Dancing With Mummu Birthday Card

Mummu made her first appearance in print in "Getting to Know Ruben Plotnick" written by Roz Rozenbluthand and illustrated by Maurie J. Manning. She is based on Ms. Manning's Finnish grandmother.

I think this is a great image for a birthday card. What is better than celebrating your day by kicking up your heels? You never get too old to have some fun.

This is how I made this card:

I started with a blank kraft greeting card that measures 4" by 5.5". I rounded the corners with a corner punch.

I chose the digital stamp "Mummu" from Mo's Digital Pencil. I paper-pieced the skirt by printing out the image on a piece of flowered paper from my stash. I cut out the skirt and glued it to an identical image that I printed on white card stock. I colored the remainder of the image with Copic Sketch markers.

I cut and embossed the image with an oval Spellbinders die.

I distressed three pieces of background paper (including a piece of the flowered paper that I used for the skirt) and tied them with blue ribbon. I then attached the colored Mummu image to the background. I attached the image/background to the craft cardstock with a Tombow tape runner.

I am entering this card in Mo's Anything Goes in 2015 paper crafting challenge.

Thank you for taking a look at my card. Please share your thoughts in the Comments Section below.

Aging And Faith

I was recently introduced to the work of Missy Buchanan.  Mrs. Buchanan is an author, columnist and speaker on the subject of aging and faith.  Her ministry is meant to assist older adults and those who love and care for them.  She is the author of Living with Purpose in a Worn-Out Body: Spiritual Encouragement for Older Adults.  I purchased this book in Kindle format and it is also available in paperback format.  This book features 41 short Christian devotions aimed specifically at elderly adults.  Many of these devotions refer to the challenges of living in a nursing home or assisted living facility. The devotions are approximately one page long and include a Scripture verse from both the Old Testament and the New Testament.  I was especially touched by the topics of these devotions.  These topics are very real worries to many elderly adults.  "Slow Motion" deals with the fact that everything takes more time...brushing teeth, getting dressed, cutting food, etc.  Yet the unhurried life can be a blessing because there is more time to notice the first bloom on the flowers blooming outside the window. 

It is truly inspiring the way the author finds praise and gratitude in each situation that an elderly adult might be faced with. The Scriptures that are used are some of the most loved verses in the Bible. These are verses that I will refer to in difficult times and in times when I feel a need to hear God's voice.  Each one of these devotions should be read slowly and then meditated on.  The author displays insight and compassion for the thoughts and feelings of elderly adults. This is also a wonderful resource for the children of elderly parents.  It opens the doors of empathy and understanding. 

Here is an interview with Missy that answers more questions about her writing and her ministry.

Questions And Answers With Missy Buchanan

Even when age creeps up on the body and mind, and life changes from what it once was, is it still possible to have a purpose in life? When it is no longer possible to venture out and do the things you once loved, can you still find a reason to look forward to each day? Missy Buchanan, a leading expert and advocate for senior adults, believes that you can. Buchanan wants to encourage older adults to find their purpose, share their stories, and make an impact on those around them.



Q: What made you decide to start ministering to and writing books for older adults?

Well, as a middle-aged adult, I never had any intention of becoming an author of books for older adults. But because of the journey that my own aging parents were on, I realized how they had become disconnected from their church as their lives changed. They started off as active older adults and then that circle got smaller as they had more needs and physical limitations. As I would visit them at their retirement community, I would also see so many others that were just like them. They needed spiritual encouragement. And so that’s why I got started. The first book began as a project just for my own parents. I wrote devotions and kept them in a loose-leaf notebook. But others started asking for them and things just spiraled from there.



Q: What do you think children need to know about their aging parents?

What I realized personally was that I had been so caught up in my parents’ physical needs that I had neglected their spiritual needs. They were no longer connected to their church, at least in regular worship attendance, and that had been such a huge part of their lives. I almost made that mistake of just totally missing that, and that was the point where I began to write. I looked and there were other books written about older adults but not very many that were written to them and for them. So the first thing I would tell their children is to pay attention not only to their physical needs but also to their spiritual needs.



