Tag: blogwriting

Sustaining the In-Between

August 1, 2024 / Chiara

We live in a world where a Google search takes a few seconds, you can order a product on Amazon and you’ll get it tomorrow first thing in the morning, and Uber Eats will deliver food right to your door. We live for the fast and the next thing…

We error in not living during the in-between of the next thing because we are so consumed with the highs of the next concert, the vacation, the present, and the next event. The same applies to the lows of an illness, doubts, worries, and anxiety. It’s always the next and not in the moment. It’s a pendulum of the extremes rather than the mundane.

Today and every day, I challenge you to live for the “in-between”. It is where we spend the most time in our lives anyway. It is the day-to-day grind of making the most out of nothing or making nothing out of your most.

One day, things will cease and you’ll be left with yourself. Be sure to renew your mind, body, and soul for the in-between.

References:

Photo by Jens Johnsson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-arrow-signed-66100/

Scripture Inspiration: 2 Corinthians 4:8-11, 16-18

I Can See Clearly – The Thanksgiving Thank You!

November 20, 2023 / Chiara

This is an encouragement to myself. A declaration of knowledge to the universe. I use “universe” loosely because it’s not to the universe, but to the One who created the universe, God.

This Thanksgiving and each and every day, I’m thankful for:

Discernment, learning that my circumstances are not a result of vibes and feelings, but understanding the things I can and cannot control.
Clearer vision, not so much an improved vision that I don’t need glasses, but seeing all the things around me and what’s happening in the world, and how God is showing me how he’s piecing everything together.
Compassion toward others. Kindness does matter. Our tongues have the power to make and break someone with our words. Using our words and time effectively.
Prayer time. Communication with the Lord. Getting in my secret place. Refining my relationship with Jesus. Inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell in me.
My kids. Seeing them grow. Seeing them experience life, and figuring things out for themselves. Doing my best to equip them with the right tools to live righteously.
My husband. My confidant, my friend, my lover. Our lives and marriage are far from perfect, but appreciating the gift of companionship and we weave through life’s challenges.
My writings. I’m no bestselling author, but I write what I unashamedly write because of God. He and He alone will always be my audience.
Overall health. Yes, the bones ache, and the mind gets foggy, but I am grateful for every pain and migraine. Uncomfortable as it may be, I know it’s a reminder to treat my body like a temple and keep it clean.
The people who have come into my life and those who have left. Through seasons of valleys and hills, I know Jesus has meant it for His good and glory, and not my own.
My own failures throughout the year to my loved ones and strangers. I’m sorry I didn’t come through when I should have. Please forgive me.
Lastly, I’m thankful for a merciful God who always takes me and intercedes for me when I am unable.

Turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans comes one day of the year. But being thankful should be an everyday practice.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo by Wallace Chuck: https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photography-of-folded-eyeglasses-2097085/

Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA: https://www.pexels.com/photo/roasted-turkey-on-black-ceramic-plate-5702776/

The Fascination with Curious George

April 3, 2019 / Chiara

Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.

~~Arnold Edinborough

Yesterday, I watched Curious George’s “Swing into Spring” TV special with my eight-year-old daughter. We’ve seen the special plenty of times before, and always found it hilarious.

If you don’t know about the show, here’s a quick synopsis: The Man with the Yellow Hat is sure that George has spring fever, and so he takes him to the park to experience all the wonders of spring. George is so excited about spring that he wants his dog friend Hundley, to have spring fever too, but Hundley and the Doorman are busy trying to win the Mayor’s spring cleaning prize. When a broken water pipe floods the building, Hundley has to stay with George in the country, and he tries to make sure Hundley enjoys spring.

As we giggled at George’s silliness, I got to thinking about this little monkey and why I liked him so much. He’s very cute, but the Curious George shows are about a mischievous monkey on sordid adventures and comical mishaps that The Man with the Yellow Hat has to rescue him from or fix the situation—all the time. If that was my monkey, boy, oh boy, he would be in trouble and put in a very long time out.

