STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

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Oct 17, 2005? 

Today??™s Announcements:

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Happy Birthday wishes goes out to Dee Hayden from all your friends at Storytime Tapestry and our beloved writer Saskia in Germany.

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Now on to the good stuff..........

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Animal awareness series endorsed by Shiloh and Hank our mascots; all stories must receive their approval.

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Today's Queue Stories
~**~**~**~

By

Pamela Perry Blaine

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It was from my place at the kitchen table that I learned a lot of important things.?  First of all I learned to sit still.?  As a very small child, there were two places that I knew I was expected to sit still and that was at the table and in church.? 

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We had a very small kitchen and the table was barely large enough to seat us all and hold some food too, but a lot of living took place around that old kitchen table.?  Sometimes we just had sandwiches but that didn??™t matter we still ate together at the table.?  We each had a place at the table.?  There was never any question, when Momma said, ???Supper??™s ready???, we quickly slid into our designated places at the table with no argument between us kids about who would sit where.

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My place at the table was next to Daddy and my brother sat on the other side of me.?  Momma sat across the table where she could reach other food items or utensils that we might need.?  We always sat in our same places at the table except when we had company, and then sometimes the seating arrangement changed a little to accommodate guests.? ? 

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Momma did her best to teach us to be polite and courteous and she would often do that by telling stories about the consequences of bad manners.?  One story she told was about a time when Great Uncle Sike (a nickname for Silas) came to visit.?  It seems Uncle Sike had just sat down at the supper table when my brother, who was too small to have learned his manners very well yet, announced loudly, ???My place!????  I guess Uncle Sike evacuated that chair in no time flat but Momma was just sure that was why Uncle Sike never ate another meal at our table again!? ?  I don??™t really think Uncle Sike was all that offended but it made a good story for Momma to teach us children a valuable lesson.?  At any rate, Uncle Sike must have forgiven my brother because he and Uncle Sike became the best of friends.?  Later in life, they shared a lot of meals together where Uncle Sike always had a place at my brother??™s table.

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Our family was very informal during meals, yet it was at the table that we learned good values.?  We learned to pray because every meal began with prayer.?  Momma taught us to pray:

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???We thank thee, Lord, for this food, for health and strength and for every good??¦Amen.???

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As we grew older we added our own words and petitions but I have always remembered the prayer that Momma taught us.? 

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As children we learned to sit still,?  (Yes, I know I mentioned that before but it??™s because I remember how difficult it was to sit still), and we were taught to mind our manners.?  Some of these teachings were:

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???Don??™t talk with your mouth full???

???Quit carving pictures out of your meat and eat it???? 

???Keep your elbows off the table???

???Use your napkin, not your sleeve???

???Don??™t make smacking noises with your mouth???

???Stop blowing bubbles in your milk???

???Remember to say please???

???Always say thank you???

???Never leave the table without asking to be excused???

???Sit still??? (Did I mention that?)

???Don??™t interrupt when someone else is talking???

???Never talk about the dog throwing up or any other disgusting things at the table???

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We learned to take responsibility and to work by helping with everything from preparing the meal and setting the table to cleaning up afterward. Momma taught us how to behave at home so we would know how to behave later in public.?  She also taught us that we were expected to offer to help if we were guests in someone else??™s home.

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It was at my place at the table where I heard a lot of good conversations and everyone had an opportunity to have a turn to talk and make comments.? 

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Later, when I had a family of my own, we each had our places at the table.?  Each child began in the high chair and eventually graduated to a high stool and then on to a regular kitchen chair.?  The lessons I learned growing up enabled me to know more about how to prepare meals and teach my own children the lessons that I had learned around the table.

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Recently, I read that 75 per cent of families do not eat meals together anymore.?  There was a time when families all gathered around the table for all of their meals.?  It seems that today most people don??™t make it to the table for even one meal.? ?  Families often eat in shifts, in front of the television, or grab something while driving through a fast food lane on their way to some activity.? 

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It is interesting that statistics show that the children of families who eat meals together five or more times a week have lower rates of smoking, drinking, and illegal drug use.?  Teenagers are also shown to have higher academic performance.?  There is something to having ???a place at the table???.?  It is a place where we feel loved and accepted and conflicts are often resolved.?  It is a place where much is learned, traditions are established, and memories are made.

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Although manufacturers have made mealtime simpler with microwave ovens, dishwashers, and many other appliances, we seem to be missing the most important element at our tables today.?  We wonder why it is that many children seem more restless, lack manners, and are deficient of basic domestic skills.?  It might just be because something is missing around our own dining room tables.?  We are missing the people??¦families??¦ all sitting around the table where each person is given the gift of ???a place at the table???.

