Author: Colleen Reece Author

“Love at First Sight. For Real?”

My friend, Dace Pedecis, recently asked this question on https://come-follow-my-blog.com.

I am living proof that love at first sight is real and can be enduring.

1918. One Friday night in late fall at a farmhouse a few miles out of Darrington, Washington.

Nineteen-year-old WIlliam E. Reece (Bill) wearily crept up the back stairs to his room, followed by sounds of merriment from the living room below. How had well-meaning friends and neighbors discovered he was to report for military duty on Monday? He’d only received the news today. “The last thing I need is a farewell party,” he muttered. “But not appearing would be rude. In case it was supposed to be a surprise, I won’t spoil it by dressing up.”

Slipping into jeans and a dark blue, open-necked flannel shirt, Bill stepped into the hall and started down the stairs. He stopped short. A dark-haired girl with eyes as blue as his own looked up from a couch, where she sat between with a uniformed soldier and a sailor.

Bill blinked. Swallowed hard, feeling as if lightning had struck.

Pearl Towne, home from her teaching job forty miles away, had come with her sister Vera, who taught school a little way from the Reece farm and boarded with them during the week. Pearl took one look at the man on the stairs. Who was this casually clad stranger, so in contrast with the other more formally dressed men? It doesn’t matter, her heart shouted. He’s mine. 

“May I get you a glass of water?” one of her companions asked.

She nodded and he went toward the kitchen.

Bill cleared the bottom steps with a bound. He slid into the seat beside Pearl and calmly appropriated the picture album her other escort had been showing her. “I can explain it better,” he said, “since it’s my family.”

Pearl hid a gasp. This must be Bill, eldest Reece son, and soon to be a soldier. A pang went through her. Why hadn’t she met him before? And why was she so upset at the thought of him going away to fight and perhaps never returning?

The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Bill never left her side, even when the sailor returned with water and glared at him. Pearl smiled to herself, thanked the scowling man, drank the water, and secretly rejoiced. When the party ended and the guests from town donned warm coats for the five-mile walk home, the soldier eagerly asked, “May I see you home, Miss Towne?”

“No. I shall,” the sailor put in.

“That won’t be necessary.” Bill smiled. “Miss Towne is staying here with her sister tonight.”

The next day Bill and his brother walked Pearl and Vera home. Neither Bill nor Pearl ever looked at another would-be sweetheart, despite dire warnings. “Schoolteachers are high-toned,” Bill’s friends said. “She will never care for a logger like you.”

“Don’t set your cap for Bill Reece,” Pearl was advised, “Every single girl up and down the Skagit River is after him.”

They ignored the gloom-and-doom predictions. Camp Lewis stopped taking recruits before Bill had to report for duty, as the Spanish Flu hit like a hurricane. The Armistice was signed on November 11th. Bill never had to go to war. After five wonderful years of courtship, during which Pearl returned to teach near Darrington, she and Bill married. The love that began with a single look sustained them through the loss of their first child, the Great Depression, wars, and other hardships.

My two brothers and I never tired of hearing Dad and Mom’s better-than-a-fairytale story that remained strong until Dad passed away in 1968. When would-be suitors showed interest, Mom just smiled. She’d had the best.

Love at first sight? Absolutely.

What do a minister’s daughter, a B&B owner, a woman police officer, a woman with a canine posse, and a forensic accountant have in common?

All are characters in the new Small Town Mysteries Kindle collection by five popular authors. Hours of suspenseful reading.

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Surrounded by Books

I grew up surrounded by books. At night, Mom, Dad, my two brothers, and I traveled to faraway places. We met historical and fictional characters by kerosene lamplight.

The book I remember and loved best was an over-sized, fully color-illustrated Bible. By the time Mom taught me to read when I was four, I knew dozens of stories from the pictures in the well-worn Bible that became my Rule Book. At age 86, it still is.

A few years ago, I awakened filled with excitement. After dozens of fiction and nonfiction books, I would begin a retelling of the Bible stories I had loved so long, with appropriate chapter heading illustrations for the 100 entries.

