Marilyn Turk's Blog

Saving People, All in a Day’s Work

Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse, photo by Allan Wood, NELights.com.

In the summer of 1944, college students Lois Knight and her boyfriend visited a relative in Rhode Island on Narraganset Bay.

Not long after they arrived, the two young people spotted the charming “sparkplug” Hog Island Shoal Lighthouse out in the water. The lighthouse looked close, maybe 600 yards away, so they decided to swim to it. Not bothering to tell anyone at the house what they were doing, they jumped into the water and began swimming.

Perhaps if they’d checked with the adults at the house, they would have been advised against the plan, referring to the tide schedule. But like many young people, they acted on impulse without considering the risks.

Lois said that after swimming a while, she grew tired, so her boyfriend adopted a chin-carry such as lifeguards perform to rescue drowning victims. But with only one free arm, the boyfriend grew tired as well. When Lois glanced at the lighthouse to see if they were making progress, she was disappointed to see they had swum off course and the chances of making it to the lighthouse were slim.

Hog Island Shoals Light, R.I. Photo courtesy Lighthouse Digest

Then she noticed a man standing on the walkway that surrounded the lighthouse and saw a dinghy being lowered by ropes to the water. She watched as the man climbed down a ladder and got into the boat. He proceeded to row toward them and once reaching them, helped them into the small vessel, saving them from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean where they were headed.

The keeper, Edward Duffy, rowed them to the lighthouse where he welcomed them to his cozy home. While they rested, he showed them around, even displaying a quilt he had made himself and offering them some sliced apples he had been cutting when he looked outside and saw them in distress. After that, he rowed them home where they found a worried family waiting.

Lois never forgot the kind keeper, the hero who saved her and her companion. For her it was a life-changing experience, and she lived about 75 more years as a result.

But for Keeper Duffy who served at the lighthouse for thirty years, he was just doing his job, the job of saving people. In today’s world, he’d be called a “first responder.”

The Bible describes these people as those who “shine their lights.” Like the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, they go out of their way to help others. If you know one, tell them “thank you” for doing their important job.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

 

 

 

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A New Headshot?

 

 

At a recent writers conference, one of the speakers advised the attendees to get new headshots to keep their profiles up to date. A headshot, in case you didn’t know, is the photo of just your head, the picture of you that goes on the back of a book or on your website, Facebook page, etc. It had been a few years since I had changed mine, but  I didn’t want to change it. Since I dislike most photos of myself, I wanted to stay with the only one I liked.  Why should I change it?  I hadn’t changed. Or had I?

 

I remembered an incident a few weeks before when my grandson saw a picture of me taken many years ago when I worked for a major corporation. He was certain it wasn’t me, and I could not convince him otherwise. Looking at the photo, I had to agree it didn’t look like me now. But my current headshot? It was only ten years old.

At the conference bookstore, I picked up a book by one of the faculty members and flipped it over to read the back cover copy. The picture of the author was shocking, since it showed him so much younger with brown hair than his current gray. How long had it been since he’d gotten a new headshot?

Shortly after that, I sat with a group of single women at lunch where the conversation revolved around men and how their social media pictures were always much younger than the way they currently looked. That difference in appearance gave the women the impression that he men were not being sincere. These men weren’t showing their true selves, so they must not be honest in other ways too.

I glanced at one of my bookmarks which displayed my old, flattering headshot from ten years ago. Had I really changed so much in ten years? I wondered if by using that picture, I was being dishonest? I didn’t want to believe I looked older. I wanted to hang on to my younger appearance. Don’t we all? However, I wanted to convey honesty, and that I was thankful to have lived another ten years. Someone once referred to age-related signs like wrinkles, droopy eyelids, and other unwelcome changes on our bodies as “birthday presents.” And that’s what they are: gifts from having lived longer.

I don’t have much control over how my body ages. However, I can continue to study God’s Word and learn more about Him. The Bible says as much: Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Cor. 4:16.

So maybe I look older on the outside, but you wouldn’t believe how much younger I am on the inside! But maybe it is time to get a new headshot anyway.

Which one do you like the best?

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Catch My Weekly Devotionals on ChristianMix106!

Did you know I have a short podcast on ChristianMix106.com at 4:00 ET on Thursdays?

If not, you’re not alone—I haven’t really shared that info until now! For over a year, I’ve been sharing brief, uplifting lighthouse stories and devotions as part of my weekly segment on ChristianMix106.com.

These short messages are meant to shine light and encouragement into your week, and I’d love for you to tune in.

Don’t forget to check it out every Thursday at 4:00 PM Eastern Time. And yes—we’ll be adding the station’s logo here too, so it’ll be easy to find.

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Secrets Between the Shelves: 4 Cozy Bookshop Mysteries

Mysteries Leap Off the Page

Murder and mayhem haunt four newly-opened bookstores.