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By

Pamela Perry Blaine

?© July 2005

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Pamela Perry Blaine

Route

Baring, MO. 63531

Pam lives in Missouri with her husband, Michael.?  She enjoys composing music and writing stories.?  She writes "Pam's Corner" for her local newspaper, The Edina Sentinel.?  Pam and her husband are active in their church where she plays piano and he is music leader.?  They have a CD available called, "I'll Walk You Home".? ?  The title song is about her lifelong friend who died of cancer.?  You can hear this song on her website:? http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htmSeveral of her stories have been published on the internet as well as in books such as The Miracle Of Sons, 2The Heart/People Who Make A Difference,? and A Tribute To Moms.?  Her goal is to write to encourage others and to write stories for her children and grandchildren? so that stories and family history will be preserved.? 

My Website:

http://blaines.us/PamyPlace.htme-mail: pamyblaine@blaines.us? 

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~**~**~? 

? Predestination ? 

? Joyce C. Lock

? ? ? ?  Predestination: some believe in it, some don't.?  Most enjoy the debate of it and are left straddling the fence because, at first glance, scripture seems to support both sides of the issue; being almost contradictory.
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? ? ? ?  Since we know all God's Holy Word must be truth, if any of it is at all, perhaps the question that stems from the issues of predestination is a result of one's difficulty in interpretation and Satan getting pleasure in dividing us (as the author of confusion).
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? ? ? ?  For those who have no idea what I am talking about, the question is, "Do we have a choice in our salvation and every decision in our life, or are we puppets completing a play God has predestined us to fulfill??  Scripture bares no contradiction once understood.
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? ? ? ?  From the beginning of time, God (in His omnipotent powers) had the ability to foresee, foreknow, and look into the future.?  Every human was created by Him and He would love every one.?  Thus, even all the earth would cry out there is a God; extending the universal call to all that would receive.?  It was God's desire that no one would perish.
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? ? ? ?  Knowing who would carry the name "Christian", God had also seen their hearts and could choose whom He would call, for special areas of service, into the future.
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? ? ? ?  Being made in the image of God, we can relate to God's heart in that we were created first and foremost for the purpose of someone to love Him.
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? ? ? ?  Without love being a choice, there would have been no purpose in our creation, no purpose in the cross of Calvary; as He already had a company of angels.
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? ? ? ?  Once you have grown spiritually, had fellowship with God, and stood in His almighty presence; you will never again doubt but what it was your choice.?  God knew what He was doing all along and there never was any confusion.

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?© by Joyce C. Lock
http://our.homewithgod.com/heavenlyinspirations/

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YOU HAVEN??™T HEARD ANYTHING YET

By: Joseph J. Mazzella

? ? ? ?  I talked to my Aunt on the phone again today. I always feel so much better after hearing her gentle voice. Her contagious laughter, kind words, and unconditional love always uplift my soul and always bring me so much happiness. She is such a blessing to me, her children, her grandchildren, her friends, her church, her community, and everyone that she meets. She has more energy, vitality, and joy at 80 than most people have at 20. She does more good, spreads more cheer, and touches more hearts than I could ever hope to. She is still singing the sweet song of her life ,and its beautiful and joyous music continues to touch the hearts and souls of all who hear it.

? ? ? ?  I only hope that my life??™s song can one day be half as beautiful as hers??™. I know one thing for sure, however. I will never stop singing it. I will sing it with all my heart whether I live another 4 days or another 40 years. Walt Whitman once wrote: "The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung." I want my own life??™s song then to grow stronger in joy and sweeter in love each and everyday. I want my own life??™s song to reach the ears, hearts, and souls of everyone I meet. I want my own life??™s song to spread God??™s love and Heaven??™s music for all of my days.

? ? ? ?  Each of us has a beautiful song within ourselves just waiting to be sung. Don??™t go to your grave with your song still inside of you. Start singing it today. Let it flow from your heart, soul, and life. Let it bring your sweet music to the world. Let it bring the notes of your love, joy, and oneness with God to everyone you meet. Let it fill the air with every good thing that is within you. Then when someone comes up to you and asks you how your life is going you can honestly say, "You haven??™t heard anything yet!"

Joseph J. Mazzellajoecool @ wirefire.com

Joe lives in West Virginia with his wife and three children. Various dogs and cats have adopted Joe and his family for their own. Joe enjoys his family, beauty, love and hearing from his email friends. Joe likes to take the time to smell the roses and enjoy the beauty around him as he goes about his daily life.

~**~**~

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

valuespeak@msn.com

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CURSES! OPERATOR ERROR AGAIN!

