight of stairs. Under the loft area, she created a kitchen and bathroom. Where the pews had once been, she had all manner of interesting furniture and furnishings.

We drove the miles between Defiance and Bowling Green speculating on all the amazing things we could do with that space. The parties we could host. The fun it would be to make it our own. The beauty of the stained glass windows.

Financing the Dream

We had only one small problem. We were living on my annual income of $5,000, supplemented by the part-time student-rate income Jim earned working at the BGSU Radio and TV station. Our combined income was nowhere near sufficient to make a downpayment and manage monthly mortgage payments. We struggled to come up with our $75/month rent.

But that did not stop us from dreaming about how wonderful it would be to call the lovely brick building our home. Dreams generate enthusiasm and hope. We had plenty of both, if not the funds to implement our dream. We did have four employed parents between us. So we asked them for a loan to make the downpayment.

I do not know if they conferred with each other, but they all were in agreement. “No.” No discussion. No bartering or bargaining. Just one loud, clear, not-to-be-challenged “No.”

A Dream That Could Not Be

Life went on. Jim graduated. Carol joined us, followed after a couple of years by Karen. We rented a while. We bought and sold a variety of homes in a plethora of places. Over time I completely forgot about the little Florida church. Until a couple of weeks ago when I was back in Northwest Ohio. We drove from Defiance to Bowling Green, right through Florida. And there was the church! Only now, it is a library. A library! Perfect. Being the daughter of a librarian, I literally partially grew up in libraries. Being a pastor, I’ve spent countless hours in churches of all sizes and locations.

Librarian Megan was also part genealogist and part local historian. She gave us a great tour of the library. I’ve since donated two of my books to the collection in a place that never became one of my many homes. There are dreams that cannot be. Perhaps, because they get in the way of other things that were meant to be instead.

Dreams That Do Come True

Who knows? If I had lived there, might I have missed out on the many wonderful other experiences I’ve had since then? It is true. There are dreams that cannot be and storms we cannot weather. It is equally true other dreams come along that are meant to be. Writing has always been one of my dreams. That dream has come true in astonishing ways.

I never got to live in this little brick church, but now two of my books do. If your travels ever take you to Florida, Ohio, take time to check out this delightful little church-turned-library. Megan will show you great hospitality.

PS: Readers need not apologize for reading books on loan from libraries. People who love books and libraries are thrilled to support libraries. If you love a book, be sure to tell someone about it. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising. Asking your library to order a copy of your favorite book, even if I didn’t write it.

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
Amazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster Autographed copies are available on my website.

The post Dreams That Cannot Be appeared first on How Wise Then.

— William Stafford

It is Holy Week 2023. What I write today – Tuesday – will be delivered to your inbox on Good Friday. The verse above I found in a Tuesday Holy Week reflection by Diana Butler Bass in her newsletter “The Cottage.” I commend it for your own Good Friday Reflection. The term “Good Friday” is intentionally confusing as it refers to the specific day in history when Jesus was crucified. From our vantage point, we know that was the turning point, not the endpoint. But that day, those who had put their trust in him to turn a very bad situation around did not know that it was not the end. It was not a good Friday for them.

That day, they had no way of knowing he would not only return but would launch a movement that has shaped the world ever since. That day, they only knew the one they had trusted, followed, loved, and depended on to make their lives worth living had been taken from them through acts of violence.

Endings and Beginnings

That not-Good Friday, they were overcome with despair, frustration, fear, anxiety, discouragement, bewilderment, and a host of other jarring emotions. Much as I am this week – and perhaps you are as well. We’ve witnessed yet another slaughter of innocent grade school children. Meanwhile, nearly all media eyes are focused on a man who has had far more than his share of the public limelight. I’m not mentioning his name, and I’m writing this before we know the outcome of today’s court appearance. Nor am I rendering a personal opinion on the subject. When will it end? How will it end? Who knows? Surely, I do not. We are on the not-knowing side of a historical event, just as those dejected folks were two millennia ago.

Good Friday was not the end of the story. Much good has come from that day. The movement that began with a few frightened and discouraged people grew. At first, slowly, as the mighty sequoia starts from a small seedling, pushing its way up through obstacles of dirt and debris. Then more joined in, and more and more. Those who claim affiliation with that one man and what happened that one weekend centuries ago continue to have shaped society.