Bible Stories: Creation to Revelation came out in 2017, and is now the lead book in my new 4-in-1 Kindle collection, Milestone Memories: A Path to the Past. It offers help to readers who are searching for an easily understood record of people, places, and events that shaped history–and how God’s love and mercy span the ages. Excellent source for family devotions, sermon starters, and to read aloud to young children.

Note:  Milestone Memories includes the following. All titles also available as paperback and Kindle singles.

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Going Home Again

Thomas Wolfe said, “You can’t go home again.” Colleen feels differently. She walks the path to the past in 31 of her best-loved stories of growing up relying on God’s faithfulness. Perfect for personal or family devotions.

Lamplight to Limelight

Only God could multiply by more than a hundredfold the dream of a child who learned to read by kerosene lamplight and vowed to someday write a book. This small-town logger’s daughter shares her heart-warming journey of joy on the winding (often stony) path to full-time, award-winning authorship. Valuable writing tips included.

Women of the Bible: 50 Character Sketches

What was it like to be a woman in Bible days? To trudge dusty roads, rocky mountain paths, and known as good or bad? Named and nameless, young and old, some honored, others, scorned, these women played a vital part in history and left an indelible mark from which we can learn.

Bargains Galore. More multi-book Kindle collections.

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If everyone lit a candle, what a bright world it would be.

Two years ago, life as we know it changed. The pandemic sent fear into our hearts and minds. It turned us into hermits and deprived us of the companionship of family and friends. Although social distancing, wearing masks, and vaccinations have helped, we continue to feel as if we are walking under scowling skies, not knowing what the future holds.

The Psalmist David wrote from the depths of despair, “How long, Lord? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?” (Psalm 13:2, NIV). Like David, we search to find light while groping in darkness.

Award-winning authors Colleen L. Reece and Julie Reece-DeMarco (two million of their co-authored books sold) offer their favorite “candles” to help readers find light in darkness, joy, love, peace, and encouragement. This 4-book Kindle collection contains: 

Doorways and Windowsills. Don’t waste time staring at closed doors. Search for open windows and new opportunities. Inspiring stories of those who overcame tremendous obstacles.

The Heirloom. The most priceless gift is the one given away. A caring minister’s sacrifice changes lives.

Joy to the World. A treasury of true and “could be true” holiday stories to brighten the season.

Walking with the Master: Celebrating a lifetime of God’s protection and provision of light in darkness.

A Gift of Love: FInding Light in Darkness

Between the covers of a book is a lovely place to be.

• A Family in Danger. Will moving to an isolated mountain cabin with no modern conveniences solve the Clarks’ problems? Or make them worse?
• Best Friends Forever. WW2 is over, but conflict won’t end for Pat Kelly until her BFF comes home.
• Colleen’s Classics. Treasured Tales for the Young and Young at Heart. Thirty-six true and based-on-truth short stories.
• The “Remembrance” Book Laura Ingalls Wilder, wrote, “If I had a remembrance book, I’d write about Pa and Mr. Hanson. How they walked and looked and talked and how we wondered what they said.” Two of Colleen’s special “remembrances.”
• Storybook House. Timeless Tales for Fun-loving Families. Twenty-one true stories.

Much of my writing income comes from selling reprints. Friends call me The Recycle Queen. Most of my 170+ original published books have also been reissued, some more than once. It’s exciting to have old favorites back in print or as electronic editions, edited and revised, with brand-new covers.

Note: Once a book is out of print, you must get a cancellation of contract/ return of copyright from the publisher before offering it to another company.

Multiple Sales Make Money. Rules for Resales.

Only a few hundred of my approximately 1300+ magazine sales are originals. Here are some fast facts about rights.

• All rights. Just that. You no longer own the work.
• First rights. You cannot sell a manuscript anywhere else until it is actually published.
• First publication rights (e.g., First North American Serial Rights). You can resell the same story or article to another publication, without any changes, as long as you do not allow another publication to actually publish the piece “first.” (Some magazines now include a contract clause that specifies how soon after publication you can resell a piece.)
• One-time rights. The magazine purchases the right to publish once, date unspecified. This worked great when I was writing short pieces for Christian story papers and magazines because they were non-competing markets. Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, etc. and secular magazines are read by different groups. Mark manuscript “One-time rights to non-competing magazines.” Warning: Don’t send to an adult magazine and a children’s or teen magazine of the same denomination. They can end up in the same homes.
• Reprint rights. Mark “Reprint rights to non-competing magazines.”

