December Open Spaces

 

Open Spaces

Vol.: 20.12

By John Vander Velden

 

We are in the middle of Christmas. For those of you scratching your head and asking
isn’t Christmas celebrated on December 25^th? Yes, it is...but... For me Christmas begins on the 25th and runs nonstop until Epiphany on January 6^th. I recognize the 12 days of Christmas. So even though we near December’s very last days, I can say to you Merry Christmas...and mean it.

Yet as we pass through these wonderful days when we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we may feel that the dark cloud of COVID has stolen some of the holiday’s luster. If you are like Jackie and I, things were very different this season. To some degree many of us remain isolated. Even though the news of vaccinations is promising, this pandemic has not released us yet. We yearn for things to be “normal”, and find ourselves wondering if things will ever be the same as they were again.

Yes, Christmas in 2020 was, or as in my house is, different. But Christmas IS! And no disease can stop it. Because at the center...the very center...is that God so loved the world (you and me and everyone), SO much he sent His Son. That Jesus entered our world the same way we did, as a helpless babe. That this amazing child was born into the family of humble ordinary people, should speak to us all. That the Savior of humanity was first revealed to common shepherds, should show God’s openness for our access as well. That when later the child is acknowledged by kings, speaks of the grandness of God’s plan.

Christmas is about love! The love that stitches the universe together. The greatest power that can exist. For as I said before, love is at the center of God’s gift to us. For God so loved the world...

In a world that sets one against the other. In a world “where I am right and you are wrong” seems to be at the focus of so many people’s thoughts. In a world where “tit for tat” has come to be the norm. In a world filled with fear and hate, love gets lost, or in the least shoved to the wayside. Anger and bitterness surround us. It is too easy for us to lash back at comments made or what we feel are cruel actions directed our way.

Perhaps we will love them tomorrow...when it’s easier...or when they deserve it.

Yet we rely, with confidence, on God’s loves for us, as undeserving as we are. Isn’t that the whole point of Christmas? I find myself humbled by the simple fact that God did so much to prove His love for me. That is what Christmas means to me. And in that context, I am driven to try my best to love others as well.

So this month’s newsletter is different than those I have shared with you, dear friends, in the past. It is my deepest hope that your home is filled with Christmas...the real...the living Christmas. That the coming year brings you blessings, and health, but above all else...love. Love which comes to you and those you hold near, and a love you would gladly share to the world.

Merry Christmas,

John

Author of Misty Creek and Elizabeth’s Journey

 

p.s.

I must add a bit of writing news. I have finished the first revise of the third book of the Misty Creek Saga. Next month the manuscript goes to my editor and friend. So things continue onward. During these weeks I hope to finish a draft titled Severed Ties a standalone novel. So that’s where this writer guy finds himself at the moment. Hope to have more to tell you next month.

JV

 

Where Does Christmas Find You?

 

Where Does Christmas Find you?

By John W. Vander Velden

        Each of us move about our lives. We face challenges and obstacles. We have achieved successes and found unexpected blessings. We have dealt with failures and loss. We might be among those we love most or find ourselves staring at empty furniture. Three hundred and sixty-five days of living each year, how do we face one set apart from the others the way Christmas is?

Too many focus on what cannot be, unable to see the grandness of each day. Yet Christmas comes to us all, those ready for the tinsel and lights and those that are not. But Christmas is grander than holiday specials, perfectly cooked meals, stockings, and ho-ho-hos. It is more than the lights on trees inside and out, or glowing inflated snowmen. Christmas is not limited to December 25^th.

Christmas is the firm proof of GOD, and the binding HE has with each of us. For on that night long ago CHRIST was born, Emanuel, GOD with us, born for you and me. CHRIST is the proof, the solid definition of love and shows us just how far GOD is willing to go on our behalf. Christmas comes each year to remind us of that infinite love. That love is not fixed to a particular date. That love isn’t fastened to a holiday. GOD’s love is broader...it is bolder.

Christmas comes to find you where you are even when you are most vulnerable...or at your weakest. Christmas comes to find you where you are especially those times you feel broken...shattered...beaten down. Christmas comes when everything seems to be going wonderfully, but it also arrives when your world seems to unravel.

Christmas finds you no matter where you are in your life.