What’s unusual is that a human has a monkey for a pet. Sure, people have had alligators, pigs, and dangerous snakes as pets, so what if a cartoon character is raising a monkey? At this I say, build him/her a zoo and keep those animals in their own habitats. The Man with the Yellow Hat lives in a New York City apartment of all places, and a country home near a lake called Lake Wanasinklake, but he still has living quarters meant for man, not animal.

Okay, I’m getting too literal. I must remember that we are talking about a cartoon.

Watching many of the Curious George’s shows I found that the spirited monkey has many interesting and entertaining ventures. He is constantly befriending strangers, is able to communicate with people who don’t speak English, talks to a dog named Hundley, who is a “dog doorman,” has a cool best friend named Bill, who teaches him about fishing and ghost stories, chases a squirrel named Jumpy Squirrel, and little George is so smart that he can hang with the professors at the museum where The Man with the Yellow Hat works.

Up until ten years ago, I never watched one episode or read any of the books by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey. I had no reason to. However, thankfully that changed, and in the last decade I’ve binged on so many of the Curious George television shows, admiring the unfettered monkey and all his crazy escapades. I’ll admit there is something beautiful in seeing the vulnerability and inquisitiveness of a character whose joy comes from discovering new things.

Yes, we all know little George got himself in lots of trouble. How about when he flooded the country home with water, or changed up the soup ingredients because he couldn’t find the vegetables The Man with the Yellow Hat had written down for him, or when George went up in a rocket and becomes the world’s first monkey to go into space. In those episodes and others, his pet owner always accepted George’s curiosity without being harsh or mean-spirited.

And, speaking of The Man with the Yellow Hat, how many of you know his name? He has remained nameless, only recognizable by his BIG YELLOW HAT. I did some research and discovered his name was actually Ted Shackleford. I liked him too, his unruffled demeanor, and his ability to explain things in an understanding way.

Having considered all this, my interest was piqued on the authors of Curious George—a husband and wife team named H.A. Rey and Margret Rey.

It turns out the couple were German-born Jews who fled Paris, France just before Germany took over the country in 1940. With two home-made bicycles, a few belongings, and a manuscript about an inquisitive monkey, they escaped to Lisbon, Portugal where they got on a ship, and eventually crossed over to the United States.

Did you know that the monkey’s original name was Fifi? The first book written by the Reys was titled: “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys” and it was published in France in 1939. In 1941, when the Reys went to publish their book through Houghton Mifflin on a story about a monkey…the publisher thought “Fifi” was an odd name for a male monkey, later changing it to Curious George.

Did you also know that Mr. and Mrs. Rey’s first American published book was simply titled: “Curious George,” a story about a man (The Man with the Yellow Hat) who traveled to Africa to capture a monkey and bring him to a zoo in New York City? PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) would be all over this story if this happened in real life.

If this hasn’t gotten you curious yet, how about this…Watching the Curious George TV shows and reading the books help children ages 4-7 increase their math and science skills? Read more about it here.

Seven original Curious George titles were written by the Reys, plus the “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys” book. See the list here. Their books have sold over 25 million copies worldwide.

In the early 1980s the books were turned into a television series so a wider audience could enjoy them. A new Curious George series debuted on September 4th 2006 on PBS Kids as part of the PBS Kids Preschool Block. Although Curious George ended its original run on April 1st., 2015, the series still airs on PBS Kids through reruns.

With the exception of the “Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys” book, I’ve read all seven of the tales and don’t have any favorites because I truly love them all. Click here for the list of books.

However, I do have many favorite TV episodes. Check them out below:

A Halloween Boo Fest

A Very Monkey Christmas

No Knowing Gnocchi with Chef Pisghetti

Auctioneer George

Curious George Sounds Off

School of Dance

Windmill Monkey

Meet the New Neighbors

Well done, George

Something New Under the Sun

The Perfect Carrot

Old McGeorgie had a Farm

The Magic Garden

Up, Up, and Away

For a complete list of all the TV episodes, click here.

