I want to share with you something a friend of mine said recently to me, “The virus is global, but God is universal.” Maybe she was quoting someone. I don’t know. But her words did make me pause to reflect on my belief in a Higher Being and how this belief affects my response to … Continue reading Finding Personal Equilibrium in a Chaotic World
Some of you reading my words love the thrill of a roller coaster ride. The speed, the sharp turns, the precipitous dip! But that has never been an adventure I craved. In fact, I have only been on one roller coaster in my entire life, when my husband somehow tricked me into taking leave of … Continue reading Stop the World! I Wanna Get Off!
My second children’s book, Sweet Pickles Among the Marigolds, is now available in a Kindle version through Amazon. Maybe you are a librarian, children’s early education center director, primary school teacher, homeschooler, parent/grandparent or other caring adult. If you want a peep into excellent materials and ideas to spark enthusiasm for reading, you might consider … Continue reading Sweet Pickles’ Ebook Release!
A few years ago my younger daughter and I were fortunate enough to be able to travel to Spain and Portugal and have in our itinerary an added excursion by ferry to Morocco. To this day I can still envision the café in Tangier where we sat at a low table sipping hot sweet mint … Continue reading Need a Boost? Try Moroccan-Style Mint Tea! (Recipe)
When I was a young child and a pre-reader, I was introduced to the nursery rhyme, “Mary, Mary, quite contrary. How does your garden grow?” Back then I never wondered why she was contrary. But as I grew older and planted gardens of my own, I found out why she was in such an unhappy … Continue reading Nonny . . . How Does Your Garden Grow? (photo gallery)
Last week I was excited to share with you the news of the publication of my latest children's beginning reader/activity book. It's called Sweet Pickles Among the Marigolds: A Rhyme of Garden Fun. Today I'll give you a sneak peep between the pages with a recording of my sing-along song Pick Some Pickles! You'll find … Continue reading New song, new website, new book… Celebrate with me!
The shutting down earlier this year of physical schools and preschools due to the Coronavirus left many parents, grandparents and others to assume full-time roles as facilitators for learning. And now as the summer looms large with its own set of concerns as to how to fill the time of the young ones, may I … Continue reading Keeping Young Minds and Bodies Busy–My New Book Release!
Here is a letter to my school-age grandchildren which I would like to share with you: May 2020 Dear Grandgirls and Grandguys, Congratulations to you 2020 Graduates and your Families! To my Eighth Grade Grad, you really are a 2020 graduate as you have finished the rigorous requirements for the courses in your grade and … Continue reading Congratulations to 2020 Graduates!
What is your view of God? For some God is an angry spirit who must be appeased through ritualistic prayer, worship, and sacrifice. But there is never peace within the heart because one is never sure if she or he has done enough. For others God is the one to pray to only when there … Continue reading The God of Hope
One day you’re standing upright, holding your head up high. All around you is a clear sky with rays of sunshine warming your face and your heart. There are stressful elements in your life, to be sure. But they are manageable. You have a daily routine. And a very normal daily routine it is. Working. … Continue reading How to Keep Standing
Let's look at the following phrases: If my people . . . Si mon peuple . . . Si mi pueblo . . . Wenn dann dieses Volk . . . They represent various translations of words spoken to King Solomon, son of David, at a time when he was ruling over the United Kingdom … Continue reading If my people…
In my recent series on money management, I've shared how my husband and I handled finances through our almost 33 years of marriage. We went from being a childless working couple for seven years to a family which included three children and two dogs. We lived in a small inexpensive apartment in the inner city … Continue reading Building Bigger Barns
As I returned in last Friday's blog post to Snippets about money management, below are my ideas for talking to your pre-teens and teens. I wrote this five-part money series before we, as citizens of the United States, were feeling the serious implications of the spread of the Coronavirus. With so many hurting economically, the … Continue reading Snippet on Raising Financially Responsible Teens and Young Adults
I just want to share a website I've found with an excellent PATTERN, INSTRUCTIONS, and VIDEO for SEWING A CLOTH SURGICAL FACE MASK WITH TIES. I watched several videos from other sites and tried a couple of other patterns. I like this one the best for clear information and a close fit on the face. … Continue reading Sewing a Cloth Face Mask