For GOD so loved the world...that means you...that means me...that means your neighbor...that means the stranger on the street...that means the one that wishes to be your enemy...GOD loves us all.

That he sent HIS SON...that is a child born under the humblest of circumstances to ordinary people that act in extraordinary ways. Jesus was born in Bethlehem...the angels proclaimed HIS birth to humble herdsmen of the field. Common folk of sweat and toil. Later grand men of wisdom came following heavenly signs. From the poor to the wealthy all are welcome to meet the CHRIST.

That whoever believes in HIM...recognizes that JESUS is, was, and always will be, the SON of the MOST HIGH...GOD in human form...

Shall have everlasting life...Jesus saves...can save...will save. Life everlasting is not some “pie in the sky” someday thing...for those that truly believe, it has already begun...and will never end...

Is your heart open to Christmas when it comes? Will you recognize the grandness of GOD’s love for you?

So I ask...where does Christmas find you?

 

 

12-24-2020 (465 Words)

 

Christmas 2020

 

Christmas 2020

By John W. Vander Velden

 

We have endured a year like none we have ever experienced before. COVID has had an effect on nearly every aspect of our lives. Now, as the numbers of those that suffer from the disease rise to new heights, we understand the need to gather differently this year. For most of us the season normally offers opportunities we can share with the special people of our lives. Often those who live miles away and make the effort to travel to join in the festivities.

Saddened that many of us will not be able to take part in activities that have long been part of our lives, we may feel that Christmas isn’t what it was...or what it should be. And I can tell you that, this year, we will be missing many opportunities to gather as family and friends. Yet it does not feel, in this household in any case, a burden beyond our abilities to bear. For our view is broader than the brief disappointment of crushed plans. We understand that these are difficult times and the needs of the world far outweigh our own personal desires.

For Jackie and I, it has long been our aspiration to understand what our household can do to be helpful to others. To see a broader observation of reality than our own pinhole prick view. A willingness to care about others as well as ourselves.

Isn’t this the perfect season for us to do just a little more...care a bit deeper. For wasn’t Christ sent to live among humanity, not for his own benefit but ours. Didn’t HE at last give up his life...a sacrifice for the very people that drove the nails into his precious body?

So as we dwell on what will not be part of Christmas 2020, let us not forget what the season means. For Christmas comes, COVID or not! Christmas is so much more than shared meals, more than gifts given and received, more than parties, more than ugly sweaters. It is the joyous celebration that reminds us that GOD so loved the world (us) that HE sent HIS SON to be born. To be born in the most humble places, to become human in the same way that you and I began our lives. That GOD revealed HIS SON to the humble shepherds and later to grand kings. These are the things that make up Jackie’s and my Christmas. It is our hope that it is the very foundation stones of your Christmas as well.

So we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

For Christmas comes...no matter what!

Blessings,

John

 

(434 Words) 12-18-2020

 

November Open Spaces

 

Open Spaces

Vol. 20.11

By John W. Vander Velden

November 27, 2020

 

By the time you get these words Thanksgiving Day will be a memory. It is my hope that during these unprecedented days that among those recollections are happy thoughts. COVID-19 has thrust much of the county into a situation that you and I have never faced before. The tremendous rise of cases in our area force us to make changes we did not wish to make...changes we hated.

Those changes were not driven by fear...though we, like everyone do not want to become victims of the disease. No, the choices we made were motivated by concerns for others. Plans would have led us an hour and fifteen minutes south. It would have given us the first opportunity to see our son since February. For he had planned to make the long drive up from Kentucky.

But the changing situation and our worries about the health of others that would be there, for among them were those of extreme vulnerability, fueled our decision. Should not Jackie and I set aside our own longings, if to do so would reduce their risk?

So this Vander Velden household had a private dinner of amazing food in a quiet home.

But Thanksgiving is not about over eating...well not really anyway. It should be, first and foremost, a time to be grateful. To be grateful for all the things we take for granted most of the time. We may not be able, this year, to hug out son, yet we are grateful for the young man he has become.

Out of sight is not out of mind!  

And we have SO many things to be thankful for, a home with a roof that doesn’t leak and a furnace that heats it, our health that makes it possible to accomplish the things we are to do, automobiles that start when we want them to, tasks that give us purpose and a reason to get up each morning, family that we love, and certainly not least, the love of our GOD and the gift of grace He has given.

