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Part 21 If Oak Trees Could Talk

22 Oct

Part 21 If Oak Trees Could Talk

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted a video of If Oak Trees Could Talk, so for those of you who have been faithful to follow my video blogs, I am grateful that you’re hanging in there with me.

My family and I had a wonderful vacation to Panama City, Florida and had lots of fun in the sun. The trip was a celebration of sorts as my husband’s and my 35th wedding Anniversary is in this month!

I am back home in Georgia and I once again am so glad that you are spending this time with me as I read the rest of Chapter 11 The Escapees and go right in to Chapter 12 There Is No Place Like Home!

Chapter 11

The Escapees

 

“Are you coming back to us Henry?” Helen shouted up.

Henry just continued to chuckle.

“Well Momma, how do you propose we get him down from there?” Amelia asked while trying not to look up at such a view.

“He’ll come down when he’s ready, dear! Don’t worry, he’s not ready yet!”

“Well thank God it’s not cold outside!” Amelia whispered. As both she and Helen began to chuckle to themselves.

“Okay Amelia, go inside the house and get me a blanket and dig in the pantry closet for that old picnic basket. I bet your Daddy is starved as it was probably early today when he left Glenview. I am sure he missed his wonderful bland meal that he was getting on a regular basis. Do me a favor and have Robert run and get us some hamburgers and fries from Speedy’s Grill and Shake. They’re your Daddy’s favorite. Make that onion rings as Henry loves him some onion rings. Also there is a radio in our room on the dresser, get it too. You might have to check if the batteries are good. If the batteries are dead, look in the drawer beside the refrigerator, there should be some good batteries in there.”

“Momma, are you serious? You seriously want Robert to go get food so that you can have a picnic out here under this old Oak tree with Daddy’s bare bottom shining brighter than the moon itself! What if he is more ill than we think? Momma, what if this little excursion of his has made him worse than before!” Amelia drilled.

“So what if it did, Amelia, what if it did?” Helen calmly said as she looked up with her tender smile and her eyes full of nothing but love for her husband.

 

Chapter 12

No Place like Home

Although Amelia did not always agree with her mother she knew that no one knew her Father like her mother did. So she immediately left her parents to tell Robert what her mother had ordered. Robert obeyed and backed the car out of the driveway and sped off to Speedy’s Grill and Shake.

Amelia then began to fulfill her orders that her Mom gave her as well. She walked up the side yard and stood in front of the huge Victorian house that was built by her great grandparents in the 1800’s. Since that time, her grandparents and now her parents lived in what was once her home. The home was beautifully designed with ornamental columns and cornice boards that had intricate scroll work that framed the home. It was always such a wonderful, safe and happy place. Memories flooded Amelia’s mind as she stood in front of the old house with its deep family history and its gorgeous exterior.   She sighed deeply as she felt the house was as lonely as she was for her parents to return home. Amelia felt homesick. She stepped onto the long winding porch that stretched the entire length of the front of the house and proceeded to wrap around to the side where there was a beautiful set of French doors. In that brief moment of hesitancy before opening the door to her parent’s house, Amelia remembered all of the grand parties that her mother and father threw every year in the summer. The French doors at the side of the house opened onto a beautiful patio and garden area where her parents practically lived. Gorgeous beds of roses and Camellias lined the ornamental rod iron fences and white wooden trellises were laden down with gorgeous green vines.  

Henry and Helen loved to entertain in the garden area. It was the perfect place. Henry, again being a Southerner took pride in himself at being a great Southern Chef. He knew how to smother ribs in some of his own famous Barbeque sauce that he made and sold in his Hardware store. Yes, her parents were quite the entertainers!   There were many times that Amelia would cuddle up in the hanging swing on the porch and fall sound asleep to the sounds of crickets, tree frogs, soft music and adults laughing and talking. Amelia smiled at such pleasant memories, but was saddened by the thoughts that she may never get to live any of them again.

 

As always, thank you so much for taking the time to “tune in” or read along today! I hope that you continue coming each week until you read or hear the entire romantic story!

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here! Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply subscribe to my Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

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Part 15 If Oak Trees Could Talk

27 Aug

Source: Part 15 If Oak Trees Could Talk

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Part 13 If Oak Trees Could Talk

12 Aug

Part 13 If Oak Trees Could Talk

Welcome back to Part 13  If Oak Trees Could Talk! Once again it is my pleasure to bring my story to you each week! I am excited as I do these blogs each week as I am working on another Inspirational Romance Novel along with a sequel to a Juvenile fiction entitled Caleb’s Cereal.   I would love to complete at least one of them in time for Christmas! In the meantime let’s read or listen to Chapter 7 A Father’s Love!