I’ll never grow old watching the Curious George shows. I think it is safe to say that my daughter will agree. We bond, laugh at George’s pranks, and relax for family time. I think the two biggest takeaways/ lessons from Curious George are never to rush and judge, and to always forgive—important traits we need to work on in today’s world.

To read more about the Mr. and Mrs. Rey, check out this treasure: “The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey”

Until next time…Be curious.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_George#”Original_Adventures”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curious_George_(book)

http://www.curiousgeorge.com/

https://www.kidsbookseries.com/curious-george-original-adventures/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Curious_George_episodes

http://www.tv.com/shows/curious-george/

https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/curious-george-learns-about-brand-recognition

https://www.kelseymedeiros.com/braking-down/the-curious-case-of-curious-george

https://www.reddit.com/r/FanTheories/comments/10rzyr/a_unifying_theory_of_curious_george_with_an/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm09dAsynAs

https://therealworldwilmington.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/the-awful-truth-about-curious-george/

http://thefederalist.com/2017/01/02/story-curious-georges-great-escape-nazis/

https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/13/books/how-curious-george-escaped-the-nazis.html

What do tweezers and an inspired writing distraction have to do with each other?

October 17, 2018 / Chiara

I’m often asked where I get ideas for my blogs. Honestly, it is the everyday, mundane occurrences. I welcome the “inspired distraction.” Helps me to be creative.

Today, unbeknownst to myself, I was inspired to write this post because of an interesting incident.

I was at a stop light in the left-turn lane. It was late afternoon, and I was en-route to the grocery stores and my two daughters were with me in the backseat. I was tired, and the ticking sound of the left-turn signal was soothing and hypnotizing when suddenly, my youngest daughter asked me to clarify something. It went like this…

“Momma, what is that lady doing in the car?”

“What lady?” I didn’t want to take my eyes off the road because any moment the light would turn green.

She pointed. “There, next to our car?”

In a car on the right of us, was a woman staring intently into her visor mirror.

My eyes bugged out at what I saw.

Calmly, and without inciting any emotion, I replied. “Well, it looks like she’s plucking hairs from her chin.”

“Eww…!” Was the unison response from the girls.

The light turned green and we inched forward. As the disgusted grumblings continued, I couldn’t help but feel different. In fact, just before I drove off, I noticed that the woman had a booster chair and a baby car seat, both empty. As we turned, the woman sped past us.

I drove and found myself thinking that her beauty regimen was ingenious.

Ingenious? Yes.

Hear me out. You have the visor mirror really close to you (I mean really, what’s it there for?), you don’t need much time to locate and extract those yucky facial hairs, and you can do it anywhere. Even at a stoplight. Better than texting. Plus, you are safely inside a vehicle with the doors locked so no one can bother you.

You can argue and say, why do it on a busy street where people can see you do this private chore? And to this, I say, who cares!

Everyone these days is in a hurry heading somewhere and will forget what they saw…usually. Except me who thinks it was a brilliant move and my daughters who are grossed out.

I’m not suggesting that we should dress, shave, and groom ourselves in our cars. What I’m getting at is that this woman found a moment to use her time efficiently because she may have too much on her plate to think of herself and do these womanly duties. She may have a full or part-time job and juggle motherhood. Even ladies without children can relate: the climb up the career ladder is just as difficult.

So, kudos to the woman plucking her facial hairs. You look like you utilize your time efficiently.

Still, I have a few things to say…

Slow down. Take time for you. Don’t cram everything in one sitting. Your children will appreciate you regardless. Your spouse may have other thoughts, but that’s not my problem. Whatever you do, take the time for YOU.

And if nobody has told you lately…YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.

Oh, one more thing…Thank you for today’s writing distraction. (Wink)

The Vacation Bible School Experience

August 13, 2018 / Chiara

Though summer doesn’t officially end until September 23^rd, for our family and community, school is just a few days away.

