David N. Walker's Blog, page 26

Christianity 101: Session 1

Two of the questions philosophers like to discuss are:

· Who am I?

· Why am I here?

I’m not a philosopher, but I do think these are legitimate questions that a belief system should answer. Some would say the answer to the first is that I am a few cents worth of chemicals and to the second is that I came into being because of some big bang that took place hundreds of millions of years ago.

It’s sad to me that there are those who believe this. First of all, I think such a view of mankind robs us of all dignity, and secondly, I think it takes a huge amount of totally blind faith to believe we resulted from some huge explosion with no intelligence behind it. I do recognize the right of anyone to believe that who wants to, but that’s not what this discussion is about.

As Christians, we believe the answers to the big questions like this must come from the Bible. Throughout this series we will refer to the Bible for answers to whatever questions arise. As often as possible, I will cite specific passages so you can go look them up for yourselves if you want to check my accuracy.

At times, however, a truth necessarily arises from the “gist” of God’s Word or from the nature of God’s character and cannot be pinpointed to specific passages. I’ll endeavor to minimize the truths of this nature in order to give you specifics as often as possible, but at times it will be unavoidable.

For the answer to our first question, let begin at the beginning: The first chapter of Genesis. This passage is quoted from the New American Standard Version, as will all our quotes be unless otherwise stated.

In verses 26-28, God said:

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .”

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

What does it mean when God says, “Let Us make man in Our image?” We can draw a couple of truths out of that statement.

First of all, the use of the words Us and Our tells us a plurality was involved. We, as Christians, believe in a triune God—a Godhead made up of three parts. This statement is where we begin to get that idea.

Secondly, He says, “. . .in Our image.” What does that mean? If you look in your mirror, you see your own image. It looks like you. That’s what an image is, whether it’s in a mirror or a photograph or whatever. It’s a reproduction that looks like that of which it is the image.

If that’s the case, does that mean God created us to look like Him? The answer to that question is a resounding “Yes” in my opinion. I can’t explain this in exact detail, since you and I were both created in His image but don’t look alike, but in some way, we do look like God.

Please don’t misquote me here. I’m not saying we are God, just that we look like Him. I don’t know what else that could mean.

Okay, so what does “according to Our likeness mean?” It means we are to some extent the same type of being that He is. God is a spirit being, and we are created as spirit beings. Again, I’m not according us with equality to God. I’m only saying that we have a likeness to Him. He’s a spirit, and we also, in our essence, are spirits. We are housed in bodies, but our essence is spiritual.

I hope this comes across to you as more than just pedantic nitpicking, because this is fantastic news. Have you ever wondered whether or not you have any intrinsic worth? Most of us have at one time or another—some of us frequently.

The answer is an unequivocal YES. You are created in the image of God and after His likeness. That makes you unique among His creations. You may love dogs and cats and other animals, and there is nothing wrong with that, but He did not create them in His image and after His likeness. Only YOU.

To avoid making this overly long, we’ll stop here. In our next session, we’ll continue with more from this chapter of Genesis.

What does it mean to you to be created in God’s own image and after His likeness? If you have had problems with self-image, how can this knowledge impact you? Other readers want to know what you think.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christianity 101 Tagged: Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, Works

Most Common Misspelled Words

My wife recently handed me a list purporting to contain the 100 most often misspelled words in the English language, and I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of them and the hints given for remembering how to spell them correctly. No, you do not have to wade through all 100 of them today. We’ll just go through the letter A. My comment about each one is added.

acceptable – Several words made the list because of the suffix pronounced -êbl but sometimes spelled -ible, sometimes -able. Just remember to accept any table offered to you and you will spell this word OK.

Sounds kinda silly, but maybe it’ll help someone remember.

accidentally – It is no accident that the test for adverbs on -ly is whether they come from an adjective on -al (“accidental” in this case). If so, the -al has to be in the spelling. No publical, then publicly.

This seems sensible. If the root word ends in al, the adverb ends in ally. Okay.

accommodate – Remember, this word is large enough to accommodate both a double “c” AND a double “m.”

For some reason, I’m good at misspelling this one. I always get the double “m” but frequently forget to double the “c.”

acquire – Try to acquire the knowledge that this word and the next began with the prefix ad- but the [d] converts to [c] before [q].

Seems like someone is really stretching to be cute here.

acquit – See the previous discussion.

Same as above.

a lot – Two words! Hopefully, you won’t have to allot a lot of time to this problem.