Chapter 7

A Father’s Love

Once Henry was alone he looked at the journals that Amelia had left him. He then stared at the old Oak tree hanging before him and with pencil in hand began once again to fill pages with memories. This time the memories of his Dad came to life.

Henry’s father, Russell William Tyler was a very hard worker. His philosophy was if you’re going to do a job, do it right or don’t bother. He sometimes come off very rough and short tempered and so Henry felt like he wasn’t pleasing unto his father. However, there was an event between Henry and his Dad that changed Henry’s life forever.

Both Henry and his Dad were driving to Crawford County one afternoon to pick up some automobile parts for Henry’s Dad’s car, when a deer came barreling out of the woods and stood right in front of the car.   Henry’s Dad was driving and before he could steer the car in any direction, the deer lunged right into the windshield. Henry wasn’t hurt; however Mr. Tyler was knocked completely out and was bleeding profusely. Henry tried to wake his Dad with no response. He then realized that he had to get help, so he was able to scoot his father over enough for him to get into the driver’s seat. Henry drove his Daddy’s car for about two miles to the nearest house to summons help. Henry was only nine years old at the time and acted very mature and responsibly. Mr. Tyler suffered a concussion and had several stitches in his face but was fine because of Henry’s quick response. Henry remembered the gentle way that his Dad patted his hand as he was being loaded into an ambulance. He smiled at Henry in a way that Henry had never seen or never noticed before. Henry had the assurance that he needed from that afternoon that he was well pleasing unto his Dad.

While Henry penned the memories of his Dad, he found himself once again exhilarated. He stared intently at the picture of the old Oak tree hanging before him and a floodgate of memories came back to him.  

“It’s out of here!” Henry yelled, as he recalled hitting a baseball completely over the fence when he was only seven. He was on the Tigers pee wee team where he had a baseball glove that seemed entirely too large and a cap to match.   He remembered the proud look upon his Dad’s face when he looked up in the stands.

“It wasn’t at all what I thought it was! My Dad was always pleased with me wasn’t he old friend?”

As Henry sat alone in his room it was as if he heard his old friend saying “Yes, Henry, your Dad was always pleased with you!”

As one event after the other played in Henry’s mind, the memories of Henry’s Dad smiling at him flooded Henry’s heart. It was as if Henry could feel those gentle pats of assurance from his Dad once again as in the evening of the deer accident. Henry gently smiled as he penned every emotion and tears stained the journal’s pages.

As his fingers stiffened to the demand that Henry placed upon them, he felt almost as desperate as he felt that night that his Dad hit the deer. He felt that the freedom he was trying to achieve challenged him to do things that were scary but necessary, as in the time he drove his Daddy’s car in the night to get help for his Dad. In Henry’s thoughts he was even more desperate to get help for himself and his dear Helen. As another page was completed and the tears seemed fewer, Henry tenderly closed the journal. He then found himself giggling as joy of discovering that his Father loved and was pleased with him seemed to free him even more. He could feel guilt and condemnation of the past loose it’s hold and roll away. Henry took a deep breath, while winking at his old friend. Placing the journal back inside the bedside table, once again, he closed his eyes in sweet sleep.

 

Thank you for reading or “tuning in” today. I have so enjoyed sharing If Oak Trees Could Talk!   As you can tell I have quite the imagination so it is not difficult to imagine myself sitting across the table from you my readers as if we’ve been friends for a long time!

If you would like to comment on this blog or Subscribe to my Youtube Videos, I would love to hear from you!

I also wanted to personally thank a great friend Greg Hetherington who allows me to be a weekly contributor to http://www.lakeviewtimes.com an Online Newspaper that he started and uses to reach out to his community and to Authors, bloggers, etc !  Check it out if you get a chance!

Until next time, thank you again for “Tuning in!”

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Part 11 If Oak Trees Could Talk

30 Jul

Part 11 If Oak Trees Could Talk

Welcome back to Part 11 If Oak Trees Could Talk. I hope that you have been enjoying my latest Romance/Suspense Novel. When I began Video Blogging my book, I wasn’t for sure if it was a good idea or not, however I have really enjoyed sharing it with you. I didn’t know if anyone had ever shared their books like this, but hey I’m a little “out there” sometimes, so I’m going for it. I hope that you will continue to go along for the ride.

