Category Archives: Blogging

Big Sky Buckeye Returns

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Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com

On January 19, my wife and I headed to Montana to help with home care for my Mom.  We had little idea what we would experience over the next two months.

Shortly before Christmas, she fell in her home and fractured her left hip.  Following surgery, her initial care moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility.  When we arrived, she had just returned to her home of 30+ years. 

One of my brothers had been helping out during our Mom’s hospitalization, rehabilitation, and return back home.  We intended to give him a respite to spend time with his family.

We are so thankful for the many warm wishes and prayers that we have read and heard.  God’s presence has been with our family and our Mom during these many weeks of home care and rehabilitation.

Mom’s recovery has been a blessing.  She still has more physical therapy to work through, and she cannot live alone at this time.  Her progress has been an inspiration to many others.

Having returned back to my home in Ohio, I will resume my regular writing on Big Sky Buckeye.  While I didn’t have much time to write while I was away, there are many posts waiting in the wings.  I look forward to reading your blogs and catching up with each of you.

On the Road Again (Special Bulletin)

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Montana Highway Map (courtesy of Pinterest)

Greetings Big Sky Buckeye readers!  As you read this post, I am heading to my native state of Montana with arrival today (January 21), and I will not return back to my home in Ohio for about a month. 

My mother is recovering from surgery to repair a broken hip, and she needs help from my wife and I.  I will not be publishing anything until I return home. 

While I am away, I will be turning off my comments until I return.  Since my mother doesn’t have an Internet connection, it would be challenging to keep up any type of blogging schedule. 

My mother will need our care pretty much around the clock.  Your prayers are welcome and appreciated.

I apologize for not being very active in reading other blogs the past several days.  My plate has been pretty full, and our travel plans changed from our original dates.

In case you are looking for me (but I’m not Waldo), you can check out the highway map at the top of this post.  A few of you may know which city is my hometown from previous posts or in sharing comments.  

Thank you for your patience and please take care.

 

Blogging Megastars

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Under the infinite Big Sky, many bloggers have found their way into my midst.  As writers, artists, people of faith, lovers of life, and a nearly unlimited collection, these amazing people share themselves, their craft, and their positive outlook.

Today, I feel grateful in sharing three WordPress bloggers whom I regularly visit.  Each is worthy of a large box of Buckeyes (peanut butter balls covered in chocolate) for adding delicious sweetness to others’ lives.

Life Is Full of Sweet Spots

Mary shares a regularly published blog, and she uses a simple and effective formula as she shares quotations, poetry, artwork, and photography. 

Heart Tokens

Renee shares her Christian faith with frequent testaments, filled with personal reflections and timely Scripture verses.  She unflinchingly shares her faith, hope, and love.  Be on the lookout for “hearts.”

A Time To Share

Kathy shares a variety of posts.  Through her posts, she eloquently and honestly expresses her love of God and country, with a bit of humor thrown in.  She also features the inspiring artwork of her husband, Paul.

Blogging Megastars

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Under the infinite Big Sky, many bloggers have found their way into my midst.  As writers, artists, people of faith, lovers of life, and a nearly unlimited collection, these amazing people share themselves, their craft, and their positive outlook.

Today, I feel grateful in sharing three WordPress bloggers whom I regularly visit.  Each is worthy of a large box of Buckeyes (peanut butter balls covered in chocolate) for adding delicious sweetness to others’ lives.

Flannel with Faith

K. L. shares her life experiences in a friendly, positive atmosphere. This retired educator willingly witnesses her faith, and her frequent posts bring a bright light of joy to the WordPress community.

Drawing Closer to Christ

Dawn writes a weekly post filled with inspiring and blessed testaments to her Christian faith.  When you read her Scripture-rich posts, you will feel much closer to the Word of the Lord.

CHRISTian Poetry

Deborah Ann is a prolific poet, and her daily posts are filled with Christian themes.  She writes new poetry as well as sharing some of her writings from the past. 

 

Blogging Megastars

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Under the infinite Big Sky, many bloggers have found their way into my midst.  As writers, artists, people of faith, lovers of life, and a nearly unlimited collection, these amazing people share themselves, their craft, and their positive outlook.

Today, I feel grateful in sharing three WordPress bloggers whom I regularly visit.  Each is worthy of a large box of Buckeyes (peanut butter balls covered in chocolate) for adding delicious sweetness to others’ lives.

Jesusluvsall’s Blog

Matt is a devoted teacher who confidently shares his Christian faith.  He inspires others with his witness of faith to God’s gift of strength and perseverance.

DarylMadden

Daryl follows a regular posting schedule with his poetry.  His unique style has produced a bonanza of Christian poems, filled with God’s Word and truth.