Love is the Trunk

A mature sequoia can rise 350 feet above the ground, with a trunk 20 to 40 feet in diameter. But that growth takes time. It may be 30 feet tall in ten years and only 100 to 150 feet tall in 50 years.

St. Catherine of Siena compared our lives to a tree. She wrote that the trunk is love, the core is patience, the roots are self-knowledge, and the branches are discernment. Love remains the most powerful force on earth, but it does not stand alone. It is sustained by patience and fed by self-awareness of both our individual worth and our capacity to influence others. It fulfills its purpose through awareness of where and how we can most effectively spread love.

Where to Focus

For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a weekly email exchange discernment process with another author about where to focus my writing efforts. I’m more than old enough to officially retire and savor the many wonderful opportunities before me now. But writing is as much an addiction as a craft or calling. I cannot not write. So the issue is not whether to write; the issue is what to write about and what to do with what I’ve written.

On this annual procession through Good Friday to Easter, I wonder if anything I write will make even an iota of difference in influencing the current context of conflicts, hostility, cruelty, arrogance, and senseless slaughter of innocents all around us. I do not know. But like the sequoia seed pushing through the dark dirt toward the bright sun, I feel compelled to try.

Each One Reach One

Here is my idea. In light of all that is troublesome right now, think of one person you know who could use a word of encouragement. Call, write, or visit that person simply to stay connected. No agenda. No advice. No request. Just “I was thinking about you and wanted to connect.” That’s it. Just connect with one person and do what is within your power to make this Friday a good one for one other person.

Will that stop the school shootings? Probably not. Will that put an end to the contentious political environment? Not likely. Will that end cancer or resolve world hunger? No and no, but it will increase the level of love in the world through that one connection, and that matters.

“Quiet in the earth a drop of water came, and the little seed spoke: “Sequoia is my name.” by William Stafford.

Thank you for spending a few moments of your precious time reading along today. If you like what you’ve read, please share this with a friend. Or, if you’d like to join this growing online community, head over to HowWiseThen to sign up for your FREE subscription. I won’t sell your information. You decide if you prefer a monthly newsletter or weekly articles about whatever is swirling around in my mind that week. I’m often as surprised as you are by what I decide to write about.

Mary Brewster’s Love Life and Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold. Bookshop.org/Mayflower; Mary Brewster
Amazon.com/Mary Brewster’s Love Life
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles
BarnesandNoble/MaryBrewster Autographed copies available at my website.

The post Good Friday appeared first on How Wise Then.

A 17th-century wife had essentially only two choices. She could go along with her husband’s plans willingly or begrudgingly. Mary Brewster chose love over resentment, though her husband’s commitment to take this enormous risk put her and their children in danger on several occasions. It meant leaving a relatively secure and comfortable life in tranquil rural northern England to join the ranks of the desperate refugees, fleeing for safety across the North Sea.

Counting the Cost

Thinking the worst of her troubles were behind her, she settled into a new daily routine along the canals of the beautiful Leiden, just south of Amsterdam. All went well for a while. Her family grew by two additional sons. She was surrounded by women who made daily chores pleasant as they did them together. William occupied himself with reading and teaching English to international students at the new Leiden University. Their faith community grew and thrived under the capable leadership of Pastor John Robinson.

Then William started a publishing business. He decided to veer away from his original intent to translate various religious-themed books into English. Instead, he ventured into something much more bold and ultimately life-threatening. He not only published and illegally smuggled into England books critical of King James. Mary became essentially a single mother whose husband stayed out of sight and out of her reach as he spent a year dodging the king’s men, determined to find him and return him to England to face the consequences.

Excerpt from Mary Brewster’s Love Live

William managed to avoid capture. The Separatists found financial backing for their trip. After two failed efforts to leave, the Mayflower at last set sail in September 1620. After months away from land, they finally heard two wonderful words. Enjoy this excerpt from Mary’s story about that moment:

Then I heard a sailor from high up on the mast call out two of the most glorious words I ever heard. “Land Ho! Land on the horizon! Land Ho!” 

“Land!” A spontaneous cry of delight erupted everywhere, all over the ship. A chorus of cheers and laughter sounded out as we repeated land again and again. It was as sweet a sound as I ever heard. The younger folks even grabbed one another with hooked elbows and began dancing! It was a sight I shall never forget. I had not sufficiently appreciated what a blessing it is to have solid ground beneath me. I was oddly surprised that the sailors seemed as thrilled to sight land as we landlubbers were. I suppose the near sinking of the ship from the broken beam in that massive storm had them all wanting a respite from the ocean. 