Bundling Up for Bargains

Combining two or more titles that target a specific audience (such as families) into printed or electronic collections, offers readers more bang for their buck and more exposure to our work. 

 Winged Publications has reprinted dozens of my titles in the last seven years, including many print series and Kindle collections. Among the most popular are the Juli Scott Mysteries (7 titles, YA), Shepherd of Love Hospital series (5 titles, medical romance-mystery), and Romance Quartet (4 western romance novels).

Buy Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Colleen-L.-Reece/e/B001H9PAYY

Other recent Kindle collections

 Cherished Brides .

Obstacles block paths to “happily-ever-after” in 10 Cherished Romance novels.

Northern Brides.

Romance and high adventure in the Far North.

Events can indelibly etch themselves in our hearts and memories. Here are three of many unforgettable incidents that remain as clear as when they occurred decades ago. Each taught me valuable life lessons. 

“This Can’t be Happening”

I was sixteen the first month I began my first job: school secretary in the small logging town of Darrington, Washington. A highlight of each year was the Junior-Senior Spring Banquet, to which I was invited. I saved enough money out of my $60 a month salary (minus social security and retirement) to purchase material for the perfect dress. i described it to one of the senior girls, a special friend. “It’s pale pink nylon with a darker pink lining. A full skirt, and–”

A student who drove everyone crazy by constantly interrupting other people’s conversations sidled up to us. “Did you get the material at Jake’s?” Duh. Jake’s was the only dry goods store in town. I nodded, glad when the bell rang for the beginning of the next class.

It seemed like the banquet date would never come. At last, I stepped into the beautifully decorated school cafeteria wearing my dream dress. No! my brain screamed. This cannot be happening. Wrong. Miss Nosey Pest stood there wearing my dress. The dress I had scrimped, saved for, and slaved making. Pale pink nylon over deeper pink. Full skirt. I couldn’t move.

“I see you girls made twin dresses,” a teacher said. “How nice!” Nice? Inexcusable! The copycat must have sent her mother scurrying to Jake’s, armed with a full description of my dress. I gritted my teeth, somehow made it through the nightmare banquet and held back anger and tears until I got home. Mom wisely waited until the storm ended, then said, “I understand your feelings, but remember, Colleen, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The girl obviously admires you and felt that whatever you chose would be appropriate.” Mom was right. Lesson learned: Looking at situations from another perspective can make a difference.

“The Importance of Being Me”

While visiting an out-of-town girlfriend I met a cute guy who paid attention to me. A short time later, I learned he had been inquiring about me. The next time, I saw him, he asked me for a date. although it meant a hundred-mile round trip to my home. I was thrilled but apprehensive. I eyed my closet with distaste.  As a teen in the 1950s, I wore fluffy skirts and frilly blouses, a far cry from what I felt the young man was probably accustomed to when dating more sophisticated girls.

Well,” I decided. “Nothing says I can’t change my style.” I purchased dark blue material, made a sheath dress, topped it with chunky beads, cut my curly hair super short, and was all set to make an impression.

 I did. He was polite but didn’t show his former interest. When my girlfriend asked how the date went, he shook his head. “I liked her the way she was. Simple clothes and curly hair. Now she’s just like everyone else.” Lesson learned: Be who you are, not who you think will appeal to others.

“A Not-so- Soft Answer”

I sat at my desk glaring at the clock on the office wall. Less than a half-hour until quitting time. My hands, that should have been typing a mountain of purchase orders, remained idle, as they had for several hours spent waiting for my sub-boss to approve the orders.  I had repeatedly asked him to sign them. Instead, he spent the afternoon staring out the window. It wasn’t the first time. Why he dragged his heels at simply initialing the requisitions was beyond me.

Fifteen minutes later he came to my desk, smirked, and held out a gigantic stack of papers. “Here you go.”

