PENS MEETING CANCLED FOR NOVEMBER

​Greetings All,

We have decided to not hold a November meeting. Because of and unforeseen happening I'm not available to sponsor an online meeting this month. But I wanted to share a couple of things. I just heard about Parler which is a  new social media outlet.  Here is what they say about Parler. I wish to sign up later--maybe tonight. 

Parler  (Social media like Twitter)
Speak freely and express yourself openly, without fear of being “deplatformed” for your views. Engage with real people, not bots. Parler is people and privacy-focused, and gives you the tools you need to curate your Parler experience.  


Now a special treat from Word & Pens writer, Jim Dickson. Thank you for giving me permission Jim!

Well then, for a writing prompt, tell some way you conquered a pandemic limitation and how it turned out, and how you feel about all that.


October was Covid month for Peggy and me. We both came down with the virus, both had extreme fatigue, but neither had any major complications such as fever and chest congestion that involve pain and potential serious complications. 

We were both very very tired. Peggy basically slept 18-20 a day for two weeks but with no problems sleeping at night. I took her to the emergency room after the first week when she was especially dormant. In an hour the diagnosis was "Covid-19: and we will keep her here." 24 hours later the doctor called and said, there is nothing "medically" she needs and she can get rest at home as well as we can give her here. That was fine with us. I explained to the doctor my Covid symptoms and asked if I should be tested. He said no, you have Covid. I was never down and out like Peggy but I just wanted to rest. I read several books. From the start we had a sense that God was in this. We always had great peace and contentment. A son came live with us and help for two weeks.

Here is why I am sharing this. Having Covid acted as a spiritual purifying agent for us. As our lives returned to normal we realized that the extended time-out for several weeks revealed to us that there were many activities and situations in our lives that were not what God wanted. We both saw the need for extensive "clean up and throw out" in house, garden, garage, and shed and we started a process of simplifying our lives. At the same time we had a renewed sense of the need to love God and neighbors. Peggy now has a passion for writing emails, letters, and making phone calls to keep in touch with friends and relatives. More importantly, we realized we had drifted into acceptance of not only things in our home and lives that were not what God wanted but also acceptance of things in the world that were abhorrent to him. TV ads for example, a majority of which glamorize extremes of pleasure, power and prosperity replacing God's values of purity, humility, and service to others. 

There is more, but in summary Covid was an epiphany for us. We realized that we had let the world lull us into acceptance of its values and that we were being silent as the world substituted its garbage for God's glory.

Our challenge now--How do we live out the vision God has given us for our lives? How to share this with family and friends?  

An old hymn, Take Time to be Holy, came to me. It says it well:
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
The hymn goes on for three more stanzas: Spend time with Jesus, let him be thy guide; trust in his word; be calm in thy soul; Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love, Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
I now sing that hymn daily.

Jim (Dickson)

Since we are not meeting online for Pens how about we write something for the Lord about our appreciation for something he has done for us! 
Be blessed and full of His joy and ideas!

Susan Marlene