Showing posts with label family history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family history. Show all posts

Why Write a Memoir?

If you’re like me, you’ve probably have said to yourself, over and over, “I’d really like to write, but…” OR “Someday, I’m going to write…”

I think that writing down your family history is one of the most important things you could ever do. We all know friends or even family members who have always told such fascinating stories, but nobody ever wrote them down, so when they pass on, the stories are gone forever. Sometimes it’s just because, when you’re young, you think “Oh, there goes Grandpa, telling that old story again…” And you fail to realize the importance of it.

Many times I looked at the old photo albums my dad had that my grandmother had put together, but never thought about how important that era was, or how important it might be to me, and how I turned out as a human being. But one little tidbit did stick in my mind all those years—and that was the fact that back in the 1920s in Montana, my tiny grandma—about 5’2 and maybe all of 102 pounds—had ridden steers in rodeos. I couldn’t get it out of my head. That certainly was not something I ever aspired to do—even as big as I am!

So, I started to delve into her life story. And I have found it utterly fascinating. I chose to write it as a novel, but there is so much fact in it, so much from my grandparents’ and my dad’s life. This has resulted in three novels and a non-fiction book about old-time cowgirls in Montana. And in the process, my dad started writing down some of his memories of growing up.

You must have some of those stories floating around. Whether you write them down—just notes or a timeline or a regular story—or if you tell them to another person or into a recorder, I encourage you to do it. Don’t let your family history be lost.

Definitions:
A memoir puts a frame onto life by limiting what is included. It may be a particular period in your life, for example, your childhood, your adolescence, or your fabulous fifties.

An autobiography covers an entire life from birth to the present.

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A native Montanan, Heidi M. Thomas now lives in North-central Arizona. Her first novel, Cowgirl Dreams, is based on her grandmother, and the sequel, Follow the Dream, won the national WILLA Award. Heidi has a degree in journalism, a certificate in fiction writing, and is a member of Northwest Independent Editors Guild. She teaches writing and edits, blogs, and is working on the next books in her “Dare to Dream” series.

Book Spotlight: Bible Bites and Guest Post with Shirley Kufeldt


An interesting twist to learning the Bible and great way to preserve family history!

I'm not here to share my view points on religion, however, there are many Christians in my family so when I meet author Shirley Kufeldt and she shared her little booklets with me, I was intrigued. I had never seen anything done like this and really liked the idea. I know a lot of people who would love these personal journals/devotions. So I asked her to share a bit about her books and inspiration for putting them together.

 
Albert Einstein stated:  God always takes the simplest way.


BIBLE BITES booklets are small pocket-sized monthly journals that include current prayer requests and focused daily Scripture for journaling and reflection. This is a simple solution to a situation many would like to resolve. Through BIBLE BITES people can easily learn, memorize or meditate on Scripture as they journal regularly with direction and purpose.




TREASURE IS IN THE BIBLE with SHIRLEY KUFELDT

I’ve learned to use what God gives me and to praise Him for what He takes away because both attitudes bring glory to Him

My working years were spent as the admin in offices where I excelled in organizing, editing and simplifying the work process. Now retired, becoming an author is a total career change for me and a chance to start something new.

While attending a Christian-based support group at my church for a number of years, I realized recovery from codependency is hard work. Too many attendees just showed up without doing the homework and missed out on what God could do for them and through them. They didn’t invest time in their own recovery from codependency. It was my desire to develop a simple method for those folks who, for whatever reason, are unable to complete homework assignments but have a sincere desire to examine God’s Word and develop a personal relationship with Him. 

Many of us have received greeting cards with a Bible verse specific to the card’s sentiment. I now enjoy reading my Bible as History, using my admin skills to look for treasure, to find familiar verses in context and discover the author’s original intent. The Bible is the story of real people who lived, believed in God, disobeyed Him, experienced consequences for sin, and then amazingly found redemption in His all-consuming love for them. 

In 30 years of Bible studies, I’d been encouraged to journal my personal faith walk but was never successful. For the past three years, I journaled in small booklets developed as devotionals, which include pages for prayer requests and topical verses for each title in the series.

In prayer, God gave me the name BIBLE BITES and the cover photo for the first book, Meet God and His SonBIBLE BITES records an individual’s faith walk and connects the writer to their descendants with a record of hopes, dreams, aspirations and answered prayers. BIBLE BITES will become a treasured family legacy similar to family photo albums and heirloom items passed on to future generations.

Albert Einstein stated that Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler. Beginning the habit of regular devotions while developing a personal relationship with God can hardly be simpler than responding to His Word in BIBLE BITES.
I continue to use my admin skills compiling verses for future titles. I’m learning to promote my books and have been gratified when friends enthusiastically appreciate my efforts to make Bible verses so much more user friendly. Now I can praise God for taking something away from me—my fears because BIBLE BITES deepens my relationship with Christ and brings glory to God.


Book Titles:
MEET GOD AND HIS SON
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61244-099-6

GOALS THAT LEAD TO SUCCESS
Paperback ISBN:  978-1-61244-100-9

AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61244-101-6

THE WOW FACTOR
Paperback ISBN:  978-1-61244-102-3

Publisher: Halo Publishing, Int.


Places where your book(s) are available for sale:

Note: Verses come from the New Living Translation

 



BIO:
Shirley Kufeldt is a wife, mother, grandmother and tea party activist who helped raise their two daughters with prayers that ended by Thanking God for giving us our daughters. She now searches for Bible verses for her BIBLE BITES Legacy Series so others will easily find the one verse that will cause them to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for salvation. Check out her posts at www.BibleBites.net and on Facebook.


You can find out more about Shirley Kufeldt and her Bible Bites series at http://tinyurl.com/bb3ofxd
 

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