Today we begin in Chapter 6 A Gift of Hope


Chapter 6

A Gift of Hope

When Amelia left her Dad, she went straight to the closest office supply store and bought her Dad the biggest, thickest journals that she could find and many pencils, erasers, and sharpeners.   She prayed as she paid for them that the Lord would help her Dad fill each page with memories of his life that he so desperately needed to remember. She also went home, got her camera and took a picture of the old Oak tree. Amelia hoped that seeing his old friend would help jar her Daddy’s memory. She was determined to do anything to help her parents come home. After she had taken the picture, she had it blown up to poster size and framed, so that her Dad once again could see his old friend anytime he wanted to.

When Amelia returned back to Glenview with gifts in hand, she first went into her mother’s room to show her what she had gotten for her Dad. When she had shared with her mother, there was a knock on Helen’s door.   It was her physical therapist and her doctor.

“Mrs. Tyler, we have great news!” The doctor said with a huge smile on his face.

“We feel that your therapy has been a huge success and that you’re ready to go home in a few weeks. We can continue to give you physical therapy in your home!”

“What about Henry?” Helen asked immediately.

“Well now, Mrs. Tyler, Mr. Tyler’s condition is something different altogether than yours. As we both know, his is not a physical problem as much as it is ….. Well, you know Mam what I’m trying to say.”

“Yes, I know what you’re trying to say.” Helen repeated, with absolutely no joy over the fact that she was on her way out of Glenview.

When her visitors left, she and Amelia looked at each other with much concern.

“Well, out with it Momma! I already know what you’re thinking. I think so too!”

“Henry will not stay in this place without me! If he has too, he’ll dry up and die, and I will not allow that to happen!” Helen said with heartbreak in her voice.

“I won’t either Momma, we’ll work it out somehow, don’t worry.” Amelia consoled, but she too was very concerned and did not really have a viable solution.

“Don’t worry Momma.   We’ll come up with something. Who knows, maybe this will be what Daddy needs. He followed you in here; maybe he’ll come to himself and follow you right back out! Momma, it’s great that you’re doing so well, we need to rejoice about you.”

“I suppose so.” Helen agreed, but still she was not going to leave Henry in Glenview by himself.

“Come on Dear; let’s go give your father his gifts. I know that he will be excited about them.”

“When do we let him know about you Momma? He needs to know that you’re doing well doesn’t he?”

“He already knows that I’m much better.   Now we have to work on him.”

“Just tell me what and when Momma and I’ll do whatever you say. Nobody knows Daddy like you do. Mom, he was so much better this morning when I talked with him. He was like his old self. This is why I bought him all of this stuff. Do you know he’s writing down what he remembers so that he won’t forget it again?”

“You’ve done good Amelia, let’s go see him!”

When Helen and Amelia knocked on Henry’s door they could hear Henry talking with someone. However, once entering the room, neither of them saw anybody.

“Who was you talking too Henry?” Helen questioned.

“Oh I was just chatting with an old friend.” Henry replied, once again with that mischievous grin upon his face.

Thank you once again for spending this time with me. When I first began the Youtube Video Blogs of If Oak Trees Could Talk I was only recording about a minute or two. However, it seemed as though I wasn’t really making a lot of progress into the story, so I increased them to around five minutes. I wanted to make the video segments short and sweet as I know people are busy!

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Advice I Would Give My Younger Self

30 Jul

Advice I Would Give My Younger Self.

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Ready….Set….Focus!

15 Jan

Ready….Set….Focus!.

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Ready….Set….Focus!

15 Jan

Ready…Set…Focus!

Well the New Year is off and moving right along and so am I.    It is amazing that next week it will have already been a month since we celebrated Christmas, which only tells me that it’s time to get focused so that this can be a banner year!

It is amazing to me how many times I’ve made the same missteps over and over again because I never had my focus on the right things. I would set goals, but run out of steam to accomplish them.  I would then take lots of time trying to figure out why I couldn’t achieve the goal.    The first thing that must happen in trying to set any new goal is to make for sure that we are focused on the right things and for the right reasons!

We’ve been learning about a renewed mind in our church services.  It has really come at a good time as the teachings have really helped me to see why I have reached goals in the past.

Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he

To accomplish anything we must see ourselves as a victor not a victim!  God has purpose us to do great things upon the earth!  He has purpose behind everything that is in His word, so if we apply it to our lives we will see the results that the word promises.  In order to achieve our goals we must change our behavior of the past. We can’t be winners if we keep seeing ourselves as losers!  We must have a renewed mind to know what hindered us in the past and how to press in to achieve them now.  I believe the scripture below is a great starting point to begin to see change in our lives and to see our goals being reached.