So as 2020 moves ever closer to its conclusion, I am a very grateful man. It is my hope that vaccines will bring us closer to the normal life we knew just ten months ago. Yet each of us should not abandon the simple things we have been doing, practice social distancing, washing and sanitizing our hands, and wearing a mask. Simple things that show that we are doing our part. For together we can defeat this pandemic, but it will take all of us!

By now you have heard enough about the election, so I will not give it more mention than this. Let us ALL support whoever is president in the coming years.

Now for just a bit of writing news.

I have been tugged away from my primary writing projects off and on these last weeks. All the same I am very near to the point of sending off the manuscript to my editor and friend.

You hear that Kristina...it’s coming your way soon.

I am nearing the end of a large step and preparing for larger task, the first round of editorial changes. But I am yet ahead of where I expected to be...another thing to be thankful for.

I’ve crossed five hundred words on this letter again, so let me draw this correspondence to a close. Dear friends know that the one thing that holds EVERYTHING together isn’t money...not fame either. It’s LOVE. The love you share with your family and friends. The love you feel for others as well. Love shown when you act to benefit others. The few dollars you put in the Red Kettle, your donation to a local food pantry, showing your patience when you shop or while behind the wheel of your automobile. Yes, it is LOVE that keeps this world from flying apart at the seams. And I know the source of all that love...GOD. I pray you know that source as well.

Wishing you a grateful heart...filled with love,

John

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October Open Spaces Vol. 20.10

 

Open Spaces

Vol.: 20.10

October 30, 2020

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Where does the time go? It seems that as my years add up to an intimidating quantity, months pass at an alarming rate. Wasn’t it August just yesterday? No, John, it was not. It wasn’t September either.

The summer of 2020 is just a memory. For some, not the most pleasant memory, but a memory all the same. A month into autumn and my world is racing toward the year’s ending. For Jackie and me, and for many of you as well, we will long remember THIS year.

Yet, when we have at last passed the COVID-19 crisis, and we will, I hope that each of us will have memories of the good things that came our way in spite of it. Yes, we like most of you, have had to change our plans because of the pandemic. But those changes offered different experiences we would never have considered before.

As I had mentioned in other newsletters, work’s obligations and safety considerations, have forced us to stay “close to home”. But staying close to home does not mean we did not live. A trip to a state park that had long been put off, is one example. We have gone to restaurants that have, in our opinion, taken seriously the need of social distancing. We attend our church services. No, we did not “hole up” in our basement since March!

Of course we grow weary of wearing our masks. But because we willingly do our part we WILL continue to do so. The discomfort is a small price to pay as we, all of us TOGTHER, face the dangers the disease brings.

If I say any single thing of importance within these few words...let it be that we...all of us...are in this crisis TOGETHER! And if we all do OUR part...take responsibility for ourselves, and take the actions that CAN help those around us...we will...TOGETHER...overcome the COVID obstacle.

Whether we like it or not, friends, we are interconnected. Perhaps it is time we act like it.

Time to step off my soap box...

For a bit of writing news. I have finished the first pass of the first review of the manuscript of the book I am preparing for publication. That’s a mouth full isn’t it? The book tentatively titled, House on the Lake’s Shore, is well underway, but the finish line is many laps ahead of me.

Am I pleased with the story, so far? Much more satisfied than I expected to be. Fact is, I felt concerned that I would find the story lacking in some major area. I had never written a draft where I knew...beforehand...both ends of the tale. I feared that I would fail creating a worthwhile story filling in the middle, so to speak. But reading through the draft twice has eased those fears...for now.

Even so my mind is rushing ahead creating plotlines for future stories. I hope my brain can shift back and forth between projects. I believe it can.

Though revisions fill most of my writing time, being so near the end of another draft temps me. I add a few pages each week to that story, Severed Ties, a standalone novel.

So you can see I am moving forward on my writing front, and am hopeful that you, my reading friends, will be satisfied when at last House on the Lake’s Shore is published. The third book, which falls within the Misty Creek Saga, is my primary focus at this time, and it is the project to which I give the most energy.