I almost never see this one spelled right. Please, folks. There is no alot.

amateur – Amateurs need not be mature: this word ends on the French suffix -eur (the equivalent of English -er).

This one would be easier if we’d pronounce it properly—amater–instead of amature.

apparent – A parent need not be apparent but “apparent” must pay the rent, so remember this word always has the rent.

This doesn’t even make sense. Just remember the double “p.”

argument – Let’s not argue about the loss of this verb’s silent [e] before the suffix -ment.

They’re right, but is this clue easier to remember than just remembering the spelling to start with?

atheist – Lord help you remember that this word comprises the prefix a- “not” + the “god” (also in the-ology) + -ist “one who believes.”

Has anyone actually ever misspelled this one?

Don’t know how helpful this will be. Should I do more of these or just quietly retire the idea? Which of these words have you had trouble remembering how to spell?

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Misspelled words, Personal development, Self-help, Spelling

Introduction to Christianity 101

A dear friend of mine is a Christian but has had little or no discipling or teaching. She has been asking me questions about Christianity, which I’m glad to answer, but I don’t think piecemeal answers to questions give her much of an understanding of what being a Christian means.

If we lived close enough to each other to make it feasible, the best thing to do would be to meet regularly with her and her husband for one-on-two discipling. Because of geography, that’s not really an available option.

In thinking about her and her husband and how I might be able to help them, it occurred to me that there are undoubtedly countless people out there who may have accepted Jesus as their Savior but have not had the opportunity to join a good Bible study or meet regularly with a more seasoned Christian who could disciple them. In an effort to help any such new, or at least untaught, Christians, I decided put together a series of blogs on the basics of Christianity.

Before I start the series, let me confess that I hold no seminary degrees and am not recognized as a Bible teacher by any church. There are countless Christians who have a more extensive knowledge of the Bible than I do, as well as teaching credentials I don’t have.

On the other hand, I was fortunate to have a dear friend who discipled me very intensely starting some 30 years ago and continuing more or less up until his death a couple of years ago. Because of this, although I may not have the extensive knowledge of a Biblical scholar, I do have a deep understanding of the basics of Christianity.

Don’t expect to be able to pick a verse out of the air and have me tell you where it is in the Bible. I can do that with some verses, but not nearly so many as a lot of Bible students.

What I hope to do is help to provide a foundation for unschooled Christians. We all need a foundation broad enough to support further learning and deep enough not to be confused by hearing different voices in pursuing further learning. If I can provide that foundation for one or two others, I will have repaid my mentor.

Never having undertaken anything quite like this, I’m not sure exactly what to expect. This series may last a few weeks, or it may cover a period of many months. I hope the Holy Spirit will lead me to cover what needs to be covered and take the amount of time needed to cover it properly.

A final suggestion is in order. If you are currently a part of a church or Sunday School class or home fellowship, by all means continue, especially if it’s an evangelical church that actually teaches the Bible. If you are not already a part of any kind of local body, in the long run you should find one to join, and I hope this series will help lead you to seek the fellowship we all need as Christians and also point out the need for a Bible-teaching church and not just some old mainline church that either tries to make you feel good or preaches a man-made social gospel.

It is my intention to post blogs on this subject every Tuesday. However, I’ve found that when I put myself on too strict a schedule I sometimes run dry. For that reason, I’m going to give myself latitude to skip a week now and then or do more than one a week whenever the Holy Spirit leads me to.

Right now He is leading me to share this video with you. Click on the link or paste it in your browser address window: http://www.youtube.com/embed/zf_0jzPQ8lo?rel=0

It is my firm hope that you will find this series both enriching and enjoyable. As we go along, if you have questions you’d like to ask, please post them in the comment section. Your question may stimulate a new post or two. I’d also welcome comments that either amen something I’ve said or suggest an error in something I’ve said, as long as any disagreements are stated in love and not spitefulness. Others may benefit from your comment.

If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christianity 101 Tagged: Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, inspiration, Jesus, Works

Anabel Vargas

Some of you have already read about Anabel Vargas. I wrote several blogs about her some time ago as she struggled with the Customs and Immigration Service to get her husband legally admitted to the United States after he voluntarily left and returned to Mexico. See Anabel #1, Anabel #2, and Anabel #3 to read these posts.