The mysteries enjoyed in books come to life, threatening four businesses. Amber’s new bookshop and tearoom draws rare book collectors, but when one ends up dead in the mystery section, the shop’s future is questionable. Lilly’s pirate themed bookshop fits right into Harbor Inn, Maine, but she never expected to find a young pirate dead on her shop’s floor. Abby opens Secret Passages Bookshop in a Wyoming mountain town, not realizing her historic building held a real secret passage and a missing teenager. When Kelly Stephens opens her shop Artistic Adventures next to Bayside Books and Reading Room, she witnesses a suspicious death.

by Cynthia Hickey (Author), Linda Baten Johnson (Author), Teresa Ives Lilly (Author), Marilyn Turk (Author)

Buy the Book: Amazon
Published by: Barbour Fiction
Release Date: February 1, 2025
Contributors: Cynthia Hickey (Author), Linda Baten Johnson (Author), Teresa Ives Lilly (Author), Marilyn Turk (Author)
Pages: 448
ASIN: B0D3JB661F

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Books by the Bay in Pensacola, Florida, Saturday, March 29

I’ll be signing books at Books by the Bay in Pensacola, Florida, Saturday, March 29. Come see me!

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Surprise at Corsewall Lighthouse

Corsewall Lighthouse, Scotland. Photo by Marilyn Turk

Last summer, my husband and I had the opportunity to check off something on our bucket list by traveling to the United Kingdom. One of the things we wanted to do was visit some lighthouses. One of the lighthouses we visited was the Corsewall Lighthouse in Scotland. This lighthouse was built in 1817 by the famous lighthouse engineer Robert Stevenson, who was the grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Treasure Island. The 207-year-old lighthouse is now a hotel and restaurant, but we only stopped by to enjoy the fantastic vista overlooking the Irish Sea.

However, only months later in November of 2024, engineers working on repairs to the historic structure discovered a bottle hidden in the wall. Inside the bottle was a message, so the engineers called the Northern Lighthouse Board who oversees the Scottish lighthouses and were given permission to open the bottle and fish the letter out. What a surprise today’s engineers found when they realized the message had been written by other engineers! From 1892! What did it say? The message gave the names of the engineers and the lighthouse keepers and explained that they had worked on the lens the entire summer of 1892, then relit the lighthouse in September of that year. They were basically signing their work, just as an artist signs his. What an amazing connection from engineers 132 years ago to today’s engineers, who when they are finished with their work, will put their own message in the bottle and put it back where they found it.

As I thought about the historic message, I wondered what I would put in a bottle identifying myself if it were found a hundred years from now. Would it be wife, mother, grandmother? Or writer, lighthouse enthusiast, average tennis player? What is the work I have done that I would want others to know about in the future?

Actually, none of my accomplishments matter in the scheme of things. The most important thing I can claim is that “I am a child of God and a servant of Jesus Christ.”

What message would you leave in a bottle?

 

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—John 1:12

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New Book Collection

New Book release!  Once Upon a Courtship, a collection of 12 historical novellas by 12 different authors, is not available! My novella, The Gilding of Minnie Tucker, a Gilded Age novella, is part of that collection.  Enjoy exciting tales covering different eras form Regency to Gilded Age to Western!  find it here:https://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Cour.... Also available at Barnes and Noble. Happy Reading!

 

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Featured Author at Louisiana Library Book Festival

If you’re anywhere near Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 2, 2024, come see me!

I’ll be on an author’s panel discussing Women and War: Inspirational Fiction, from 9:00- 9:45 in the Louisiana State Capitol, Room 2.

Then I’ll be signing books in the Book Tent from 10:00-10:45.

See you there!

https://louisianabookfestival.org/fea...

Marilyn’s picture, 2022

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Book signing

Bay county writers fest

On October 5, I was a featured guest at the Bay County Library Fest. What a delight!

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A Visit to Turnberry Lighthouse

Turnberry Lighthouse, Scotland

This summer, my husband and I were able to check a box on our bucket list and travel to the United Kingdom. One of the highlights of our trip was being able to see lighthouses in Scotland. Like in the United States, these lighthouse properties are managed or owned by different entities. Some are private homes, and some are small hotels, so access to them is closed or minimal.

But if the lighthouse itself is still operating as an active aid to navigation, it is managed by the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Unlike the United States, the lighthouses in Scotland have similar appearances, white stucco with gold trim and a white stucco wall around the property. And the settings were fabulous. The lighthouses we saw were set on cliffs facing the Irish Sea. But despite the similarities, each had distinctive characteristics as well.

 

The first lighthouse we visited was Turnberry Lighthouse which happens to be set between the 9th and 10th holes of the Turnberry Golf Club. Of course, the lighthouse designed by David and Thomas Stevenson built in 1873, was there before the golf course. But way back before that, it was the location of the castle of Robert the Bruce, the king of Scotland in the 1300’s. And in World War II, it was the site of a Royal Air Force landing strip.

 

 

 

In 2014, Donald Trump bought the golf course and began a massive renovation. When he heard the Turnberry Lighthouse was also for sale, he bought it too and renovated it, so that now there is a snack bar for golfers at its base and also offers a luxurious two-bedroom suite for overnight guests. However, the light which is managed by the Northern Lighthouse Board, is still an active aid to navigation with a light that shines 28 miles out to sea.

Turnberry guest suite

 

 

Isn’t it interesting that with all the changes that have taken place in and around the lighthouse, it still serves the original purpose for which it was built? To shine its light.

 

 

 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

 

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