The Hair and the Chicken

If you don’t lose all respect for me after watching this video, no worries, you’ll have another chance. Sometimes good things do come out of bad hair days.

Grateful to be among the contributors to the newly released book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Well That Was Funny featuring 101 TRUE stories to make you laugh out loud. A great gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and any day. Or treat yourself to the good medicine of a little laughter. #CSSWellThatWasFunny

The original Chicken Soup for the Soul book was rejected 144 times before being published 30 years ago. That's persistence. It became a bestseller and grew into a bestselling series.

Thank you Chicken Soup for the Soul for the opportunity to contribute to your book. (And I'm so glad that despite receiving 1000s of submissions, it only took three tries for you to accept one of my stories.)

Please scroll for more content.

This is a candid photo. —Here she is: my feisty beloved mother-in-law. She whipped her door open when I arrived and demanded, “Where’s the book? Give me my book! I want my book.” — I wrote this for YOU, Mom! (Yes, she is a miracle. Thank you Jesus and to all who prayed for her healing.)

Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and at other fine booksellers

About our hack job of a video: I wrote the script (all true) a few minutes before my husband got home. We had 15 minutes to record it before we dashed out the door. No time to memorize or rehearse. — And that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. (Thanks for capturing our crazy on camera, Andrew.)

Please scroll for POETRY and a SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY to help chronicle and preserve #CivilRights history.

Blessed to have my article Writers, Quit Quitting! on the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference blog.

Catching the Tail End of #PoetryAppreciationMonth Below

Introducing my brilliant fellow writer Jay F. Calhoun

Faithfulness Reigns

    —By Jay F. Calhoun

Faithfulness reigns

Shouts without sound

Shows like diamonds

Lodged in the hands

Tiny as dust, glinty

In the work-split skin

Of them

Men and women in the ring.

And shines then

All covering

One love-harnessed pair

It sounds strong in them

In the deep round drums

Of their true, true hearts.

Arcs and Laminations

    —By Jay F. Calhoun

Boy practicing big-league pitches

Throws against the brownstones’ steps

The more mom yells

Harder he hurls

That spaldeen spins back

Arcing from the third step

Up from the strike-zone

He is sharpened

Dodging the cars

One focus only

He makes the catch clean

Looking backwards

Over his shoulder

One out, man on second                                                   

Steps wearing down year by year

Not by pitching

Or boiling fury of boysadness

Or even a mother’s loud-shouted love

But salt and old Mr. Alvez’s shovel

Chopping at ice layers

Wishing to be in Puerto Rico

Where once he was a son

In the minors

JAY F. CALHOUN is writing again. A former art student with concentrations (Hah!) in sculpture, painting and women’s studies, Jay is presently working on his BS in fiction in Richmond Va. He is married to the most exciting woman on the planet and is originally from New York. He apologizes for that. Not the married thing, that’s good.

He is currently working on his historical fiction trilogy The Fields of The Fatherless, his YA Novel: The Last Dogs of Geronimo, along with an essay about story format templates in Genesis and a spate of homonymic/heterographic poems. And he’s fixing the back fence.

His oeuvre, to date, includes published articles, essays, poems, short stories and letters to various editors, and Jay will be forever indebted to Mrs. Amy Martin, his fourth-grade teacher, who explained the meaning of run-on sentences and said his poem made her weep.

[And my 2019 INTERVIEW with Del HERE]

My young friend Isaac Barros returns:

When It Is June

When it is June,

I hear a red cardinal’s tune.

Creamy snow clouds sail the lapis sky.

They puff and bounce, not shy.

The clouds dot the sky up high like pins.

Below grass blades flap like fins.

The hot golden sun smiles at me.

Then I turn on the freezing AC.

Leaves explode on trees like fireworks.

They say they’re FINALLY back, and smirk.

When it is June,

I know school will end soon.

~~*~~

PRAYERS

Set me free, lord

Feed my famished soul

Awake my languishing heart

Water my dry and thirsty soul

Don’t let me fade away

I need You

Can’t wait to be with you

Shake me from complacency

Deliver me from the trivial life

Search and purify

Let Your zeal consume me

~~*~~

Awake my soul from slumber

Stir to the Master’s touch

Gaze into the eyes of your Maker

Turn and drink in His beauty

Be intoxicated by his Holy presence

Transformed by the living Word

—Rachael M. Colby

AN INVITATION TO HELP HONOR & PRESERVE SOME CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY

CLICK HERE to take a virtual tour via this video simulation of the proposed Scarboro 85 memorial in Bissel Park in Oak Ridge, TN.