Steve’s Country

Steve hails from Canada, and he writes regularly about the beauty and charm from where he lives.  His enjoyment in writing produces stories, life narratives, and poetry, and his photography adds a wonderful look at the flora and fauna of the area.

 

Blogging Megastars

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Under the infinite Big Sky, many bloggers have found their way into my midst.  As writers, artists, people of faith, lovers of life, and a nearly unlimited collection, these amazing people share themselves, their craft, and their positive outlook.

Today, I feel grateful in sharing three WordPress bloggers whom I regularly visit.  Each is worthy of a large box of Buckeyes (peanut butter balls covered in chocolate) for adding delicious sweetness to others’ lives.

JanBeek

Jan shares plenty of Montana hospitality with her Christian faith, love of nature, humor, and gratitude.  She regularly shares photographs from her community along with a schedule of regular features on her blog.

Borden’s Blather

Jim shares the ordinary and the unusual with his kaleidoscope of posts.  He is devoted to a regular schedule of posts, which are splashed with humor, music, and so much more.  He shares his insightful wit and academic background.

Suzette B’s Blog

Suzette shares her poetry along with inspiring quotes.  Her content is uplifting and a welcome place to visit.  Her poetry continues to grow in its depth through a variety of themes.

 

Memo to My Readers

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During the past couple of days (April 21 and 22), the “Comments” feature of my site has been acting a bit unusual.  I have notified WordPress of this.  If you have been unable to leave me a comment, I am truly sorry.  I hope this situation will be corrected quickly.

Big Sky Buckeye

2 in 1 Barnabas Award

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Renee from Heart Tokens has graciously nominated me for this Barnabas Award.  I am truly humbled by her appreciation of my writing.

If you have not visited Renee’s site, I encourage you to do so.  She is a Christian who shares her faith without reservation.  She inspires many readers with her praise and love of God while sharing other experiences in her life.

The Barnabas Award is presented in recognition of encouragement and inspiration a blogger brings to his or her readers.

How the award works:

  1. Thank the person who nominated you, and share their blog.
  2. Think of five bloggers that encourage and inspire you and nominate them.
  3. List five things about yourself and answer the questions.
  4. Lastly, ask your nominees five questions. Why five? Because it is the number that signifies grace.

Five things about me:

I am a retired teacher who’s turned to writing.  After 40 years in the classroom, my writing journey has been a true joy.

I now live in Ohio, the Buckeye State.

I grew up in Montana.  I will always look forward to visiting my homeland under the Big Montana Sky.

I grew up with five siblings (four brothers and one sister).  I’m the oldest, for better or worse.

I have nine grandchildren between my blended family in Ohio and Montana.  The most recent addition arrived on November 29 . . . a boy.

Here are the answers to Renee’s questions:

If you were given as much money as it took to change something for the good, what would be that one thing you would choose?

Eliminate hunger across the world.  I am far too blessed with what I’ve been given.

What is one trait from a bible character that you wish you had/or am currently working on having more of?

Witness the Lord’s Word much as Apostle Paul did.  I have felt God’s nudges to write more Christian-themed poetry as a way to share my faith.

If you could have been in the crowd that day the young man had the loaves and fish lunch, what do you think your modern-day lunch would have consisted of?

My lunch would have consisted of the same fishes and loaves.  To humbling break bread with Jesus would be a life-changer.

If you had a choice, which would you do, stop world hunger or stop bullying?

I already addressed hunger, so I would then turn my attention to removing bullying from our culture—schools, workplace, on the street, politics, and so many other places.  Jesus commands us to love one another, just as our Lord loves us.

Do you believe that we can change the world by the words we speak? Whether negative or positive?

We can change the world in a positive way, one conversation at a time.  The world definitely needs more positivity.

Here are my five questions to my nominees:

What do you like most about blogging?

Who serves as one of your main inspirations for life?

Do you have a favorite quote or verse from Scripture?  Feel free to share it.

If you could change one negative thing in our world, what would you want to change?

Besides God and Jesus, who is a person or an event which you enjoy reading about from the Bible?

My nominees:

To those whom I give this award to, I dearly appreciate you for your unwavering inspiration.   If you wish, you are invited to participate.

Deb

Sonrisa

Jason

Suzette

Robbie

 

Sunshine Blogger Award

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I want to thank a truly wonderful blogger, Cicco Lady, for this nomination.  While I have been nominated previously for various awards, this is the first time for accepting a nomination with a post.  I guess it is about time for Big Sky Buckeye to try this out.