It seems that once again I have run long. So my friends, let me leave you with just a few additional words. Because we know the absolute power of GOD. Because we know that JESUS saves us. Because we know the HOLY SPIRIT is always near. We are able to live with confidence...today...and all the tomorrows that are before us. Let that, even in these unsettling times, bring us stability and strength to face EVERYTHING that lies ahead.

May GOD bless you and yours,

John

 

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Soil in My Blood

 

Soil in My Blood                    

By John W. Vander Velden

 

This is the fourth crop Justin has raised on my farm, yet it feels odd when I climb into the combine cab. I accept the training seat, or buddy seat, or whatever you call the extra place all newer combines have within their cabs. He asked if I wanted to drive the massive machine. Perhaps there was a day I would have gratefully taken the controls.

That day has passed.

It’s not that I couldn’t, with a bit of coaching, manage tolerably, but rather I recognize the quantum leap of technology that has found its way into harvesting equipment since my machine. Perhaps it’s my age, for my years at the controls are in my rearview mirror, and that’s OK.

But after more than forty years at the helm of one combine or another, it feels odd being a spectator. Though I recognize it is the natural way of things...yes, I MENTALLY understand...yet I feel unbalanced a bit as I watch the grand machine devour acres.

Though I might feel out of place sitting next to the controller of the machine, I do not yearn for the life-clock to be turned back. No, I have had my time and I have freely passed the baton to my nephew...perhaps gladly even. For me it is a joy to see the quality of farmer I have entrusted the soil that my parents gave their all to acquire. The farm where I too poured out more than sweat without complaint...for I also have given blood and the largest part of my life to those few acres.

I suspect that Justin too feels much the same about the personal investment DEMANDED upon anyone that is brave enough, or fool enough, to pick up the chalice and tread through mud, or dust, through long days of heat and cold, and willing to continue long after the sun has gone to its rest. Farming is a life commitment. It is not something that can be explained. It is impossible to understand until you have twenty or more years in the seat of tractors or harvesters. It is a life unimaginable by those that drive by on US Highway 6. It is a life very different that the one that those that envied me at the task I had chosen, believe. It is a life I have never regretted.

Farming is HARD.

Yes, I have turned over Sunrise Acres, my parent’s farm, and the two farms I added to it, to Justin. But my mind is filled with the memories of all the years I served the land. I will never forget the GREAT years. I will try not to remember the awful ones. The years of attempting to survive, and doing so by the skin on my teeth. The times when I was certain I had failed, destroyed by low prices, or unforgiving weather, or my errors of my decisions.

In the end I came out on top. Reached a place I never expected. In the end I succeeded, might even say I prospered. The good outweighed the bad only because I, as my parents before me, didn’t give up. There is something to be said for persevering.

So now I write books. And though I have yet to put together my story...my personal battle with weeds, weather, difficult to work land, with cattle, with cantankerous feeding equipment, my cracked hands, and throbbing feet. Stories of how I have fought mud and equipment breakdowns. I have been changed by the experiences that farming has thrown my direction. Perhaps one day I will write that story...but not now.

You see I may be an author, but I will always have soil in my blood!  

(617 Words) 10-23-2020

The Gift of a New Day

 

The Gift of a New Day

By John W. Vander velden

 

I observed the sky painted in its glory this morning. The day does not always break in such colorful magnificence, and too seldom I take the time to notice. Even this morning with the many, many things on my agenda, I could have easily done what most morning I have done, hastily push forward not giving the day’s birth a moment’s notice.

But on this particular morning I understood that there are times when it is best to put both feet on the brakes, stop, and force myself to take the time. To take the time to step out in the cool morning. To wander the backyard, stepping on the dewy grass and the leaves shed by our hardwoods that are scattered all about. To gaze with wonder at the colors, the shifting hues of blues, brilliant oranges, and the pale golds that boldly filled the eastern skies.

I was reminded that each morning’s sky is unique...like no other. Taking the time I studied the clouds, their rims set ablaze by the sun, yet to rise. I accepted THIS gift spread before me and promised myself that, on other mornings, I would stand...watch...wait...absorb the wonderful moments of early day.

This morning, as I stood beneath the maple tree that had yet refused to release the bulk of its leaves, my eyes became damp. Aware of the magnificence that surrounded, and once more I KNEW the importance of the gift I had been given...A new day!