Romans 12:1 (KJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

My number one goal for 2015 is to get rid of “stinking thinking!” I must put the word of  God before my eyes and get His image of who I am in Him  on the inside of me.  If I operate from a renewed mindset, then I can see myself achieving all that He has called me to do!  This is not a conceited or boastful stance, but instead it is a humbling position.  I place all of my hopes, dreams, goals in His hands and totally rely on Him to co-labor with me to achieve each and every goal!  This is exciting to me because He has never set us up to fail!

I would love to hear about how the Lord has helped you to  accomplish your goals this year!  Please feel free to contact me so that we can rejoice together!

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What a Year!

23 Dec

What a Year!.

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What a Year!

23 Dec

 

What a Year 2014!

 

Christine Gilliam Hornback's Book Signings

Book Signing

Psalms 37:23( KJV) The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.

 

I had posted recently on my facebook page about how my life has been like a whirlwind lately. Especially through the year of 2014!  Simply meaning that it has been rapidly moving in circles to where I absolutely have to trust God to help me navigate through them!   I am not complaining but rather rejoicing, as I’ve labored seemingly for years to have the personal success that I am now enjoying.  If you have read any of my writings or followed my blogs then you will know that I am a Mom of two boys that I home school which is and will always be my greatest blessings and  priority.  I am also an Author, Artist and an Inspirational speaker.   I actually have four books published at the present time and am currently working on several more, however, being any of these things especially being an Author is not a golden ticket to success!  As a matter of fact, writing the books was, in my opinion, the easy part.  Marketing the books or promoting them to get the messages inside of them out to the public has proved to be the real task!   I have had so much to learn and am still learning every day.  There have been times where I’ve honestly just became overwhelmed and wanted to throw in the towel!  However, again if you’ve followed my blogs or my writings than you know that I am a very determined person!  I do not give up without throwing my most valiant effort toward that thing.   Unless GOD releases me to do something different!

I was a director of Women’s Ministry for many years!  It was honestly a joy and a privilege to help so many women over those years!  I found that with the Lord, that what I helped to make happen for them, He made happen for me.  I actually published two of my books during that time although I had written nearly a dozen.  I think that I thought in my mind that since I was so active in my local church doing Women’s ministry that the Lord would somehow combine the two.  I never thought in the beginning of publishing my first book that it would come down to a choice, however, when I realized that it was coming to that, I actually stopped writing for a while.  I loved Women’s Ministry and truly would not even let myself think about stepping out and doing anything different.  What I now know, is that it wasn’t trading one for the other, but that the Lord simply wanted to add to what I was doing and to promote me to a larger platform!  I bucked against God like a stubborn mule at first when I felt in my heart that I was going to release the Women’s Ministry, but one day in His sweet and calming still voice He spoke to me, “My Daughter, you will always be in Women’s Ministry because you are a women!”  Duh!… This was such a simple thing, but it became a revelation to me, so much so, that it allowed me the freedom to step out without looking back!  I dared to pursue my writing/ art career but also still do ministry which I so loved with a passion! When I say ministry, I do not necessarily mean to go to packed out church buildings and preach to multitudes, however I would do that with invitations, but, what I mean is that one on one ministry that now happens everywhere I go!  Life is absolutely exciting and full of adventure.  I never know how the Lord will use the open doors, but all I have to do is simply walk through them by faith and let Him use me once I am there!

God’s plans for me are always so much larger than my thoughts can take me. So I wrote all of this blog not to toot my own horn of obedience or successes, but rather as stated before my passion is to minister to you my readers!  I want to encourage you to trust the Lord! What He is doing for me, He will do for you!  Maybe you’ve stepped out before and felt like you were a failure.  Yes I’ve done that before as well but no attempt with GOD is a failure!  I’ve shook  myself off and simply began again!  I am hardly making a fortune, (YET) on my books or art, and my calendar is not filled for the next six months up the road, but do you know what?   I am thrilled because I have learned to let the Lord order my steps so that I can truly delight in my way! I have no doubt that He will bring me to success in every area!  I hope in the coming year, that you experience this kind of freedom that I am talking about and simply walk with the Lord and let him lead you!  I would love to hear of what the Lord is doing or has done for you in the coming months.  Please feel free to contact me!  We will rejoice together!

Happy New Year, May it be beyond your wildest imaginations

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Childhood Christmas Memories!

19 Dec

Childhood Christmas Memories!.

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