Many of us were already on the upper deck, preparing for what bit of dignity we could offer the Button boy. His corpse was already wrapped in a sheet and at rest on the board, balanced on the edge of the rail. Master Jones insisted it was his place to say something over the body before releasing it to the sea. 

In all the commotion and excitement, someone, whether on purpose or not, pushed the recently departed Button lad over the rail to his final resting place. When I heard about it, I was stunned. Such a sad life for the little boy, to die so far away from family and so close to our destination. He should have had a proper burial. But what was done was done. William quietly offered a prayer of commendation for the dead once Master Jones turned to tend to other matters. He did not want to incur any more of the crusty man’s wrath. 

We continued slowly sailing toward the coast. 

I strained to see land for myself, but all I saw was darkness gradually pushing the last of the daylight over the horizon, out of sight. Waves slapped against the ship, and the sound made my eyelids grow heavy. By the time the first stars peeked through the clouds, my longing for sleep overcame my eagerness to see land. 

That night, we all went to sleep dreaming of waking up to the sight of a coastline. 

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Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures: available wherever books are sold.
Bookshop.org (Support local Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies are available from my website.

The companion story told from the perspective of one of the four women to survive the first winter will be available soon in print and eBook.

The post Mary Brewster’s Love Life appeared first on How Wise Then.

Angela Burgess is on a mission to help families escape the poverty trap and find hope for their futures. I met this exuberant carrier of hope through the Houston non-profit RaiseUp Families organization. After being a long-time donor, she became the executive director in 2020. In that role, she combines her Christian values with over twenty years of experience in the field of wealth management, insurance, and nonprofit development.

She is passionate about guiding families out of the poverty maze, which has been the agency’s focus since 1994. RaiseUp Families has successfully stabilized hundreds of families struggling with the tough times that can overwhelm anyone. The COVID-19 pandemic, medical bills, car repairs, and other problems stretch a tight budget to the breaking point. That starts a chain reaction that compounds problems until the family is desperate and destitute, often resulting in evictions. That leads to children changing schools or missing school altogether, which impairs the child’s education and social development as relationships with teachers and peers are disrupted.

Lack of Cash Leads to Frequent Moves

Cash-deficient families often move, sometimes to take advantage of an apartment move-in promotion that gives them a break on utilities; other times, they are evicted for failure to pay the rent. RaiseUp Families works with clients to catch up on overdue rent and utility payments, to avert eviction, so that the children continue attending their current schools. Maintaining a consistent school routine maximizes the child’s chances of thriving, which is a key component in overcoming generational poverty.

Angela’s enthusiasm is contagious and inspiring. “I’m convinced that money comes from unexpected sources when you focus on the work,” she said while discussing the funding required to help client families. The results of the agency’s virtual April 2020 spring fundraiser illustrate her point. By the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading, and the agency decided to cancel its annual in-person spring fund-raising luncheon.

Over the next four days, Angela pulled together a virtual replacement event. “We raised the same amount of money as the previous year, without having to spend money for a venue and food, so really, we came out ahead in the budget game.”

Forced to Rethink the Program

The COVID pandemic also put a crimp in how the agency interacts with clients who could no longer come to the office, where staff helped them increase their income while decreasing their expenses. Angela explained, “Because of privacy policies, schools and apartment complex owners were unable to make referrals. I called the Houston Apartment Association and asked, ‘How can we help each other?’ Soon, we were able to expand our mission to all of the Houston area and began working with clients face-to-face via Zoom.

Their creative workaround for the COVID challenge got picked up by reporter Amy Davis at KHOU, which generated 800 calls for information. All this attracted the attention of an anonymous donor who liked what the agency does. His first check for $75 was followed by another for $3,000 and then by a note inquiring about what RaiseUp Families needed most. “He gravitates towards places that help children and animals. I believe that if you do the right thing, God will provide.”

The anonymous donor then gave another $250,000, enabling the agency to expand its services to around seventy families by the summer of 2021. By 2022, that number grew to eighty-five families. Nearly a hundred percent of those families managed to keep their children in the same school system. Equally significant, families that completed the program experienced an average income increase of sixty-one percent and stay in stable housing after completing the program.