Continually driven to do what I can, to make each parcel of time I have been allotted, of value, I sometime forget the value of the time GOD has given. Charging forward as if each day was a footrace. I must DO this or that. Yes, I have been granted gifts which I should not squander. Talents GOD would wish me to use to their fullest. Sometimes that is a heavy burden. But I feel driven to push forward SO hard that I forget to take the time to accept the quiet and almost invisible realities presented me. The laughter of children, my dog’s devotion, my wife’s respect, and my GOD’s presentation of a new day.

None of the things I do will leave long lasting impressions. Yet I strive to make the world, GOD’s world, a little better place. That task, for me, is formidable. I am no more than the single drip of water in a cave that carries with it just a minute particle of sediment that I will add to the slowly growing formations, stalactite or stalagmite. Confident that my tiny addition goes unnoticed, only the smallest part of something much larger. Yet if that is the case then I will be satisfied.

Surely all those thoughts and so much more passed through my mind as I stood...shivering...in my back yard this morning. But for a few brief moments...for a small sliver of my life...I stopped the race...caught my breath as I stood in awe and accepted GOD’s gift of this new day... 

(533 Words) 10-14-2020

 

Living Beneath the Shadow of COVID

 

Living Beneath the Shadow of COVID         

By John W. Vander Velden

 

What have you learned during these difficult months we have lived beneath the shadow 
of Covid-19.

That was the question that was asked of church leaders of my denomination. Though some that know me might be surprised that John would be found among those in that category, yet in truth I am. So when I was asked this very important question I responded with the following words.

 

1^st in the general scope of things, I have been reminded that things can suddenly change in ways unexpected. I did not imagine that something as Covid-19 could so dramatically change the world as I knew it. And I saw how it could change the lives of each of us―my family and myself included. Since I am retired from my lifelong career and worked to accomplish much of what I do at home, my life changed less than others. But I witnessed the change in the patterns of what might have been normal evaporate. I learned that life can go on―if we share the burden. For it was obvious some faced a much more difficult scenario than others.

2^nd I learned it is important that someone remind those around us that Covid-19 is a temporary situation. To be a source of realistic optimism. For the unknown is frightening. I learned that the tension of fear is exhausting. I have observed how the frustration of these unknown times feeds anger, and that too often rage is directed at anyone handy. I have observed that anger seems to be as contagious as the virus which causes the unwanted changes in the first place.

3^rd I learned that we must learn new ways to serve our LORD and SAVIOR. That worship is more than a place. That it is MY obligation to care MORE for others in ways I had not thought of before. That I am OBLIGATED to reach out in new ways. That even within the framework of social distancing things can be done and MUST.

4^th I have come to believe that someone or something must bridge the divide that has torn society into bitter factions. That US AGAINST YOU accomplishes nothing. That we must do our best to be a calming voice within the storm of rhetoric driven by fear and anger. And until a louder voice than mine becomes bold enough to remind our neighbors and all those around our country, that WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER, it falls on my shoulders to speak those words.

Hopefully friends you find something within these ramblings that might be helpful.

Blessings,

John

I put these few words together last summer, yet they remain true. The months since have only reinforced those things I have learned, as I continue to live, always in consideration of others. For we are responsible for more than ourselves, and our actions...each one...affect so many others.

So I await until the moment comes that Covid-19 is no more than a memory, knowing that if we stand together it will be sooner than later. But if we become selfish and headstrong, abandoning the small things that each of can do, then it will likely take much longer.

So I remember the words of Tom Hanks... “Wash your hands, practice social distancing, and wear a mask, it really isn’t complicated.” And thank you Tom for what each of us must do really isn’t complicated at all.

(577 Words) 10-2-2020

  

September Open Spaces Vol. 20.9

 

Open Spaces

Vol.: 20.9

By John W. Vander Velden

 

So the summer of 2020 has officially ended. We have been so blessed to have had a string of delightful days of late. And though it remains incredibly dry, the recent days of cooler temperatures have aided in the preservation of greenish grass. But even now the first signs of autumn are appearing. The crops, corn and soybeans are changing. Here and there fall’s presence can be seen in trees as well. Yes, friends the season is changing.

Many will be pleased that we have nearly completed another month. Each of us look forward to turning this pandemic, we are enduring, into a memory. It is hard not to allow COVID-19 to be in our thoughts, yet even now, after the months beneath its shadow, we must remain diligent. Remember that we are all in this together, and if we unite in our actions, perhaps we can eliminate COVID’s threat once and for all. But it will take a UNITED effort, for together we WILL surely stand, but if we are divided success is less certain.

