March 26, 2024

Hello and Happy Spring,

Are the bright colors of Spring putting a happiness in your heart? Do you have a favorite flower? Mine is the daffodil. One of the stories in, “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” is about daffodils and why it became my favorite.

I like to look for a “Joy Window” every day. I jot them down and it’s fun to look back over them and remember what brought you joy that day. Sometimes you are surprised that you have forgotten what brought you joy. So what does this have to do with daffodils?

It happened on a day when I could find no Joy Window at all. I looked out of my big picture window at the lovely view, green grass, and beautiful flowers, but my sad stare caught nothing that made me smile. Even though the sun was shining brightly, my world looked solid gray.

I had planned to go to a flower show that day, but now I didn’t even want to go outside, much less to a place with crowds smiling, talking, and enjoying a good time. I forced myself to go. I sat in the back and pasted a fake smile on my face. The show featured all kinds of daffodils, but I remember only one thing the speaker said that day. “There are four hundred varieties of daffodils.”

On my way home, the Lord silently whispered, “If I can create four hundred varieties of daffodil. don’t you think I can take care of any problem of yours?”

There was only one right answer. I gave it. And a joy window peeked out of the dark clouds. That’s why daffodils are my favorite flower. What is your favorite flower? Maybe the Lord has something to tell you through it.

Until next time,

Charlotte

March 20, 2024

This past Saturday, I stepped out of my comfort zone and behind the speaker’s stand to present my book, “Family Stories for God’s Glory–Finding God in all of Life’s Moments.” The book’s purpose is to give God the glory for all His wondrous works in our personal lives. I believe the message came across; with His help, it was a success despite my feeble efforts.

These are true stories about our family, which consists of four married children and twelve grandchildren (six boys and six girls.) Don’t ask me how they managed that! Our family now numbers thirty-three, including the married grandchildren’s spouses and six great-grandchildren. Each member has an individual story, minus the greats–they had not yet been born when the book was written. The rest of the family members unknowingly furnished approximately 90% of the content. Included are stories of our childhood and early married life, Christmas stories, Empty Nest stories, Downsizing and Moving, and stories of our challenges and heartaches.

I read, to the audience, a story from my husband, Marlin’s, childhood. This story shows how God was in his young life with a plan to give him an enjoyable retirement. When Marlin was twelve years old, he yearned for an electric train for Christmas. He spent hours admiring them in the Sears Catalog. What he got was a scroll saw (jig saw in those days) because his dad had noticed his interest and ability in woodworking. Although extremely disappointed, Marlin soon began making simple projects and enjoying a sense of accomplishment he could never have gained while watching a train run around and around a track. Today, Marlin is an award-winning skilled woodworker thoroughly enjoying retirement. God had it all planned for him and was right there when he opened the disappointing Christmas present. Neither Marlin nor his dad had any idea that God was making great plans for Marlin’s senior years! Isn’t God amazing!

See you next time!

Charlotte

March 11, 2024

Hello Friends,

Here I am, out of my comfort zone with “Family Stories for God’s Glory.” As of today, I am four days away from giving a book presentation in an auditorium of VMRC, the retirement community where I live. I’ll let you know how it goes!

I promised to tell you more about how this book was born. From early on, my favorite school subjects were Spelling, Literature, and Grammer–things that had to do with words. Math, not so much. I jokingly say that’s why I married Marlin, my now retired CPA. He does the numbers and I do the words.

My first article was published about thirty years ago. Most of my writing since has been in the devotional realm. One day, a good friend said, “Charlotte, you could write a book for your kids.” That was a new thought! But the words stuck and I began to think, Well, maybe I could.

Initially, I thought my book would tell stories our children may not have heard about our childhood, stories we may not have remembered to tell them. A writing friend once told me, “If you don’t write your stories down, when you die it’s like burning down a library.”

Well, I didn’t want to burn down my library so I began writing my stories, I realized how much God had been a part of each moment of our lives, whether we were aware of it or not. He was there for the good and the bad, the happy and the sad, and everything in between. This seemed so important to convey to our children and for them to believe and realize that God wants to be their Best Friend and be involved in every moment of their lives. It occurred to me that everyone should live in this wonderful truth. I want everyone to have a close relationship with their God so they can survive the terrible times and enjoy the good times in peace. Thus, “Stories for God’s Glory” developed into a book, not just for my family, but for all.

More next time, See you soon!

Charlotte

Post # 3 March 20,2024

The Book Presentation is now history. This past Saturday I left my comfort zone, stepped behind the speaker’s stand, and presented my book, “Family Stories For God’s Glory, -Finding God in All of Life’s Moments. I believe God got the glory through my feeble efforts, so I would say it was a success. I told the audience that I don’t like to say, “my book,” because it was God who gave me the ability, inspiration, and desire to write. Its purpose is to give God the glory.

I wrote true stories about our family, illustrating how God was with them every moment of their lives whether or not they were aware of it. I wanted to convey to them that God is their loving Father who wants to be involved in every area of their life, to be their Best Friend, Of course, God is with everyone all the time every day of their lives. But it takes an intentional response of allowing and inviting Him to be that loving Father and Best Friend to enjoy a relationship with Him.

A Blog by Charlotte H. Burkholder

I never thought I’d write a book! But I did and am excited to tell you how it came to be.

I’ve lived a lot of life, therefore I can speak from the past. In upcoming blogs, I will tell you about my present and future life, but for now let’s go waaaay back to when I was a kid. I always loved to read. My favorite subjects in school were reading, writing, and not arithmetic. I married a CPA, so my husband took care of the numbers.

Oh, I should tell you that my life’s goal in my earlier years was to get married and have a family. Well, that goal was wondrously fulfilled as I now have a fantastic family to write about. Our four married children, who gave us twelve grandchildren, who are now gifting us with great-grandchildren–six, so far and counting, unknowingly furnished most of the material for this book.

I have chosen to write a story about each member of my family. Initially, I thought of it as becoming a legacy for them–a place to record their histories as well as ours when we were children. But as I wrote, showing them how God was a part of their lives, I realized that I wanted everyone to know what I was hoping to convey to my children and grandchildren. They have a God who loves them and wants to be involved in every part of their lives. Entitled, “Family Stories for God’s Glory,” it carries the message of finding God in all of life’s moments, whether or not one recognizes His presence at the time. The good, the bad, the happy, the sad, from the highest mountain to the lowest valley, He is there.

Come along and learn more about how “Family Stories for God’s Glory” found its way to the publisher’s desk. See you soon.