Family and Career Training

Angela grew up in Iowa City, Iowa, and attended college in Pella, IA (home to Pella Windows), with thirty-four churches and four bars. In college, she majored in Spanish and Communications. She spent a semester in Washington, D.C., working as a lobbyist for farm workers and cranberry farmers. There she honed her persuasion skills. She puts past experiences to good use in Houston, where being bilingual is definitely an asset. Her training in financial management and generosity started at home, where banking runs in the family. Her father and grandfather were bankers, and her mother worked in a savings and loan firm.

Eventually, she went to work for Smith Barney (now Morgan Stanley) in Chicago, where she said, “I kept encouraging people to restructure their portfolios to include donations to charity. I wanted to help people connect their money with their mission, to know what’s best for the donor, the family, and the charity. I love talking finance.”

Spreading Hope

She said she learned her first financial management skills from her parents. “I came to realize that my parents were disciplined in exactly one thing: deciding whether something was a need or a want, and not giving in to the temptation of wants. Growing up in a middle-class family, my parents repeated these words to me time and time again: ‘It’s not how much you make, but how much you spend.’

Many of the families we serve were never taught that principle. Combine a lack of basic money management tools with one large unanticipated expense or loss of a job, and suddenly a family drops from barely getting along to extreme hardship.”

After Angela moved to Houston in 2014 with her husband, Gary Burgess, for his position with the Houston Morgan Stanley office, she launched Broad Oaks Consulting. At that time, in 2018,  she was a donor for RaiseUp Families and worked with victims of assault and rape, which she found gratifying. She says, “I’m good in a crisis.”

Angela has applied her boundless energy to mentor girls through Big Brothers-Big Sisters, serves as a guardian ad litem with Child Advocates, and maintains a prison ministry through Order Malta, a Catholic lay religious order. She says, “My motto is everyone has time to save a life or change a life.”

Inspired by Faith

Although Catholic now, she was raised in the Presbyterian church by her parents, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother who were all people of strong faith, and they did a wonderful job enriching her life with Jesus’ teachings and love.

“When I left home, I began seeking a church home that provided the same grounding my childhood church had and, after many years of searching, found the Catholic Church. At age twenty-four, I became a Catholic, finally finding a community in which I felt I belonged.”

A significant part of her work with RaiseUp Families consists of nurturing current donors and expanding the organization’s impact on the community. Houston earned the dubious honor of being the city with the most evictions once the onset of the pandemic set in. Apartment managers were eager to partner with people who could help them keep their tenants and still collect the rent.

She knows what it’s like not to have the funds for rent. “I’ve sat at my kitchen table at two o’clock in the morning, calling my credit card company to ask for a cash advance so I could pay my rent that month. I know how tough things can get.”

Expanding Hope and Help

Today, Angela and her staff continue to dispense hope by ending poverty one family at a time. Thanks to support from donors, community partners, and a wonderful, forward-thinking Board of Directors, RaiseUp Families has doubled the size of staff under Angela’s leadership. The agency has restructured its HandUp program to help clients achieve even better outcomes. The agency anticipates that by June 2023, they will have served TWICE the number of families as in  2021 and 2022, with client incomes also increasing.

Angela’s new goal?  “I want to see 60% of our families reach the income “happiness index” of $70,000 in household income within three years of entering our HandUp program.  To date, about 10% of our clients are achieving or exceeding that mark within 12-18 months, so we have our work cut out for us, but we’re on the right track!”

Thank you for being part of this growing online community. If you appreciated this post, share it with one or more of your friends. Or, sign up for your own FREE subscription. You might also enjoy an earlier article about RaiseUp Families.

Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures is available wherever books are sold in paperback, eBook, and audio.
Bookshop.org (Supporting local Indie Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies are available from my website or BlueWillowBookShop.com/book/

The post People of Hope – Angela Burgess appeared first on How Wise Then.

I think of Dr. Roger Leslie as a sort of Mr. Rogers for adults, especially those with dreams of becoming authors. His unflappable good cheer, encouragement, and helpful insights have kept numerous authors from giving up their dreams of being successfully published. Discouragement is often more prevalent in the publishing world than bylines and checks. An editor may insist the author’s favorite phrase or scene won’t sell and has to go. The rare agent who actually responds to a query is more likely to say, “Not my genre,” than “Sure, I’ll work with you.” Writing for publication can be hard, discouraging work.