Frustration at my unnecessarily wasted time culminated in a scene unlike anything my co-workers ever dreamed would come from “Little Miss Sunshine,'” the girl who got along with everyone.  I stared at my sub-boss and let him have it with both barrels. “Of all the inconsiderate people I have ever met, you take the cake! I have asked you for hours to initial these. Now there is no way I can get them done before quitting time.” Paralyzing silence followed. Suddenly my irrepressible sense of humor kicked in. I stuck my hands on my hips and said, “I sure told you–and boy, do I feel good!“

He looked stunned. Then the smirk changed to a chuckle. “You sure did.” Laughter swept through the room. My sub-boss dropped the orders on my desk and went back into his office. I cringed. In spite of the chuckle, would I have a job when I came in the next day? Or be reprimanded?

Shortly after I arrived the next morning, the sub-boss brought a new stack of initialized orders to my desk. His eyes twinkled. “Here you go.” I hid my shock and managed to thank him. Incredible as it seems, my dressing him down proved a catalyst for change. No longer did I have to sit idle while orders piled up. The man also began to relax and relate better to the rest of us. Lesson learned: A soft answer can turn away wrath, but sometimes laughter will diffuse explosive situations and clear the air.

Some of our most important lessons are learned from the most trying circumstances.

At home in Darrington WA

Growing up a few miles out of a small western Washington logging town meant snow. Lots of it. And time to read. I reveled in the northern adventure novels of Edison Marshall and James Oliver Curwood. I mushed along beside dogsleds drawn by powerful Siberian Huskies and Alaskan Malamutes, raced blizzards, and lived the thrilling life portrayed by authors who personally knew the Canadian and Alaskan Wilderness well.

No wonder that after I became a full-time author, I recalled the scenes I had loved and visited over and over, then turned to the Far North and familiar settings for many of my historical romances.

New Kindle Collection: NORTHERN BRIDES: Three inspirational novels plus a novelette!

Angel of the North. Evangeline Lawrence realizes too late she banished the man she loves. Can carrying medicine to families in the Canadian wilderness atone for her bitterly regretted actions?

Flower of the North. Sasha Anton falls in love on her 23^rd birthday—with Kobuk, the Husky pup gift from her father. Dr. Bernard Clifton, who saves Sasha after a blizzard, wins her undying loyalty. Will admiration turn to love?

Flower of Alaska (sequel to Flower of the North). A four-thousand-mile journey lies between Dr. Arthur Baldwin and his hope for redemption. Does the isolated village of Tarnigan hold forgiveness, and love with Inga Nansen?

Winterlude. A rare snowflake in San Diego lures Ariel Dixon home to Ketchikan, despite her fiance’s objections. Meeting a childhood sweetheart complicates things. Will Ariel choose wealth and position, or life in a fishing village?

How 3 novels and a novelette became a collection

A poet I am not, other than a couple of rhyming picture books. But a few nights ago. a “pome” knocked at my brain demanding to be let out. For better or for verse, a good laugh.

A Not So-Epic Poem.  I know: Don’t quit my day job.

“Listen, my children, and you shall know, a curious tale from not long ago.
I awakened one morning and looked at the snow. Lovely to see– but I could not go walking and talking with my neighbors dear. Ice and cold temps had shut me in here cozy and warm in my own little house. with no one for company—not even a mouse.

“Well,” said I, to my lonely room, “No use to complain, or wallow in gloom. What can I do to make my mood lighter? I must find a way to make the day brighter.”

I stared at the white world, then thought of some books. The journeys they took me on offered a look at Canada, Alaska. They carried me away for hours on end–for many a day.

Angel of the North, the first of its kind. Flower of the North, number two in the line. Then Flower of Alaska, sequel brightened my mood. Oh, I must not forget number four, Winterlude.

 My brain settled down, no more at a loss. Suppose that I contacted, Cynthia, my boss? Just maybe she’d issue a Winged book collection, as she’d done before. Happy recollection.

I ran to the web and started to hover. For hours I searched for just the right cover. There had to be snow and a wilderness home. Past hundreds of photos my fingers did roam. “Aha!” I cried when I found what I needed. It sent my blood racing as with me it pleaded, “Pick me! Pick me! I am the one.” I laughed and agreed. The long search was done.