Cicco Lady publishes a wonderful blog that features her photography and words as she brings her readers some good vibes.  She is a very a caring and sharing person.  You are invited to show her some love by visiting her Positive Photography Blog at Le bleu — Cicco Lady

The Sunshine Blogger Award Rules:

Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link back to their blog so others can find them.

List the rules and display an award logo on your blog post.

Answer the 11 questions the blogger asked you.

Nominate 11 new blogs to receive the award and notify them by commenting on any of their posts.

Ask the nominees 11 new questions.

Here are Cicco Lady’s Questions:

1) What inspires you to wake up every morning?

I am inspired to wake-up every morning and see where my daily focus takes me:  faith, family, and faith.

2) What is your purpose for your blog?

The purpose of my blog is to share my writer’s journey.  Most of my writing is filled with poetry and short stories.

3) Do you like to talks walks or jogs?

I prefer walks.  Most mornings, I am out walking for an hour or more.

4) What is the most important thing to you when it comes to family?

Family is one of my cornerstones in my life.  It follows right behind my faith, and I love my Ohio and Montana family.

5) Have you ever took a trip and got stuck there because of the bad weather?

Spending much of my  life in Montana, I have experienced formidable winter storms and blizzards.

6) Do it snow where you live?

In central Ohio, the winters are generally mild until January and February when cold and snow finally arrive.

7) What makes you want to keep writing?

I am motivated to continue writing because of seeing how my craft will continue to mature and grow.  I have only been writing and blogging since October, 2018.

8) Do you like to ride horses? If so, have you?

I have ridden horses before, and it has usually been a pleasant experience.  I can remember a wild ride on a horse when I was about 12.  The frisky horse was a bit more than I could handle.  It was quite a ride.

9) What is your favorite type of birds?

My favorite type of bird would be two state birds:  Cardinal (Ohio) and Western Meadowlark (Montana).

10) What month was you born?

I was born in the month of February.

11) What is your favorite place to eat pasta?

My favorite type of pasta is lasagna, and I usually enjoy it at Olive Garden with family.  I always bring half of the entree home because I monitor my carbs consumption.

My Nominations:

I follow many bloggers, and here are some of the ones that I have followed for quite some time.   Please check out their sites as each is an active blog and shares a lot of with its readers.

mylifewithgracie.com

jengoldie493473930.wordpress.com

poetrybyarchangelwhitewolf.wordpress.com

yonniewordpresscom.wordpress.com

leoladurant.com

stevescountry.com

hearttokens.home.blog

janbeek.blog

For the nominees who wish to participate, here are the questions for you to respond to.  You are all amazing with the inspiration you bring to others.

  1. Name one person who always finds a way to inspire you.
  2. How has blogging benefited your life?
  3. Do you like to experience nature?  If so, what is one of your favorite activities?
  4. How important is family to you?
  5. What is your favorite season of the year?  Why is it your favorite?
  6. What month were you born?
  7. If you could visit any place in the world for the first time, where would you want to go?
  8. Who is one of your most favorite authors?
  9. What is something which you have a great deal of passion for?
  10. Share a favorite verse of Scripture or an inspiring quotation.
  11. Tell us one interesting facet about yourself.

 

A Blogger’s Notebook

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sephia photography of desk lamp lightened the gray typewriter on wooden table

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

As my writing and blogging progresses into the middle of its fifth month, I am pausing to reflect on my progress.  I am a writer first, a blogger second.  Without my writing, my blog would be an empty page.  I have enjoyed my writing journey since starting in October, and it has been a very worthwhile experience.

  • I read other blogs as well, and many provide inspiration and motivation to continue posting my writing to this blog.  It is exciting to share ideas and thoughts—especially with other writers.
  • I am my own creator as I write.  My boundaries are set by the helping hand of what lies deep inside of my soul, and God brings many topics to my attention.  It is amazing to see what ideas are harvested into my writing–especially my poetry.
  • It is rewarding to receive input on my writing.  Perhaps this is one of the most positive roles of my blog.  A follow, like, or a comment reminds me that others are feeling connected in some way with what I write.  But, if a post receives little feedback, I still feel at peace because I remind myself that I first write for me.
  • It is important for me to reply in some way to comments sent to me.  If someone takes the time to write me a short message, I need to be respectful and write back in due time.
  • I have enjoyed reading devotionals from other Christians.  We share a common bond formed around the Word found in scripture.  One of my goals for 2019 is to increase my faith walk with Christ, and many writers have expanded my understanding and appreciation of God’s message.
  • I am not a social media junkie.  I do not have an account linked to Facebook, Instagram, or any others.  For some, this is a comfortable place for them to be.  I just feel that my writing, maintaining my blog, and dealing with the rest of my life is truly enough for me.