This will commemorate the 85 brave Black students from the Scarboro neighborhood in #OakRidge who made history in September 1955 when they integrated Oak Ridge High School and Robertsville Jr. High. This will also honor those who aided the integration process. There is also the option to view photo renderings and donate toward this project to honor these students and preserve Civil Rights history on the Scarboro85Monument.com site. 

Donations can also be made here:
Contributions can be taken directly to Pinnacle Bank in Jackson Square, oak Ridge, TN or mailed to:

PO Box 4158, Oak Ridge 37831
Please make checks payable to United Way of Anderson County and note Scarboro 85 Monument


Forgotten History: The Story of the Scarboro 85 on WVLT TV, Knoxville TN videos and an article by Nia Myrthil

SOME INSPIRATION FROM FRIENDS ON THE WRITING ROAD

   
Focus: It Changes Everything, by Dr. Katherine Hutchinson Hayes
   
Emergency Room Obedience, by Cherrilynn Bisbano on Arise Daily Devos
   
Check out award-winning author, teacher, speaker, and web designer Rhonda Dragomir's work and offerings (And she has a story in Chicken Soup: Well That Was Funny🙂

Creative Writing Journal: Faith Inspired Writing Prompts & Hope-Filled Poetry  Journaling Scribbles Collection – Version 1 Abstract Orange Circles Cover Art – BW 6×9 (Thrilled to have three of my poems featured in this book. The poetry and promts presented in this compilation not only serve to inspire writers but are suitable for incorporating as part of one’s devotional time.)

PRIOR POSTS

• 
  No Record of Wrongs
  Unforgiveness, like a dam, hinders the flow of God’s Spirit and leads to spiritual stagnancy. Sometimes it’s a struggle to forgive though, especially when the person who hurt us is unrepentant.
• 
  Missing from the Manger
  Christmas 2017 In the year of our meager manger, a snowman made of sand, a lone shepherd, and two sheep showed up for the annual frenzied day-of-decoration at our home.—Sans Mary, Joseph, Jesus, or anyone else.
• 
  A Second Wind & Christmas Clementines
  ~Second Wind~ With Christmas days away and money scant for gifts, I determined to live up to my nickname, the Queen of Make-Do.
• 
  Bold & Vulnerable
  Vulnerability doesn’t come easy for me. But God calls us to live boldly and open-faced. Love requires we truly give of ourselves.
• 
  When Can-do Won’t Do
  “God,” I said, “why is this so hard lately?” Sweat beaded on my forehead and panic set in. I usually take several hours to write the questions to lead the live Bible-based discussion, but less than 90 minutes remained before the start, … Continue reading “When Can-do Won’t Do”

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Billy Graham Evangelistic Association  24 hour Prayer Line: (888) 388-2683

© 2023 Rachael M Colby | Tattoo It On your Heart

Author: Rachael M. Colby

Rachel M. Colby has a heart for reconciliation and a passion to uplift those who serve in tough places. She writes to connect cultures’ questions with Christianity’s answers, inspire faith, and motivate. She is an award-winning writer in the categories of articles, poetry, devotions, essays, flash fiction, and children’s picture books. Her article The Integration of Oak Ridge (the subject of her WIP) won the 2022 Selah Award for Articles in Print at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. She is a longtime member of The Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild and a protégé in the Cecil Murphey Mentoring program. Rachael's work has appeared on the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Blog, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Christian Devotions, Southern Ohio Christian Voice, Inkspirations Online, in the compilation books Creative Writing Journal: Faith Inspired Writing Prompts & Hope-Filled Poetry, Defining Moments: Memorable and Inspiring Stories from Outstanding Leaders, and The Courage to Write: 62 Devotions to Encourage Your Writing Journey, and in the Oak Ridger newspaper. This Jamaican-born wife, mom, beach bum, artist, work in progress, makes her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She runs on copious amounts of coffee, chocolate, and a whole lot of “Help me, Jesus.” View all posts by Rachael M. Colby