Life is a prism

Dr. Leslie instills hope and helps authors turn the situation around. “My philosophy is that life is a prism. Everyone is looking at the prism from a different facet. If you don’t like what you’re seeing, you might try seeing the world from a different facet and see how it changes your perspective.”

He’s had plenty of his own experience seeing things from a different perspective. He’s fond of talking about what he calls ‘fateful detours.’ For example, he knew from his early teens that he wanted to write novels. He grew up in Dearborn Heights, MI, until his family moved to Houston when he was fourteen. After high school, he was on track to become a published author, choosing his courses at the University of Houston accordingly. “But then one day a friend told me, ‘You can’t make a living as a writer.’ So, I changed my major to English Education and set out to teach, just long enough to launch my writing career.”

Change of Plans

Often our temporary plans prove more permanent than our long-range ones. He accepted a teaching position at a Houston area high school where, much to his surprise, he “fell in love with teaching. That really taught me so much about myself and people. Those kids were the biggest blessing in my life.”

He was apparently quite a blessing to them as well. In 1989, his fourth year teaching, he was named teacher of the year for the entire Galena school system. By then, he’d settled into a manageable routine of teaching by day and writing evenings and weekends, still hoping to become a successful enough writer to make that his career. He completed a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and did have some success publishing his work in various periodicals.

“But I always wanted to write books. I’ve always believed the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Nothing stands in the way.”

The Life-Changing Phone Call

He was in his classroom one day when he got the phone call that led him on a fateful detour away from that straight line. “The Department Chair told me the principle needed a librarian. He offered me the job, though I had no degree in library science and lacked the appropriate certification. “I went home that evening and had a conversation with God. ‘You’re not listening to me! I want to be a writer!’”

The principle countered Roger’s objections by pointing out he’d have more time to write since he’d no longer be reading student essays, the position would mean a pay increase, and he could arrange for emergency certification.

“I took the job.”

New Opportunities

That job led to opportunities he could never have imagined. Dr. Maureen White and Dr. Patricia Wilson ran the Library Science program at the University of Houston’s Clear Lake Campus, where Roger enrolled. One of Dr. White’s assignments was to write reviews of children’s books. She loved his reviews and told him to pick out three which they submitted to Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association. “That led to assignments, pay, and a by-line every two weeks in the most prestigious magazine in the field.

It got even better. Dr. Wilson invited me to co-author a book for librarians. The first day we began working, we realized we had a series, not just one book to write. We pitched our idea to Libraries Unlimited and ended up with a three-book contract from one of the most prestigious publishers in the country. By going back to school and doing something I didn’t want to do, I also met publishers at the annual library conferences. These are what I call ‘fateful detours.’ Detours that seemed like delays actually catapulted me to where I needed to be.”

And More Opportunities

Roger is quick to share his experience, connections, and knowledge with others, partly because, as a teen and young adult, he learned how hard it is to go it alone. “I grew up gay in a Catholic midwestern environment. During that time, I had an epiphany. Because I’m an old soul, aware of spiritual and emotional things others don’t seem to notice, accepting being gay was my light come out of the closet. Accepting being gay meant going against everything I learned from the parochial school I attended and my family. I knew something didn’t fit, and I concluded I would just have to live my life alone, without love. But as I explored my own soul, I realized I needed to determine for myself what was right for me.”

In undergraduate school he met Jerry. Their friendship gradually evolved into their life-long commitment to each other. However, they didn’t find much support from anyone, even within the gay community. Back in the 1980s, many in the gay community thought their vision of having a lifelong marriage was cute but naïve. They had to venture out on their own. “That experience emphasized for me how important it is to support other people; because it’s so hard to go it alone.”

Look for the Light

Today Roger is living the life he wanted for himself and helping others do the same. He says on his website, “I feel grateful every day to live the life I dream. I am an author. All dreams flourish with outreach. As an author, speaker, coach, editor, and publisher, I love guiding people along their path to make their dreams come true, too.”

“I always look for the light.”

Having worked with him on one of my books and observed him in a variety of situations, I’ve observed that often he is the light that sheds hope and help to countless others.

Thank you for being part of this growing online community. If you appreciated this post, share it with one or more of your friends. Or, sign up for your own FREE subscription. You may also enjoy an earlier article about Dr. Roger Leslie.

Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures is available wherever books are sold in paperback, eBook, and audio.
Bookshop.org (Supporting local Indie Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies are available from my website or BlueWillowBookShop.com/book/

The post People of Hope – Dr. Leslie appeared first on How Wise Then.

The first friend I can remember was Karl. He was my age. His sister was the age of my younger brother. Though we only lived in that community for a year or so, I vividly remember some of the many adventures the four of us shared as pre-school-age children. We lived in a rural area and were relatively free to roam the wide open spaces between our adjoining yards.

Friends Forever

There are those special people who come into our lives and become a permanent part of them. Distance may separate us, but the bond survives. It may be years between times when we can be together in person, but when we do meet up again, it often seems like it’s been a few days rather than a few years.

Mary Brewster, Matriarch of the Mayflower, had such a friend in Bridget Robinson. Bridget’s husband, the Reverend John Robinson was the designated pastor of the English Separatist community when they relocated from Amsterdam to Leyden. Another pastor had been their official pastor, but after they fled from England to the Lowlands, that pastor stayed in Amsterdam. Robinson, along with future Governor William Bradford, and Mary’s husband, Elder William Brewster, decided to move their community to Leyden. The community lived there from 1608 until some of the group sailed for the New (to them) World in 1620. During those years, Mary and Bridget became as close as sisters.

Finding a Way

When the faith community decided to establish a place of their own across the Atlantic, they also decided that the Brewsters would sail with their two younger sons, Love and Wrestling. The Robinsons would stay behind, along with Jonathan, Patience, and Fear, the Brewster older children. Bridget and Mary had to bid one another farewell; hoping they would eventually meet again when more of the Separatists joined them in the new Plimoth Plantation.

Here’s an excerpt from the last afternoon Mary Brewster and Bridget Robinson spent together before the Mayflower sailed.

I wanted my last afternoon with Bridget to be a happy one. I took Love and Wrestling with me, along with more things for Patience and Fear, and went to the Robinsons. I was overcome with gratefulness that Bridget would watch over Patience and Fear, but equally distraught that they needed a new home.

Love and Wrestling entered the Robinsons ahead of me and bounded up the stairs. I had to stop midway to catch my breath, and also to collect my thoughts and prepare myself for this final afternoon together. I dreaded saying farewell to her.

 “Please, do not talk of the trip,” I begged. “Let us pretend this is like any other afternoon when we pass the time in one another’s company.”

“I agree that is the best plan, but I do have something for you, so you will not forget me.”

“I will never, ever forget you.”

Bridget left and quickly returned with a locket on a delicate chain. “My father gave this to my mother many years ago. I have treasured it, and now I want you to have it.”

My throat grew thick, my tongue seemed stuck and incapable of moving. I reached out to touch it. “I don’t think I should accept a treasure that belongs to your family,” I finally managed to say.

“That is precisely why I want you to have it. You have been as family to me. And now your daughters live with me as though they were my own kin. Please accept this.”

 She took my hand and pressed the locket into my palm, curling my fingers around it. I put my clenched fist against my breast and murmured, “Thank you. I will treasure it always.”

To Be Continued

More of the story about the friendship between Bridget Robinson and Mary Brewster is told in the book coming out this spring: Mary Brewster’s Love Life. It should be out in March. I’m filling my days doing final edits and tending to other publishing details.

Other times, I’m likely out making new friends or phone calls to keep up with old friends. I learned this song in Girl Scouts a very long time ago.

Make new friends,
But keep the old.
One is silver,
And the other, gold.
A circle’s round
It has no end
That’s how long
I’m gonna be your friend.

In preparing this article, I learned a bit about the history of “Make new friends.” There are several verses to it, with various lyrics, but the concept is the same. Some friendships are life long; some for a season of life; and some brand new. All add incredible value to our lives. I’m glad I can count you as a friend. I trust you have many other people in your life that you consider a friend.

Thank you for being part of this growing online community. If you appreciated this post, share it with one or more of your friends. Or, sign up for your own FREE subscription.

Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures is available wherever books are sold in paperback, eBook, and audio.
Bookshop.org (Supporting local Indie Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies are available from my website or BlueWillowBookShop.com/book/

The post Friendships appeared first on How Wise Then.

Liminal spaces can be exciting as we anticipate all the glorious things we’re going to accomplish before the next New Years’ Eve. They can also sometimes feel like walking a tightrope between platforms, maybe even minus a safety net. The familiar is gone, but we do not yet feel at home where we are. I start most days with a brief devotional reading. This one from God Calling, edited by A. J. Russell, is a gem: “Fret not your souls with puzzles that you cannot solve.”  