To the people responsible for making my Weed Whacker 2000, I??™d like to say I??™m sorry.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  I wasn??™t myself when I verbally consigned you and your posterity to the fiery, steamy, cockroach-infested regions of the afterlife.?  And that part about personally plaguing you with boils, shingles, leprosy and cavities in your teeth??  I really regret that.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Oh, and if you suddenly find yourself in dire need of . . . well, you know . . . Preparation H or some similar treatment, drop me a line.?  I may have to figure out how to lift a curse or two.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Please try to understand.?  I had been home from Scout camp for five days, and everyone knows there??™s a two-week cool-down period for Post-Scout Camp Stress Syndrome.?  Then there was the new Harry Potter book, and the pressure of getting it and reading it before they make a movie out of it.?  And Beth turned 16, which means we??™re having Driver??™s Education Trauma (???Daddy, can I please, please, please drive the car??  Please, Daddy, PUH-LEEEAAASSSEEE????).

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  And did I mention the heat?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  So what was I supposed to do when my Weed Whacker went whacko??  Ignore it?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  It wasn??™t that my Weed Whacker wouldn??™t whack weeds.?  When it was whacking, my Weed Whacker whacked weeds wonderfully well (trying saying that three times fast).?  It was just the plastic string thingies with which the Weed Whacker whacks weeds (and yes, ???plastic string thingies??? IS the precise technical term ??“ you can look it up).?  The Weed Whacker worked so well that it kept whacking its plastic string thingies right off.

Which is exactly what it??™s supposed to do.?  The Weed Whacker whacks weeds until the plastic string thingies wear out, at which point you??™re supposed to be able to gently tap the bottom of the Weed Whacker on the ground, and more plastic string thingy will pop out.?  That??™s the way it??™s supposed to work: whack, tap, pop.?  Hopefully, in that order.

But although the plastic string thingies on my Weed Whacker were wearing out, they weren??™t popping out ??“ tap or no tap.?  So I had to take the Weed Whacker apart and manually pull out more plastic string thingies each time they wore away, which was about every 10 feet or so.

Hence my frustration.

As time went on my attempts to tap out more string thingies became increasingly violent, resulting in divots in my yard that I??™m sure are visible from Mars.?  I finally gave up, deciding that an untrimmed lawn would be easier to explain to Anita than a Weed Whacker wrapped around our apple tree (for the record, this is the same rationale I used when I gave up golf).

Later that night I vented my weed-whacking frustration to my brother-in-law, Mike.

???I don??™t know why it would do that,??? he mused.?  ???Are you sure you??™ve got the strings wound in the direction of the little arrows on the bottom????

I paused.?  ???There are arrows on the bottom???? I asked.

???Yes,??? Mike said, trying hard not to roll his eyes.

???One for each direction???? I asked.

Mike laughed.?  ???Yeah, right,??? he said, chortling.?  ???Like the Weed Whacker people have figured a way around the laws of physics!????  He laughed harder.?  ???Like you could actually unwind strings in two different directions at the same time!?  You??™d really have to be an idiot to think . . .???

It was at about this time that Mike noticed I wasn??™t laughing.?  He worked hard to get himself under control, eventually, croaking out a muffled: ???I think I know what the problem is.???

Yeah.?  Me too.?  The problem is the most dangerous man on earth: the guy who thinks he knows when he really doesn??™t.?  Like Mike said, ???You??™d really have to be an idiot . . .???

Which sort of lets you Weed Whacker makers off the hook.

Even if we??™re too late to cancel the curses and plagues.

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? SENIOR WRITERS

Chief Writer: Sharon Bryant

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? Agee, Vance;? Apted, Violet;? Baker, Kathy; Batt, Al;?  Berry, Nell;

Boda, Ginger;? ? Buhagiar, Victor; Cassady, B.J.;?  Cavalera, Robyn; Crider, Mark;? 

Deming, Barb; Doherty, Maria; Goodier, Steve; Halley, Ellie Braun;

Harris, Kathy Anne;? Hunt, Sharlette;? 

Jacobson, Gary;? Kiser, Roger Dean; Kerens, Claudia; Jenkins, Pamela;

Liles, Norma; Lilly, Jodi Flesberg; Lock, Joyce; Mazzella, Joe;? Ojeigbe, Georgewaters;

?  Petry, Dianna Doles; Roberts, Susan;?  Shiveley, Debra; Shaw, Bob; Sims, Richard; Streidel, Saskia; Swarner, Ken; Vaknin, Sam; Verhoeff, Jan

Walker, Bill; Walker, Joe;? Warner, Gorden K; Walsh, Sue

Whirity, Kathy;? White, Robert;

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STORYTIME TAPESTRY STAFF

Publisher: Carol Roach-founder

Moderator: Thelma Hartselle-co founder

Moderator: Clara Westerfer

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