Jackie and I have remained well, which is incredible considering that she works in the public. Let no one tell you differently, masks, hand sanitizers, and frequent hand washing DOES help. For our continued health is proof enough for me.

It is our hope that you and yours have been spared from the harsh effects of COVID. That you have found ways, perhaps new ways, to enjoy the summer now behind us. One thing is for certain these last months will leave memories and stories we will share in the future.

As for us we have taken a few outings, not far, not long. Always using our best efforts in social distancing etc. Even so we have had those moments when our obligations have placed us in groups which left us a bit concerned. Yet we, as I said before, remain spared. But August was a month where tragedy came too often to our little family, and those we care deeply about. We are praying that the rest of 2020 will spare us the pain August gave.

Now for a bit of writing news.

This month I began the first round of revisions of a book length work, tentatively titled House on the Lake’s Shore. You may remember I finished the draft in May and it has been set aside and waiting. Putting things on the back of the shelf is one of the steps I use to turn ideas into publishable materials. I have been working, in the interim, on another book length piece titled Severed Ties. The plan was to put down that project while I revised my primary objective. But you know how plans go. By the end of August the first draft of Severed Ties was so near to completion I continue chipping away at it in small snippets of my writing time.

As for the revision it goes pretty much according to plan. It is a lengthy draft, and to do a thorough job it will take time. My editor has let me know she is anxious to set her teeth into the work. But she understands that with my many obligations it takes me more time than other authors. But 1^st revisions are just one of the many steps House on the Lake’s Shore must endure. So my friends be patient as the story moves forward...slowly but surely.

So I see by the word count that I have nearly used my quota for this month’s Open Spaces. Let me close with these few thoughts. As the year winds down, I wish you contentment. Contentment is a greater goal than happiness. For if we are content, happiness will surely follow, but it we continually chase after happiness we will never be content. I pray that God provides you with what you need, for so many are left short of the basics we take for granted.  And lastly, that the Master of the Universe protect and keep you safe in this world that has so many dangers, known and unknown.

Blessings,

John 

Amazon Links:

Misty Creek

Elizabeth's Journey

  

To Race Onward

To Race Onward

By John W. Vander Velden

 

It was cool yesterday when I pulled down my bicycle and took it out. Most mornings, if I decide the weather’s fit, I take a short ride. The stretch of our road that remains paved is not long, just from one crossroad to the next. I don’t like driving on gravely ways, if I can help it, so it’s just to the cross road and back.

Our road is quite narrow, so I wait until the neighbors have gone to their employment and the school bus has passed, so I have the road for myself. Yes, that makes it safer and I prefer it that way.

It gives me time to focus.

But it was cool yesterday and I began to consider the wildflowers along my way. The tiny daisy like flowers were covered with new buds, a day or more away from bursting into a fresh bloom. You see they and other plants knew that the season was about to change and seemed to be racing onward...to finish this summer’s task.

The length of the days had begun shrinking in June, but now as we pass mid-September minutes of daylight disappear from each day. I miss the swallows that abandoned the farm late August. They knew as well, racing on their wings to warmer places of longer days, even while summer’s heat raged on.

These things remind me that we too, those perceptive to notice, are racing onward. We rush, forward we hope, aware that time, be it daylight or broader, the allotted time of our own days, is not infinite. There are things to do! Important things! Or so we think, and time runs shorter with each sun rise.

I feel that way myself these days. I see ALL the projects I WANT to complete. Birthdays remind, this stack of weary and aching bones that my calendar does not stretch to infinity and beyond. Well it does actually, of that I am confident, God will care for me one day, but my time on the green side of the sod is another matter. It is that quantity of time that concerns me often as I race forward.

And that is how it often feels. When I set my lifelong task of farming aside, I recognized that the NEW challenges, I picked up in its wake, would keep me hopping. And that is good. But I KNOW the list of stories in my head will likely exceed the time God has set aside for my work upon them.

Oh how that once drove me crazy...this feeling that no matter how hard I raced onward I would not...