NORTHERN BRIDES has now become a real book. Its four unique stories deserve a good look.

This tale has a moral, everyone should know: “Find something worth doing when trapped by the snow.” 

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What better way to start the new year than with a new, inspirational, entertaining book?

  Jenny of the Lookout, a World War 1-era novel. Cherished Romances #10. Published 1-1-22

“Love Signals from the Mountaintops”

After four heartsick years away at school, Jennifer Ashley is going home to Three Rivers, Washington. No more noisy streets and trolley cars. Just family, friends, mountains, forests, and freedom.

The daring girl celebrates by entering a men’s-only horse race. She hires on as a logging camp flunky (helper) and later becomes a lookout fire-watcher high atop Flower Dome.  Soon she is flashing mirror signals to Keith Burgess on Pinnacle Peak. They fall in love, but WW1 shatters their lives.

Keith enlists. He is missing in action. After the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, others come home, but not Keith. Will he and Jenny only be reunited in heaven?

Best-selling author Colleen L. Reece, 170+ “Books You Can Trust,” six million copies sold, “goes home again” to her small logging hometown in this based-on-truth story. Her brother served as a lookout fire-watcher.

* * *

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121: 1-2 (KJV)

Growing up in the small western Washington logging town of Darrington, pioneered in part by my great-grandparents, and surrounded by mountains [White Horse is 6840 feet] and rushing rivers, instilled in me values to last a lifetime. I loved stories of the “olden days,” every time generations of families and friends gathered.

When I became an author, treasured memories of the way of life that is no more, flowed like the Sauk River in flood. More than 100 years of actual incidents sparked ideas and lent authenticity to my inspirational novels.

So it is with Jenny of the Lookout. Three Rivers reflects Darrington as lived in the early 1900s by Mom, Dad, and relatives who never tired of talking about days gone by. Of logging and the one-room school that served all eight grades. Of cougars [mountain lions] that screamed from the forests encircling the town.

Years later, my brother, Randy, spent a summer as a lookout-firewatcher in a tent on one of the lower mountains.  He heard cries in the night, like a woman sobbing. The next morning, he discovered cougar prints outside his canvas door. 

Although fiction, this novel contains events and characters based on those who did whatever it took to conquer an untamed land.  Rugged, hard-working men, women, and children overcame incredible hardship, including the Spanish Flu Epidemic which claimed more lives worldwide than World War I, and valiantly soldiered on.

I thank God for my rich heritage. May I ever meet life the way my courageous, God-fearing ancestors did.

Chapter 1 excerpt

Western Washington, early summer 1913

Free. Free at last!

Heart thundering, eighteen-year-old Jennifer Ashley smoothed her lacy shirtwaist, gathered her school books, lifted her ankle-length skirt to the top of her buttoned shoes, and stepped into the aisle of the trolley car. If she never rode a trolley again, it would be too soon.

She took in a deep breath and slowly released it. For four long years, Jenny had studied hard to make her family proud, counting the days to high school graduation when she could shake the dust of the city off her shabby shoes and go home. Freedom from trolley cars, crowded streets, and city smells.

The trolley jolted to a stop. Jenny walked to the door and beamed at the friendly driver. “Good-bye, Sam.”

“See you on Monday,” he called when she stepped to the street. “Same time. Same place.”

Jenny shook her head so hard a rebellious black curl escaped from beneath her wide-brimmed hat and dangled over her forehead. “No more school for me,” she crowed. “I’m going home tomorrow!”

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Kindle and print versions.

Friday, December 31, 2021.

Shades of my childhood and growing up years! Little did I suspect what waited in the darkness when I went to bed Christmas night after happy times with my family on Christmas Eve, and lunch with a dear friend on Christmas afternoon.

Surprise, surprise. Old Man Winter dropped temperature to 20 degrees and dumped 3″ of snow overnight, with lighter snow falling several times since then. Gorgeous but treacherous. Time for me to stay inside looking out.