Just prior to the rapid spread of Covid-19 in the U.S.A. from the Coronavirus, I started a series of "snippets" on money management. After the posting of the first two snippets in early March, I shifted gears and focused on "Words of Encouragement" and then writings befitting the Easter season. I've decided to pick up … Continue reading Snippet on Teaching Young Kids Money Basics
It was Easter Morning 1999 and my husband, who had been a vibrant, stirring, muscular man, was now reduced to a skeletal figure forced to lie flat on his back on a hospital bed. Our three children, all in their twenties, were fulfilling their Sunday church responsibilities in music and media and would join me in … Continue reading Standing on Holy Ground
This supper of Jesus with his twelve disciples which we call The Last Supper, as it is recorded in the Gospels, was going to be a meal unlike others they had shared. Jesus would reveal what was about to happen in the days ahead. And He was going to institute the observance of Communion or … Continue reading Understanding Jesus’ Observance of the Jewish Passover
My older daughter Neva-Marie recently recorded sixteen minutes of her singing and playing piano in her church sanctuary. If you feel you need a sanctuary--a place to go to restore peace and calmness to your anxious spirit--consider watching and perhaps singing along with this video: https://www.facebook.com/111183127836/videos/213626896525012/ Sharing Sacred Songs of EncouragementConnie Carlisle Polley, 2020ConnieCarlislePolley.com
When my younger daughter was growing up, for a period of time, she had hanging from the doorknob to her bedroom a sign which said: KEEP OUT! BUT KEEP ON LOVIN’! My mother, in particular, thought this was quite amusing. During these times when so many are isolating themselves in an attempt to slow the … Continue reading Keep Out! But Keep on Lovin’!
It always amazes me how quickly people give up on God, seemingly much more quickly than they give up on anything else. Your car won’t start, and you’re frustrated. But do you throw up your hands and say, “I’m never getting in a car again—it’s too unreliable!" You discover a frozen water pipe. Do you … Continue reading Holding On to Faith
As the Coronavirus has become pandemic, spreading over our world, I’m going to depart from my Snippet Series on money to share with you what I hope will be words of encouragement when the routines of our daily lives are being turned upside down. I see three essentials to surviving chaos. And those essentials are … Continue reading Three Essentials to Surviving Chaos
In my last Nonny’s Blog Post How to Have All The Money You Need, I talked from my own personal experience. Today I’m going to quote what some notable individuals have to say. As we all know, money does matter and money matters are important. Dave Ramsey, starting with one financial talk show on one … Continue reading Snippet on Money Matters
Over the next few weeks my Snippets are going to be part of a series on money. Hope you will join me as I explore Money Matters, Teaching Young Kids Money Basics, Raising Financially Responsible Teens and Young Adults, and Building Bigger Barns. Now for today's Money Snippet... My late husband and I raised our … Continue reading Snippet on How to Have all the Money You Need
History chooses whom to remember and whom to forget. And such was the case of African American women who worked for NASA in its early days as “human computers,” mathematicians, scientists and engineers. One of these highly intelligent and strongly motivated women was Katherine Johnson who died this week at the age of 101. I … Continue reading Katherine Johnson: Getting the Numbers Right
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), as one of the framers of our Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States, had a keen intellect. He distinguished himself as a scientist/inventor, printer/journalist/publisher, and diplomat/Ambassador to France. In his POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, we find one of the philosophies he penned which reads like a poem: For the … Continue reading Snippet on Doing Ordinary Jobs Well
Here’s our starter snippet from last week, followed by my energetic reflection... During the January 7, 2020 airing of Alex Trebek’s television game show “Jeopardy” the contestants James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter were competing to achieve the title as the Greatest of All Time Jeopardy player. In the category “Presidents & the Bible” … Continue reading Snippet on Finding Energy for Your Life
I recently placed online the one hundredth post of my NONNY’S BLOG which I created in the spring of 2018. I am very appreciative that many of you, my readers, have followed me regularly on a weekly basis as I’ve posted every Friday morning at about 9:05. I would love for more of you to … Continue reading Introducing My Snippet Toolbox