You get my meaning. But with the completion of Elizabeth’s Journey my second novel I felt I had completed something important. At least important to me, and I hope it was important to you as well. Though I’m not proud enough to think so, perhaps it was even important to God.

Now I have a new mindset, I take on this new writing challenge, House on the Lake’s Shore, The title is tentative folks, and pray each day that I am allowed to finish THIS project. And when it is finished I will begin in earnest on the next. I’ll not, or try not to in any case, concern myself with all the stories waiting in the green room for their own opportunity to slip out of my cranium and onto the page.

So I will race onward in short sprints, even though each feels like it is marathon in length, and not worry about the next track event.

For it will be enough and I thank my God for the opportunity and the time He has given and the stories He has provided. (629 Words) 9-19-2020

August Open Spaces Vol. 20.8

 

Open Spaces   Vol.: 20.8

By John W. Vander Velden

 

August 26, 2020

 

Now that August comes to its conclusion, we know that summer is nearing its end. I hope you have found ways to enjoy your summer. For most, Jackie and I included, the summer of 2020 has been unique.

We did not take our usual summer escape this year. Dreams of Door County, Wisconsin will remain for another time. But we haven’t remained locked behind our doors either. Of course there is work’s demands. Work being very different for the two of us. My work is very close to home, Jackie’s is...well a little further away. Yet we have enjoyed the summer within its limitations.

I feel that every day is a gift from GOD. Even days under the shadow of a pandemic. The attitude makes it easier to get out of bed in the morning. Yet it remains difficult at times to be excited by EVERY new day, but I believe being so motivated is worth the effort. You may find comfort in the fact that I do FAIL to find rosy glasses some morning. Maybe more often than some.

Here the school year is beginning. COVID-19 shapes the way schools have opened. Many continue off sight learning. E-learning it is often called. It strains teachers, students, and parents, trying to find the best ways to teach, the best ways to protect children and staff. Things will remain different for a time, but I am confident it is only temporary.

 Though our school years are behind us, behind our son’s well, the virus yet influences our lives. Jackie and I do our part. We wear our masks, avoid crowds, practice social distancing, use hand sanitizer often, and wash our hands. We recognize that all of us face this danger together, and small things can make big differences. And fortunately our household remains well.

It is our hope that yours is also.

Now for a bit of writing news.

Next week I begin revising the draft I completed in May. Taking on that project in earnest means the other project on which I had been working must be set aside. Though I regret leaving the book length work I have worked upon these months incomplete, I know I will return to it on my next “dead writing time”, such as when  I send the revisions to the editor. I have no idea how much time will be needed for this first revision, but it is my hope to complete it early next year.

I will keep you posted.

Now I have reached the end of this installment of “Open Spaces”. Take care my friends, make your choices carefully, consider the needs of others, especially the weak and vulnerable, share kindness, and above all remember that GOD loves you.

May His love comfort you and ease your mind during these unprecedented times, and that He guide your feet to open spaces where you will find peace.  

With CHRIST’s love, and blessings,

John W. Vander Velden

Author of Misty Creek and Elizabeth’s Journey

 

         If you wanted the link to my 1^st Virtual Author’s Event here it is....

 

https://youtu.be/DTCx2-9tB2A

    

Thinkin' About Love

Thinkin’ About Love                

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Some feel that love is simply an emotion. A feeling that people acquire that comes along and sometimes disappears.  Something intangible that may be driven by hormones. The fortunate, they say, are those who have that affection aimed at another that shares the same intensity of feelings. Love is an emotion...

Love is that but it is not ONLY that, at least not from my perspective. It’s OK to disagree with me, I’m no expert. I see love through a much wider lens. I am, presently, writing a standalone novel titled, “Severed Ties”. One of the threads that I have woven within that story is the cord of love. A binding that is more than a chosen feeling.

You see I know that GOD is love. The terms are not necessarily interchangeable but it is an important link of the concept of what GOD is in relation to HIS creation...in relation to us. One of my characters tells the primary character as they part for the last time, “God loves you (Mike) and no matter what or where you go you have that love.” Greg laid both palms on the faded roof of his car. “And one more thing. Love is a cord that is stronger than anything. It is a binding that cannot be broken by distance or circumstance.” 