How different from when I lived in Darrington. No staying inside there! Snow meant friends knocking at the door and calling, “Bundle up. We’re going sledding.” Young and old alike headed for the Ski Hill. Sleds and dishpans flew down the slope packed hard by volunteers. Bobsleds attached to cars slowly drove up and down the streets and country roads. Most fun of all, was climbing into a wagon bed packed with hay or straw and people, secured to a Jeep by a strong trailer hitch.

Our treks inevitably ended up at the one small drive-in to warm up with hot chocolate topped with soft ice cream and devour Logger-burgers created by the owner. Darrington’s version of a hero sandwich, a full meal.

. A long soft, French roll contained ham, bacon, ground beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, and mustard. It came with or without onions. Too good to even consider splitting with a friend!

Wonderful memories, but time to move on. Being snowed in gives time for reflection. For remembering the past and looking toward the future. Our world changed in March 2020. Some good things came out of the chaos. Amidst the turmoil, families spent more time together. Neighbors helped neighbors.

We have no way knowing what 2022 will bring, but I find hope in a true story that touched my heart.

Darkness and Light

On the last day of the year, in the middle of a terrible war, despair filled a commanding officer. What would the New Year bring? Heavy losses had left the officer fearing he and his remaining men could no longer hold their position, critical as it was to do so. Staggering from fatigue, desperately in need of sleep, he knelt beside his cot. Cannon fire beat in his ears, threatening to overwhelm him. “Dear God,” he cried, “I no longer know what to do. Please give me light in this terrible darkness, so I can find my way, Otherwise, I cannot go on.”

For a single moment, the cannon fire ceased. A voice as soft as an angel ‘s wing whispered, “Put your hand in the hand of God. It shall be better than any light.”

Strangely comforted, the officer lay down for a nap. After just a few  hours sleep, the officer arose, rallied his men, and led them to victory.

* * *

Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with saying, “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why we call it the present.”

My grandmother taught me one of the greatest gifts God bestows on us is one day at a time. She said, “If we knew all the wonderful things that lay ahead, we would be so eager for the tomorrows to come, we’d miss out on the good things happening today. If we saw trouble and sadness, we would feel we could never have the courage to meet and overcome them.”

May we live each day as it comes and always remember: 

Blessings and prayers,

Colleen

Making a Difference

The classic Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” continues to delight viewers with a powerful, and important message. Each of our lives touches a multitude of others.

In the depths of despair and feeling there is no way out, George Bailey [James Stewart] is shown what would have happened if he had never lived.

We can only speculate on what effect our lives will have on others. We can, however, look to the past and catch glimpses of how we affected those around us.

Turning Point

Little did I know the far-reaching effects of a conversation with my brother in the summer of 1978. Led to quit my government job and go into fulltime writing, Mom and I moved a few miles from his home Memorial Day weekend. 

“Contact the college up the street from you and see if you can teach a writing class,” Randy advised.

I laughed. “Teach at a college? I only have about 45 college credits.”

“Your published books. would qualify you to teach in the Continuing Education program,” he persisted. “A lady at church works for the college. Ask her who you should approach.”

Still feeling inadequate, but conquering my misgivings, I did. It turned out she was the secretary in the Continuing Education program! I ended up teaching Creative Writing from fall 1978 until the mid-1990s. This also led to my teaching at the Auburn Senior Center until 2012.

Aftermath

• Students welcomed the opportunity to learn writing skills and marketing know-how. A surprising percentage took the class again and again, needing encouragement to keep writing and face the inevitable rejection slips that come with the job.
• Many sold stories, articles, even books.
• Others found joy in recording memories for family and friends.
• A few even went on to become award-winning, best-selling authors.

The best thing that came from the class was the formation of life-long friendships, some life-changing. Students committed to a common cause bonded. Decades later, a surprising number of former students remain best friends, supporting one another in critique groups, or one-on-one. I am so thankful I did not let fear of the unknown cause me to reject Randy’s suggestion. Lives continue to be enriched, mine, most of all.

* * *

One Solitary Life

Anonymous

He was born in an obscure village. The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty-three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth
When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life.

Happy Birthday, Jesus. I’m glad you came.