Today, I’m writing about her own story, as part of my People series. I wrote about Rise & Shine (click to read), the restaurant where she works, back in August. Anabel (they call her Bel-Bel at the restaurant) has worked there for 13 years, and she has been a waitress for twenty years.

I wanted to include a photo, but she wouldn’t let me take one. I’m not sure why. At her worst, she’s a very pretty lady. Oh, well.

When I asked her what she liked best about her job, her eyes lit up. She told me she loves the customers. She likes visiting with them, getting to know them, learning to know when they are particularly sad or happy about something. She enjoys meeting new people as they come in. She enjoys cheering them up when they are down and sharing in their joy when they are happy about something. She also likes to learn from her customers.

When I asked her what she disliked the most, she had to think for awhile. She has such a happy disposition it’s hard for her to think of negatives. Finally, she said the one thing she didn’t like about her job was customers with bad attitudes. She said she could understand when someone who was normally nice just happened to have a bad day and was not his or her normally friendly self. That was no problem. She would try to cheer them up, but if she couldn’t, she would understand and overlook any slights that might arise that day.

What really bothered her was customers who just always had a bad attitude. She hastened to say that these represented a very small minority, but there were some. There are apparently some customers of long standing, people who should know her and the other waitresses and the food well enough to know better, who just always had bad attitudes. Always complaining about the food or service of something, or maybe just frowning their way through life without a cheerful word for anyone. These are the ones who make her job difficult.

Personally, I have trouble seeing what anyone could fuss about with either the food or the service at Rise & Shine. These must be people who just go through life looking for something to complain about.

In addition to her husband, who has been back home as a legal immigrant for some months now, Anabel lives with her two sons. One is 17 and the other 13. I haven’t ever met either of these boys, but I would imagine, knowing their mother, that they are happy young men with attitudes of kindness.

Her parents live nearby and are very dear to her. Her mother has been fighting cancer for a number of months now, and Anabel has been at the center of efforts to help. Chemotherapy now has it in remission. I pray it will stay that way.

In her spare time, Anabel likes to knit and crochet. I’m not sure how much spare time she has, though, with her job, raising teenage boys, and helping with her mother.

Anabel is a quiet, happy, industrious young lady of great character. If you have people like her among those you deal with in your daily life, you are indeed blessed.

How many waitresses, cashiers and others who serve you do you know anything about? What do you do to let them know you care about them as individual human beings? Readers want to know.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: People Tagged: Advice, Anabel Vargas, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Rise & Shine, Self-help

A Texan Looks at Texas

The United States can be divided into two parts, as shown on the map below: Texas and Not Texas. Hordes of people from Not Texas have been immigrating to Texas in recent decades, swelling our population from around seven million when I was in school to around twenty-five million in current estimates. A lot of people are stuck in jobs or family situations in Not Texas and can’t come. That’s fortunate, since otherwise the entire population of the world would try to crowd into Texas.

People sometimes refer to Texas as a southern state. Others consider it to be a western state. Neither is accurate. Texas is Texas, and there’s no substitute.

People in Not Texas speak kinda funny. Californians, New Yorkers, Virginians, New Englanders and others have funny accents that sometimes make it hard to understand them. Texans are the only ones who have no accents at all. We just all sound normal. And, of course, we use normal expressions that y’all should be able to understand.

Even Not Texans realize that everything is bigger in Texas. Some don’t realize how much bigger, though. Sometimes we have to post signs to keep the foreigners reminded of the special dangers this can pose.

Of course, Texans are raised to be polite. We respect our elders and show it in our manners.

Sometimes the size of Texas can be a bit of a disadvantage. You can leave Beaumont or Texarkana headed for El Paso and take two days to get there. The same is true going from Brownsville to Dalhart. Another way to look at it is that you can drive from El Paso to Los Angeles quicker than from El Paso to either Texarkana or Beaumont. Of course, that’s assuming anyone would actually want to go to Los Angeles.

 

We have four seasons here in Texas: hot, hotter, Christmas, and winter—which lasts from Christmas until January. Except for a few people in the Panhandle, we don’t even know what snow blowers look like.

Vegetarians need not apply for Texas citizenship.

Texans know the value of beef. The vegans and other health nuts can talk all they want about limiting the consumption of red meat, but we know better. A Texan’s diet is filled with good solid protein.

Guess I’d better cut this off before all of y’all Not Texans start trying to crowd your way into our fabulous state. We love you, but we just can’t find room for all of you.

