The Liebster Award 2019 | 1st Nomination

First, thank you Stu for nominating me and your unending support for me and my writing and your deep love of God. You are an amazing soul and witness!

HERE ARE THE RULES:
Acknowledge the blogger that gave it to you and display the award.
Answer 11 questions that the blogger gave you.
Give 11 random thoughts about yourself.
Nominate 11 other bloggers and notify them of their nominations.
Ask your nominees 11 questions.

If you would prefer to choose fewer questions and nominees that’s perfectly fine!

Here are the questions posed by Stu:

1. Why, as Christians, do we not stand up more to the evils in this world?  I believe it is inherent in all humans to be kind, but our guard is so easily let down as the evil one works endlessly to win our hearts and change them to do his bidding.  Faith has so many levels and we as humans are still weak.  The battle is a great one and though we may not see the “standing up” all the time I have faith that it occurs all around us daily.  Perhaps my actions and words aren’t seen by the masses, but they are heard and seen by those who know me.  I do my best to fight the good fight, but the evil one is always skulking in the shadows looking for a crack in the armor.  I hope that answered this question…

2. Why is that we as people, in general, look down on the homeless, when in fact most of us could be one choice away from being in their shoes?  Great question… I believe the more we have moved away from the church and God the more we put on blinders to the suffering of others.  Perhaps we are just not as intentional, and perhaps we feel we are doing enough through our churches and the support they provide.

3. What is your favorite Bible verse and why? 

Whew!!!  I can’t narrow this down, but John 3:16 has so much meaning to me that it is the verse I had our bible opened to when we moved into our home last year. 

4. What do you do when you are working on a post and just hit a freaking wall and nothing you write seems like the right words? 

I stop and circle back later.  If that doesn’t work, and if I’ve not posted ahead several days, I will go to my deep well of song lyrics that I’ve written and post one of those.

5. What are your top 2 posts you have written, whether it be in your opinion or based on stats? 

Ummmm…. I can say the first one is my account of the dream I had when I died and found that I was really at peace with the thought of dying after I woke up https://whatwordsmaycome.com/2017/10/04/a-dream-of-hope/.This post holds the top two most viewed, and it also means the most to me personally. 

I guess my next was just me jotting down thoughts.  https://whatwordsmaycome.com/2018/11/30/are-you-listening/ .  I was humbled at the impact and responses and views I had for this post.  God was squarely in the details on this one!

6. What part of the world do you live in? 

I live in Indiana, USA, but I’m a born and raised south Alabama boy who grew up on Mobile Bay.  I still call that home and miss it terribly even after 13 years here.

7. Do you feel you are doing enough for the Lord at this point in your life? 

“I am not yet the man I want to be, but I am closer to being that man then I have ever been!” (Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired quote.)  I am a listener to God’s whispers and I hope I am where He intends me to be in my life.  Am I doing enough???  I don’t really know!

8. What is your favorite childhood memory?

 Time spent fishing, hunting and playing.  There was a lot of all of that.  Growing up with salt, brackish and freshwater around made for some pretty fantastic fishing.  Just sayin’…

9. What would you like to be remembered for? 

A loving, caring father, grandfather, husband, son, and friend.  For smiling and making people laugh.  Maybe, for writing something that truly touched someone’s heart in a way that they can’t explain.

10. What or who inspires you to be the best you can be in life? 

My wife and my mom and my children (adults).

11. How many children to have? Share pictures if you like. 

I have two children.  My daughter Tara is 33 and my son Justin is 25.  My granddaughter, Ansley, Tara’s baby girl, is 3 ½. 

Tara, Kevin, Cathi and Justin

Papa and Ansley

11 Random things about old Kev:

1. Until I moved to Indiana I had never lived outside my home county where I was born.
2. I love being in a boat on the water when the sun rises. (warm weather only!)
3. I nicknamed my precious daughter, Pushka, when she was a baby, and I have no clue where that name came from.  It’s still endearing to her!
4. I have three older brothers and a sister 10 years younger than me.
5. My mom was a dance teacher and all us siblings took some kind of lessons at some point when we were kids.
6. I wish I had never quit piano lessons when I was a kid.  Ugh…
7. I’ve written over 250 song lyrics, but I cannot write music.  Double ugh…
8. My ultimate destination is Australia. 
9. I’ve been to Israel, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and Japan for work but not for fun.
10. I married my Cathi in 2014.  She and I have known one another over 50 years. She took dance lessons from my mom from age 3 to 17.
11. Many of the songs I’ve written ended up being Christian songs, but the first one I ever wrote was far from Christian.  Just sayin’

My nominations: 

I’ve included several folks who I really haven’t had as much interaction with because I thought this might be a fun way to get to know some of you better… If you participate, please have fun!

Diana

Laura

Nancy

SayerTeller

Robbie

Christine

Kavita

Jordy

Southern Writer

Kristian

Valerie

My questions for my nominations:

1. If you could take something safe to extend your life to 100+ years would you do it and why?
2. Do you believe in angels?
3. Have you achieved any major goals or milestone with your writing?  If so, what?
4. How much time, on average, per day do you spend writing?
5. When is the last time you watched a cartoon without a child?
6. Are you a specific style writer or do you prefer diversity? Please explain as necessary.
7. What’s the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home?
8. Are you a hot or cold weather kind of person?
9. What’s your top three favorite outdoor activities?
10. Does anyone else in your family write as much as you do?
11. If you’ve published, how many and what have you published, and if not, do you want to and what will it be?