It’s been a fruitful summer. One filled with many exciting family events. I took a sabbatical from the obsessive editing and rewriting I did during the spring on my third and upcoming novel, Make it right; Make it Matter. I hired a couple of beta reviewers who did a phenomenal job of identifying some loopholes which I will fix when my girls go back to school.

For the last three years, my girls have attended Vacation Bible School at our church. It’s one week at the end of June where kids ages 4-12 participate in various stations that teach about Jesus and scriptures from the bible using games, songs, and crafts. Every year is a different theme.

My children love going to Vacation Bible School. They know a lot of the volunteers, do a ton of activities for a few hours, and I get some “me time”.

However, God had a plan for me and for a while I ignored it. Let me elaborate…

In the spring there were a number of emails that came across my inbox from our Children’s Ministry Director asking for help on certain stations that are part of the Vacation Bible School curriculum. One of them was Bible Drama in which an adult volunteer works with kids from our Youth Ministry to put on skits related to each day’s scripture. It requires set design, costume design, facilitating the script—speaking about each scripture as it relates to our lives, assigning roles from the scripts, and making sure my youth volunteers are present each day for the week.

I deleted a number of emails related to the pleas. I registered my kids and I was good. This year’s theme was Shipwrecked: Rescued By Jesus. I found the website, listened to the music, and talked to my daughters about attending. They were excited. Then, one night, I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned for hours. I felt this tug to take over Bible Drama. In the morning, I shrugged it off until I saw an email sent directly to me from the Director. It was May and she was pleading for my participation.

“Crap. I can’t.” I thought.

My background is instructional design and for a number of years I also did stand up training. Even so, being an author, sometimes you are asked to speak publicly about your books and experiences to reader groups. I’ll be honest; public speaking often gives me anxiety. I’d rather be sitting at a desk where I can type words on a blank screen, and use the backspace key to erase something that doesn’t always sound right. It’s my comfort zone.

God responded with “Yes, you will.”

Guilt and fear consumed me. I didn’t want to disobey God or turn my back on the church, even if I was really scared to do it. I slept on it that night and I didn’t toss and turn. Instead, a calm peace came over me, and when I awoke, I had a plan of how to accomplish this role. If this is what God wanted me to do, I had to take a chance.

So, I set out to work with the Director. I read through the scripts, modified and enhanced content where I could, researched scripture, communicated with my new recruits and made copies of the materials needed to make this one special week—super special. Most of all, I prayed to God to give me the wisdom to impact all the children attending the session, as well as my six “tween-aged” kids who were going to help me.

For each day, we had a scripture bible point and a story or two to help the children understand the message. This is what I learned:

Day 1: When you’re lonely…Jesus rescues!

Bible Story: Jesus tells parables about lost things. (Luke 15)

Parable of the Lost Coin

Parable of the Lost Sheep

Parable of the Prodigal Son

Day 2: When you worry…Jesus rescues!

Bible Story: Martha worries and complains. (Luke 10:38-42)

Day 3: When you struggle…Jesus rescues!

Bible Story: Jesus’ friends try to rescue him in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Luke 22:39-54, Mathew 26: 36-56)

Day 4: When you do wrong…Jesus rescues!

Bible Story: Jesus welcomes a criminal before dying and coming back to life. (Luke 23:26, 24:12)

Day 5: When you’re powerless…Jesus rescues!

Bible Story: Peter and John heal a lame man in Jesus’ name. (Acts 3:1-26)

It was a jammed packed week and I went home exhausted every day. Most of all, I came away filled with happy emotion, energized for God’s Word, and the kids: the participants and my helpers gave me purpose. God knew as He always does that this is where I was supposed to be.

With school starting very, very, soon, and anxiety and nervousness running high in our home, God has tapped me again. To send my kids off with this powerful reminder that no matter what…Jesus Rescues!

Resources:

https://www.group.com/category/ministry-resources/childrens-ministry/vbs/shipwrecked.do

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-15/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-10/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-22/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-26/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-23/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Luke-Chapter-24/

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Acts-Chapter-3/