If y’all are fortunate enough to live in Texas, tell us what you like best about it. If y’all are unfortunate enough to live in Not Texas, try not to drool as you read all this—or else let us know whatever you like about living off out yonder and being a furriner.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, Texas

Marlyna Mercer

Marlyna Mercer is a barista at Starbucks in the Barnes & Noble where my writers’ group meets. I’m not a Starbucks customer, since I love coffee—black—and the triple strength stuff they sell is fit only for mixing whatever you mix to make lattes and frappes and such, but I do buy coffee from her to support Barnes & Noble for letting us meet there.

Marlyna works for B & N, not Starbucks. She’s been with them for 20 years, the last three or so as a barista. I think they keep her doing coffee because they need someone who can work alone, and she is a very dependable employee.

Her favorite things about her job are that it’s quiet and she gets to meet so many customers. Being a barista allows her more interaction with customers than just running a register in the bookstore. Her least favorite part of her job is putting cold food in the freezer.

When I arrive for meetings, I usually enter through a door directly into the coffee bar rather than the bookstore, and Marlyna’s smiling face is the first thing I see. Based on my own experience, I would think she’s a major asset for the store.

A single mother, she has a daughter 23 and a son 21. She is currently putting her son through college and likes her job location because her commute to work is very brief.

When I first began to know a bit about Marlyna, she was dealing with a blown water heater. It caused a good bit of damage to her place and created quite a mess to clean up. I overheard her talking to some plumbing company that wanted $2,000 or so to install a new one, and I suggested she buy one herself at Lowe’s or Home Depot and find a handyman to install it. She did so and ended up paying a fraction of what the plumbing company wanted.

This happened several months ago, and the last time I asked her, she still hadn’t put in a new carpet to replace the one ruined by the flooding. She smiled and said they could live without that. She was just glad there were no injuries and everything else was okay.

I asked her about hobbies, and she said Korean dramas. That’s not one I hear every day.

How many waitresses, cashiers and others who serve you do you know anything about? What do you do to let them know you care about them as individual human beings? Readers want to know.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: People Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Barnes & Noble, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Marlyna Mercer, People, Personal development, Self-help, Starbucks

Release Party

Today’s the day!

We’re having a party to celebrate. Have a piece of cake and cup of coffee—or a glass of champagne if you prefer.

     

I have no idea what Stolat means, but this cake has one candle for each of the novellas in my series, so I borrowed it. Go ahead and have a piece. It’s gluten-free, no calories and sugar-free. Healthy for everybody. I’ll even let you have cream and sugar in the coffee if you must.

Fancy Vol 7: The Final Chapter is now available in e-versions from Amazon and Smashwords, and in paperback from CreateSpace. As usual, I had problems with Barnes & Noble’s NookPress site, and it is not available there. I’m not sure when—or if—it will be, since they are so inattentive to publishing problems. If you use a Nook, however, you can order it through Smashwords.

Okay, I’ve done my job, writing the book. Now you have a job to do. You need to go order it—and any others in this series you haven’t ordered yet—so I’ll be able to pay for all this cake, coffee and champagne.

If you leave a comment below, you can even have a second piece of cake. You know you want more than one.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Finally. Whew!!

Whew! I know, writers aren’t supposed to use exclamation points, but . . . Whew!

After twenty years of writing and rewriting different versions of the same story, I decided a little over a year ago to stop trying to make it into a novel and break it into a series of novellas instead. The result is a seven-novella series called Fancy.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Fancy is a fourteen year-old girl when her father is drafted into the Confederate Army. Since her mother died giving birth to her little sister, Fancy is left to take care of four year-old Danni, run the house and operate the farm.

Fancy Vol 1 starts there and follows her as an unscrupulous neighbor manages to steal the farm, an old friend of her father’s becomes her mentor, her deranged pastor kidnaps her, and just as she and her mentor are ready to leave Florence, Alabama, and move to Louisville, Kentucky, a couple robbing the local bank inadvertently kidnaps her sister as they steal her buggy for their getaway.

Fancy Vol 2: The Search follows Fancy and Phyllis, her mentor, as they try to find Danni and the kidnappers. They finally find the male kidnapper dead in a hotel room after his companion kills him, but no Danni. Fancy chases the other kidnapper, Priscilla Mayfair, finally catching her only to see her fall overboard into the paddlewheel of the riverboat they were on, presumably killing herself. Still, no Danni.