Q: What is your opinion about role reversal with children and their aging parents?I hear the whole idea of role reversal where the older parent becomes a child and the grown children become the parent, and I understand what they are talking about because my own parents became more dependent on me. But I think that when we refer to it as a role reversal, and we begin to think of our aging parents as children, we strip away their dignity. We rob them of respect and we overlook the fact that they are not children. They have had a lifetime of experiences that a child has not had. And I think that is an important difference that grown children need to think about and pay attention to. It’s more of a role shift in responsibilities and not a role reversal. I know how much it hurts an aging parent to feel like they are being treated like a baby or like a child.



Q: Other than aging adults, who else has benefited from your writing?

A friend of mine in an assisted living facility asked me to bring some books for one of her tablemates. Her tablemate explained that these books were for her adult children. “They don’t understand what it feels like to grow old, and I can’t seem to make them understand, but your books say it better than I ever could.” My books are all written in the first person as if an older adult is speaking directly to God. There are a lot of adult children that are buying them for themselves and older adults buying them for their grown children. And I’ve heard of different youth groups that have been reading my books in order to better understand what it’s like to grow old. Instead of just mocking their older peers, they are learning that they share a lot of the same feelings—feelings of insecurity, feelings of fear. As a result of reading the books, one youth group in Tennessee has even adopted the residents of the senior living center across from their church.



Q: How can faith change our idea of growing older?

So many see aging as a punishment, and they dread it so much. But even though it is difficult to be limited by an aging body, they need to look at it as a gift that God has given them. They still have so much to give. They have great wisdom to share and stories to share. I always tell my older friends that their story is not yet over.

More books by Missy Buchanan;
Talking with God in Old Age: Meditations and Psalms, Enlarged Print

Don't Write My Obituary Just Yet: Inspiring Faith Stories for Older Adults

Book Review: My First Ninety Years

I recently read My First Ninety Years by Mary Jane Baird.  This book was published by Murder Creek Publishing at Smashwords on August 22, 2010.  I downloaded a FREE copy of this book in .mobi format and transferred it to my Kindle to read. 
Smashwords is an ebook publishing and distribution platform, serving authors, publishers, readers and major ebook retailers. Smashwords is ideal for publishing novels, personal memoirs, poetry, short and long-form fiction, and non-fiction. 
This is a short memoir (approx. 3300 words) that Mrs. Baird wrote as a keepsake  for her children and grandchildren.  Mrs. Baird was born in Kansas City on October 10, 1919, in a home for out of wedlock mothers.  She was adopted by Mary and William Murray from Kingman, Kansas.  Mary grew up in Kingman along with an adopted brother who was seven years her senior.
Life in Kingman was difficult during the Depression Years, but Mary took piano lessons and was soon playing the piano for services at the family's church. 
When Mary's father was 61 years old, he fell off a fire engine and broke his hip.  Since her mother could not drive, young Mary was instrumental in helping her father keep up with his job's responsibilities while he was recovering.  She graduated from high school and enrolled in the College of Emporia, a Presbyterian sponsored school.
During her freshman year in college, she met Bill Keesecker.  They were immediately a "couple" and were engaged for five years.  Bill graduated from Emporia College and then went to the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  Bill and Mary pastored several Presbyterian churches in the MidWest during the next 50 years.  They raised three daughters and had a very happy marriage.  Bill retired at the age of 70 and the Keeseckers moved to Kansas City.  Rev. Keesecker died after heart surgery in 1992 and Mary moved to a retirement community.  There she met Jack Baird and married him in 1995.
Mary wrote From Kansas Farm Boy to Moderator A Short History of the Life of Rev. William Francis Keesecker about her late husband's life.  This book is also a FREE download at Smashbooks.
I wish more senior citizens would take the time to write memoirs for their friends and family to read and cherish.  It is now possible for anyone to write and publish a book with very little money required.  Mrs. Baird is a real inspiration to me.  YES, I will write a book!