You see, my character, Rev. Gregory Mainstay is trying to convince his new friend that love is more than an emotion. It is a force that binds everything together. But even after Michael, the main character, has been told those words, he is not ready to take the concept at its full value. No, he had been cut off from his family as a child. Death has taken most of those that helped raise him. Which to him is the ultimate separation. He questions his personal value, surely he is unlovable. He has been damaged by experiences of his youth, and those wounds have not fully healed.

Only the love he shares with his wife and their children seems the exception. Yet he feels that even those cords are frail and can fail him at any time.

How many of us feel as Mike? How many of us feel that we are unworthy...undeserving and that love’s fleeting connection is temporary? Probably most of us to one degree or another. And if love is only a feeling, then surely that feeling can pass to memory.

But I say love is more than just some emotional intangible. Love is an unexplainable force so grand and powerful that it binds EVERYTHING together. Love is the only thing that makes EVERYTHING worthwhile. Love can overcome adversity. And Love binds US all TOGETHER in ways we are unable to understand. Yes, “Love is a cord that is stronger than anything. It is a binding that cannot be broken by distance or circumstance.” Even death is unable to destroy love’s connection.

Though love surrounds us, we must be open to it. I believe that hate doesn’t really exist. Hate is just the absence of love. Just as cold is the lack of heat, and darkness is the absence of light.

GOD is love!

And GOD can lift us, through love, to places higher and grander than our imaginings are able to create. GOD’s love can displace the emptiness of hate that resides in each of our hearts, as darkness is replaced by light.

Those are my thoughts about love and it drives me to try harder, see deeper, and care more. I hope God’s love pushes you forward as well...

 (605 Words) 7-30-2020

 

 

July Open Spaces 20.7

Open Spaces

Vol.:  20.7       7-25-2020

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Greetings from our home in Northern Indiana,

Another month is nearing its conclusion and time has come again for these few words to be sent your way. It is my hope that July, as strange as it has been, has brought opportunities, new perhaps, different surely, but opportunities all the same.

My dearest, Jackie, is, as I have surely mentioned before, an essential worker within the healthcare profession. We have had our own challenges because of her obligations in caring for others. Finally Jackie has been allowed to take a few extra days off. A necessary respite from her normal life. Considering what she has been through over these last months, this time away has been more than necessary, it has been vital.

Yet we have remained vigilant these few days of near-to-home-escape. We have taken social distancing and other precautions very seriously. Wearing our face coverings (masks) in all public situations and avoiding places that MIGHT include larger groups.

A trip to a Shades State Park made for a long day but we savored the time hiking, surrounded by the grandness of God’s creation. We also did a few other visits to the kind of places we love close to home, always conscious of doing our part during this crisis.

That is the point I hope to make today. Each of us has a part to play in this world we share. Our actions affect more than ourselves and the small circle of family and acquaintances. What we do has an impact on so many others. It is therefore up to each of us to share the burden in ANY way we can. To make those little changes that are able to make BIG differences.

So I wear a mask, I keep my distance, and though I would love to reach out and touch each of you, I will not. Not because I do not like you, but because I love you. Small things that might make a difference. And the possibilities of making things LESS bad, is, to me in any case, better than going on as if nothing has changed.

For my dear friends Covid-19 has changed many things!

Now for a bit of news about my writing.

I am four to six weeks from beginning a major revise on the book length story. I finished that first draft in May and set it aside for these months in order to have “fresher” eyes when I take on the momentous task of revision. A rather long draft, it will take months to pour over it trying to take off a bit of the manuscript’s roughness.

In the interim, my writing time has been trimmed by summer’s demands. Between the grass’ plea to be lowered and bushes that need to be wacked (a little off the top and sides please), I have been working on a standalone story. During these two and a half months I have managed to add nearly ninety pages to that tale, but likely will not finish the draft before I must return to the marinating pages that have been waiting.

Also I hope to have another Virtual Author’s Event, a video, soon. It will be posted on my Facebook Author’s Page and on YouTube as well. This one will be my seventh short video and I will talk about setting and give a short reading. For the curious I will send an e-mail link.

So I come to the end of this month’s note to you, my dear friends. It is my hope that you remain well. That the challenges you face do not overwhelm. That you have been able to make special memories this summer.

Take care, and may God bless you in all your goings on, in your home, and may He bless the lives of all those you love dearly.

John

Author of the Misty Creek Saga