Fancy Vol 3: Louisville starts as Fancy gives up after spending six months searching for her sister. She goes to Louisville, where Phyllis has purchased a saloon in both of their names. While learning the saloon business from Phyllis, Fancy meets their banker, Bob Gentry, who is immediately taken with her. Priscilla Mayfair, her face horribly disfigured by the fall into the paddlewheel, happens into Louisville and sees Fancy. Attempting to kill her, she only wounds her but kills Phyllis in the process.

Fancy Vol 4: Following the Rails begins at Omaha, where Bob Gentry has moved to open a new bank. Fancy is there to put together a mobile saloon to follow the rails as the Union Pacific Railroad is built. When a rival tries to burn down her establishment, she turns the tables on him and drives him away. As the railroad grows across Utah and nears it’s completion, Fancy sells her saloon to employees who want to take it to another railroad. About that time, the man she drove away earlier finds and kidnaps her.

Fancy Vol 5: Thomas P. Greene starts as her father, erroneously reported dead near the beginning of the war, gets out of the Union prison where he was being held throughout the war. Penniless and in poor health, he begins the slow trek back to his home outside of Florence, Alabama, only to discover his neighbor’s treachery. Knowing Tom can refute the false papers that allowed him the take the farm, the neighbor tries to kill him. Tom manages to escape, although he is injured. The neighbor skips the country to avoid being arrested, and Tom is awarded not only his own farm but all the neighbor’s property as well.

When the neighbor comes across a newspaper article about Fancy disclosing her location, he sends it anonymously to Tom to lure him there so he can kill him. He follows Tom into the same woods where Fancy’s captor has taken her.

Fancy Vol 6: Virginia City follows Fancy as she goes there to buy a saloon and build a hotel and restaurant. Her father joins her after returning to Alabama to wind up his affairs there. Fancy talks her friend Bob Gentry into selling his interest in the Omaha bank and joining her in opening one in Virginia City. Although she has known for years that Gentry loved her, she has never thought of him as anything but a friend until one day it dawns on her that she not only loves him but has for some time.

They plan a quick wedding, but unknown to them, the brother of the pastor who was hanged for kidnapping her in Vol 1 shows up at her wedding after several years of searching for her to avenge his brother’s death.

Fancy Vol 7: The Final Chapter begins with Fancy’s and Bob’s honeymoon and follows them as they settle in the small village of Seattle, Washington. He opens a bank, and she builds a hotel, and they have a baby.

Meanwhile, Will Potter, who, along with his late wife Bess, adopted Danni when she wandered into the yard of their remote cabin in the Smoky Mountains, is dying. He tells Danni for the first time that she was adopted and that she probably has family she doesn’t know about. He encourages her to head west when he dies, which she does.

Before she gets very far, a mountain man who has had his eye on her for a long time kidnaps her and takes her to the remote cabin he shares with his brother, intending to make her their slave. She manages to shoot both of them with a hidden pistol, killing the brother and wounding her kidnapper. She escapes, but when he recuperates he sets out to find her, almost crossing paths with her her in Memphis and St. Louis and Denver and finally catching her in Truckee, California, where she runs her own restaurant.

Fancy and Bob decide to take their daughter Phyllis and their maid Hera back east to see Bob’s sisters. During a stop in San Francisco, Priscilla Mayfair turns up and sees Fancy. In an attempt to kill her, she burns the hotel where Fancy and her family are staying. Priscilla’s latest protégé, outraged at this, kills her and leaves her body in an alley. Fancy’s clan escapes the fire, although they are scattered and it takes several days for them to find one another. They decide to continue their trip east, taking the train and stopping in Truckee to eat lunch at a restaurant they have been hearing raves about.

After twenty years of development and fifteen months of writing the novellas, can you allow me an exclamation point on my whews? I hope so. I’m finally able to announce the release of Fancy Vol 7: The Final Chapter on Tuesday, September 17, which happens to be my wife’s 70th birthday. It will be available in e-versions on Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Smashwords and Kobo, and in paperback on CreateSpace.

If you haven’t read any of these, Fancy Vol 1 is free on Smashwords and soon will be on Amazon. Try it and then buy the rest of the series. If you enjoy historical fiction—particularly the Civil War era, westerns, stories about strong women, or just good clean G-rated fiction, you should enjoy this series.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Historical Fiction, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help, Strong Women, The Civil War, Westerns, Women's Fiction

Melissa Littlejohn

Melissa Littlejohn works at Rise & Shine. I’ve already posted blogs about the restaurant itself and the people who run it, as well as about Misty Adams, one of the waitresses.

