Author Archives: Patricia Ann

Writing From the Heart

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How can I truly make a contribution through my writing? What is my gift and my mission?

This an excerpt from “Writing From the Heart” by Hal Bennett

The most valuable asset we have as writers is ourselves.  Everything that happens to us is potentially raw material for anything we might write.  I am convinced there is such a thing as divine inspiration…it is undoubtedly the most powerful source of our creativity.

We are never more generous, never more blessed, than when we give of ourselves through that little piece of the Creative Spirit that lives in each of us.

Writers need to know how to talk to their readers. The most important and generous thing any of us has to give as a writer is our own voice, how we each experience our lives.       End of excerpt.

I hope you can see how this lovely piece of advice would inspire me to write my story.

Tomorrow:  A Very Spiritual Dream

I’m a Believer

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I believe I was born a believer, but it took the better part of my life for me to realize this as a fact. It’s only in looking back, as I have in writing this book, that I can see God’s hand in my life from the day I first poked my head into this world.

Chapter Forty  –  I’m A Believer

The old, white, clapboard church sat on an angle of land in Pottageville, Ontario. I was four years old when its tolling bell beckoned me. Pottageville is a small hamlet between Schomberg to the west, and Kettleby to the east, along the Aurora Road, north-west of Toronto. My grandma’s small, tar paper house was set back from the road with lots of yard space for my sister, Mary, and me to play. Every Sunday I hung over the barnwood fence, gazing longingly as people streamed up the road towards the church, and disappeared through the wide open door. As I watched, I wondered what went on in there. I begged my grandmother to let me go to church, and one hot, summer morning she dressed me in a pretty white, cotton dress with tiny pink buttons down the front. Pink ankle socks and white shoes completed my outfit. Grandma pulled my long hair tautly into a thick braid that bounced on my back as I skipped happily along the country road. I was greeted at the church door by a pretty lady. “Are you by yourself?” she asked……. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Tomorrow:  An excerpt from Hal Bennett’s book, Writing From the Heart; one of the many inspirations that led to the writing of My Precious Life.

I’m Still Here

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Surrendering to a grave illness is not the same thing as surrendering to God. I had the wonderful opportunity to push my trust in Him to the limit in 2005, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Chapter Thirty-Nine  –  I’m Still Here

“I have the results of your chest x-ray,” my doctor said, when I answered the phone that 24th of May, 2005. “There’s something growing in your lungs.”

My heart plummeted like a skydiver without a parachute. It was 5:10 pm and I had just had the x-ray at two o’clock that same afternoon.

“Your doctor will have the results in a week,” the technician had said as I left the lab.

“I’ve set up an appointment with a specialist for Friday, May 27th,” the doctor continued now. “You need a CT scan, and he can order it quicker than I can.”

My body tingled as I replaced the receiver. Things like specialist appointments and CT scans take longer than that in the real world.

In a daze, I walked back to the kitchen, where the supper I was enjoying sat half eaten on the table. With shaking hands, I cleaned my plate into the garbage. The only hunger I felt now was for peace of mind, which could only come from God.

“Oh, God, please relieve me of this dread, and let your peace flood my soul,” I prayed.

….may you live to see your children’s children. (Psalm 128:6)

Tomorrow  –  I’m a Believer  –  A Lesson in Knowing

 

It Happened in an Instant

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It is a total tragedy when a simple mistake can lead to an unfinished life. I heard this very sad story on my travels.

Chapter Thirty-Eight  –  It Happened in an Instant

I heard this tragic story while on one of my visits with Lynn and her family in the Channel Islands.

Sebastian’s mother was forty-three years old when she died in a freak accident.

While squeezing over to give way to cyclists on a green lane in the parish of Trinity, Jersey, the side mirror of her silver Citroen scraped a granite wall and fell off.

A green lane is barely wide enough for one vehicle, and the speed limit is fifteen miles per hour.

Dora Cole, a pretty, petite brunette, stopped the Citroen and got out to collect her mirror which lay underneath the car, behind the left front tire. She had stopped on a grade, and failed to engage the hand brake. As Dora reached under the car it began to roll, pinning her underneath, and within seconds her life was ended…..

….let me know how fleeting is my life. (Psalm 39:4)

Tomorrow  –  I’m Still Here  –  A Lesson in Surrendering

My Travels

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I have been fortunate enough to do my fair share of traveling while on this Planet Earth, where there’s so much to see and do. There are those who have travelled much more than I, but there are others who have travelled less. Although there are many places left for me to visit, I am content with where I’ve been.

Chapter Thirty-Seven  –  My Travels

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Lao-Tzu, Chinese Philosopher

Trinidad

I wish I was going somewhere was the thought that popped into my mind as I listened to the excited chatter of my work-mates planning their upcoming vacations. But I was going nowhere. I was saving money for my daughter, Cathy’s, wedding the following year. Monica and I normally had separate coffee breaks, but one morning they coincided. During that fifteen minutes of respite my friend invited me to go to Trinidad with her in August. She was going home to visit her parents in San Fernando. “It will only cost you your flight, and whatever spending money you might need,” she enticed. My silent wish had come true….. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me….(Psalm 139:9,10) Tomorrow  –  Chapter Thirty-Eight  –  It Happened in an Instant  –  A Lesson in Safety

You’re Too Pretty to Smoke

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I don’t know about any of you smokers out there, but if you have ever tried to quit, you know how hard it is–for most of us.  It was the worst habit I had entertained in my whole life, and when I realized how horrible I began to feel after years of inhaling all those toxins, I wanted to quit. Oh, the agony of it all!