Fret Not, Instead Set Goals

Goals are hopes and dreams with an action plan and deadlines. Setting and tracking goal progress help keep fret away. Handwritten goals have a better chance of settling where our subconscious minds get to work helping us achieve them. Small goals become like stepping stones across the rivers of change that come with liminal spaces.

Friend and writing colleague Dr. Roger Leslie recommends this approach for establishing goals: “Set a first-person, positively worded, measurable and time-limited goal.”

One of my goals for 2023 is to make new friends in this wonderful new 55+ active senior apartment complex where I now live. We have a well-appointed “village” area where we can gather to meet and greet one another. Applying my friend’s approach, one of my goals for the first month of the new year is this. “I will spend at least a half hour in our village area each day for a month.”

Then I’ll decide if that was a good use of my time. I figure hanging out where other people pass through often greatly increases my chances of making new friends. Thinking about and writing down goals can be a powerful tool for navigating liminal spaces.

Other Tools for Traveling Liminal Spaces

Lists.  Goal setting partners well with list-making, another valuable tool. Lists help mitigate forgetfulness. Writing down things frees up mental space for other things, such as coming up with solutions to problems and determining the next best use of our finite time on this planet.

Have Plan B. Another useful tool for getting through liminal spaces is to have a Plan B. Something will go wrong. Count on it. If we anticipate that something will go wrong, we won’t be so disappointed and frustrated when it does. Ask me about how I spent $6.75 in our village laundry room and ended up with a load of cold, wet laundry. That was definitely a Plan B sort of day.

We save ourselves much stress when we anticipate problems and think of them as opportunities to get creative in overcoming them. Somewhere in a box I have not yet unpacked, I have a needlepoint that reads, “Great opportunities are often disguised as impossible situations.”

 Accept Help When Needed. Life is not designed to be a DIY project. Ask for what you need. Most people are generally eager to lend a hand. It makes them feel useful and important. For example, I knew driving from Texas with a dog was too much for this ole’ gal. I thought about recruiting a relative, but first, I invited a neighbor to do a road trip with me. She eagerly accepted, saying, “I’ve always wanted to see Cleveland.”

Two things about that. A) I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that about Cleveland. It’s my childhood city, and I love the place, but I don’t think I have ever heard anyone else say that about my hometown. B) My destination was actually Columbus, not Cleveland. However, her response led to a fun few days as we toured the highlights of the city of my youth.

Pace Yourself; Give It a Rest

I’m pretty confident the sun will make an appearance tomorrow whether or not I cross off every item on today’s “to-do” list. One wise man (or perhaps he was a wise guy?) used to say, “Everything that has to get done, will get done. A hundred years from now, the rest won’t matter.”

Liminal spaces drain energy. The mental work required to navigate liminal spaces is enormous. Build in rest breaks. Balance work with other things such as a walk, a cup of something, a favorite program, reading a few chapters, a nap, or calling a friend.

Welcome, Welcome Brand New Year

I love the last few days of the last year and the opening ones of the new one. Whatever traumas and troubles disrupted our lives last year, we survived them and have a fresh new calendar to fill with whatever we choose. Whatever wonderful things we experienced last year are now a permanent part of our glorious memories. We can pull them out anytime we want and experience them in our minds again and again.

Thank you for coming along with me on this journey from what was to what is becoming. I’m excited to see how things unfold this year. May all your endeavors in 2023 be ones you will want to cherish and remember.

Happy New Year!  Welcome 2023

Thank you for being part of this growing online community. If you appreciated this post, share it with a friend. Or, sign up for your own FREE subscription. You might appreciate this guest post about setting goals from a couple of years ago by Rochelle Melander. She’s a friend I’ve never actually met in person. Yet, thanks to the internet, we often exchange ideas and information.

Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures is available wherever books are sold in paperback, eBook, and audio.
Bookshop.org (Supporting local Indie Bookshops)
Amazon.com/Mayflower-Chronicles-Tale-Two-Cultures/
BarnesandNoble.com/w/mayflower-chronicles-kathryn-haueisen/
Autographed copies are available from my website or BlueWillowBookShop.com/book/

The post Liminal Spaces appeared first on How Wise Then.