Melissa love to wear T-shirts with messages on them like this one. Although it says “I’m So Bad I’m Good,” I can’t imagine her ever being very bad. Her Christianity shines through her attitude and behavior.

The first thing I noticed about Melissa, well, other than the fact she’s very pretty, was her response when I thanked her for pouring coffee or bringing my order or whatever. Instead of “No problem,” which many people says nowadays when you thank them—as if I’d said it was a problem—or the traditional “You’re welcome,” as people with better manners would say, she would say, “It’s my pleasure.”

Now, how warm is that? It’s as if she were saying “You’ve made my day better by allowing me to serve you.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t get that reaction very often, even from waitresses, clerks and other who I know like me. That really impressed me.

Melissa has waited tables for over twenty years, the last year and a half at Rise & Shine. I would guess in that twenty years she’s left behind her a host of people who were glad she waited on them.

She is divorced and has four children. She claims the oldest ones are 26, 21, and 20, although she doesn’t look over 35 herself. She also has a 12 year-old who lives with her. The others are grown and out on their own.

Like others I’ve interviewed, she says what she likes best about her job is the customers. That shows through in everything she does as she works.

Also like several others, she listed rolling the silverware in napkins as her least favorite part of the job. I think I’d get a little tired of that myself.

She lists working out, cooking, gardening and puzzles among her hobbies. I guess the working out is part of why she looks too young to have a 26 year-old child.

When I asked Melissa if there was anything else of interest I might mention, she said she was a trauma survivor. She wouldn’t tell me what the trauma was, and I decided it was probably too personal for me to be nosy about it. She also mentioned that she might go back to school. If she does, I hope she can move into a better paying position, but I’ll miss her if she leaves the restaurant.

How many waitresses, cashiers and others who serve you do you know anything about? What do you do to let them know you care about them as individual human beings? Readers want to know.

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WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: People Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Melissa Littlejohn, People, Personal development, Rise & Shine, Self-help

Nya Brook

Nya Brook is one of those people who just can’t keep from smiling. If she has bad moods or unhappy times, which I suppose we all do on occasion, she keeps them well hidden. I’ve never seen her without that smile on her face, and it’s the kind of smile that lights up entire rooms.

Nya started working as a waitress back in high school, although she wouldn’t tell me how long ago that was. She did tell me she’s worked at the IHOP where my friend and I meet for around five years.

The first two or three years we ate there (we usually meet there once every two weeks), we had others waiting on us. We had one waitress for quite a while who left due to health problems, and a waiter who left also, and now and then we’d have different people wait on us.

All that time, I would see Nya and her infectious smile. She would stop to speak to us from time to time, but she never waited on us. One day I flagged her down and asked her why she never served us. She explained that her section was across on the other side of the restaurant from where we always sat. Since we were between regular servers, she agreed to take us on anyway, but it caused her to have to do a lot of extra walking, so we finally decided to switch from where we liked to sit to her section. She’s taken care of us ever since then.

Like most of the people I’ve interviewed for this series, Nya said what she liked the most about her job was the customers. That was easy to see from the way she treats everyone. Even though we’re only there every other week, she remembers what we want and, more importantly, how we want it. She also takes time to visit for a few minutes with various customers while she works.

When I asked what she liked least, she said “drama.” I asked her what she meant, and she said that, while most customers were nice to her and appreciative of the food and service, there were always a few “drama queens” who had to make a big deal out of every minor fault they could find. She also gave me a sheepish grin and said she didn’t enjoy rolling the silverware in napkins. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying such a fun and rewarding task.

Nya is a single mother raising two boys ages 17 and 15 by herself. Raising two teenagers can’t be easy, especially by herself, but whatever problems she encounters never seem to dampen her good nature.

For hobbies, she mentioned shopping, dancing, reading and watching television. I’ve never understood how anyone could actually enjoy shopping, but I realize lots of people do, so I guess that’s not so weird.

When I asked her if there was anything else I should know about her, she just said that she enjoys work. I already knew that. It shows on her face.

How many waitresses, cashiers and others who serve you do you know anything about? What do you do to let them know you care about them as individual human beings? Readers want to know.

——————————————

WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

——————————————

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: People Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, IHOP, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Nya Brook, People, Personal development, Self-help