Chapter Thirty-Six  –  You’re Too Pretty to Smoke

“God, I hate smoking! Please help me quit. I’ll suffer anything you want; just help me to quit. Amen.” It was a fervent prayer, and I meant it.

“Just take a drag in.”

I was twelve years old when Jeannie Braid stuck that first cigarette in my mouth and put a match to it. She was two years older than I, and a seasoned smoker. The world whirled. My throat felt as raw as a skinned knee on cement.

“Blow it out, you dumb ox!” Jeannie yelled.

I coughed and sputtered as a thin stream of smoke escaped my lips. It was not as much as I had I taken in. I had swallowed the rest. It was awful. I thought I was dying.

“Okay, now take another puff and blow it out right away!” was the next command.

Still dizzy, I stupidly did what she said—and I was hooked for the next forty-seven years of my life……

I have fought the good fight….(2 Timothy 4:7)

Tomorrow  –  My Travels  –  A Lesson in Adventure

Listen Up

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I go to church, not only to worship God, but to hear him speak to me through our Pastor or a guest speaker. What I have heard over the years has been food, not only for my soul, but for My Precious Life.  “Faith Comes Through Hearing” are not empty words. I really enjoyed writing this chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Five  –  Listen Up

Pastor Duncan told us in one of his sermons–and I quote— “What Jesus invites us to share is a lifetime of learning, a lifetime of growing, a lifetime of being changed by Him and through Him. With Him we know that nothing is impossible! God gives us opportunities to share the story of our faith, and we can’t neglect this responsibility.” End of quote.

This is my opportunity to share the many ways God has spoken to me over the years, and in the telling, maybe you’ll remember ways he has spoken to you, too.

One Sunday, a guest Pastor at our church mentioned going for a walk to ease a burdened mind. As he walked, he noticed an extremely white piece of wood on his path, and a scripture came to mind: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isaiah, 1:18)

I have no idea what that had to do with his spirits that day, but the fact that God spoke to him, through a piece of white wood on a sidewalk, reassured me of the things I am going to share with you…..

“He who has an ear, let him hear.” (Revelation 13:9). In other words–listen up!

Tomorrow  –  You’re Too Pretty to Smoke  –  A Lesson in Empathy

 

About Job and Me

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I’m sure we can all relate to many things and people in our day-to-day lives. Among the things and people I can relate to is good old Job in the Bible, for various reasons, which this chapter will reveal.

Chapter Thirty-Four  –  About Job and Me

Of all the people written about in the Bible, I can relate to Job the most. Here is a man who talked about coming naked from his mother’s womb. (Job 1:21). Didn’t we all?

He was living a good life, minding his own business, and had a wonderful relationship with his Father God. Satan didn’t like this, and told God that if Job had a few hardships to deal with once in awhile he wouldn’t be so faithful. God said Satan could do whatever he wanted to Job to test his faithfulness, except kill him. Satan was overjoyed, and went about destroying Job’s family, his livestock, and servants, leaving the poor man destitute and anguished. He afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet  to the top of his head. …….(Job 2:7)

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching….(2 Timothy 3:16)

Tomorrow   –  Listen Up  –  A Lesson in Listening

 

A Lesson in Perseverance

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We can’t get through life without problems. They come in many forms: illnesses, relationships, financial, to name just a few of the most common ones. My life ran pretty smoothly for the most  part, but when the problems loomed, I can see now how they served to give me inner strength.

Trials and Tribulations  –  A Lesson in Perseverance

Some of the traumatic events of my life stand out more than others, and I won’t write about them chronologically, or include them all.

One, in particular, happened after the birth of my fifth child, Kelly, in 1967. It was a relatively easy birth considering it had been seven years since I had last pushed a baby into this world. We were home from hospital an hour when I felt an uncontrollable itch on my back. Nothing would soothe it. Within a few days my entire body was covered in angry looking welts, which gradually turned into blisters. Doctors were baffled, and even biopsied a blister, to no avail. They treated me with a drug used for leprosy, and later, Cortisone shots left me with a moon face, and no relief…..

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance    (James 1:2,3)

Tomorrow  –  About Job and Me  –  A Lesson in Relating

The Final Breath

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Dying is our final act of life. It was my privilege to be at my Irishman’s side as he completed his life’s journey; to hold his hand, and simply be there for him and with him when he took his final breath.

Chapter Thirty-Two  –  The Final Breath

Holding Jerry’s hand, and quietly praying, I felt blessed to be in that time and space. As his breaths became fewer and farther between, a feeling of serenity came over me, and I silently urged him to let go, and let God carry him the rest of the way.

Moments before his final breath, a single tear rolled slowly down Jerry’s cheek. I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t imagine a finer farewell. And then he was gone. I took his tear on my finger tip, and mingled it with the tears on my own cheeks as I let go of my Irishman’s hand. It was 11:29 pm. Jerry’s life journey was over, and mine without him had just begun.

“….he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24)

Tomorrow  –  Trials and Tribulations  –  A Lesson in Perseverance