I
am glad our Father promises to “restore the years the locust has
eaten” in Joel 2:25. I feel my life is now in the process of being
“restored” and that I am being rewarded, making peace with, and
seeing a whole and safe completion made by God's grace in several areas of my life.
When
I was a child, I really had no plans to become a book author.
I
did love to read a wide variety of subject matter, but assigned book
reports which required me to compile information covering huge
amounts of text, or any
sort
of creative fiction felt like a lot
of
work. It was hard for me to focus, to sit still.
And I didn't feel very imaginative, either. Writing fiction also made me
feel like I was lying.
The
first teacher I had in grade school criticized my then-poor
punctuation skills, and so I figured the writing of books should be
left to someone else, not me.
Writing
books was actually my younger sister's dream; she had hoped to print a book
before the age of twelve, which would mean she had a book printed
earlier than Shakespeare.
But
printing was a much more difficult and expensive enterprise thirty
years ago.
My
older sister was always good with words, a gifted poet and song
writer.
Drawing
and painting were much
preferred ways to express myself as a child, though I did
enjoy dictionaries, playing Scrabble and Boggle, and composing
detailed, newsy hand-written letters, on pretty notepaper, to send my
pen pals, friends and relatives.
I
also really loved the tiny pictures on postage stamps!
After
computers became more widely available, email became a cheaper and
easier mode of communication than snail-mail.
However,
after taking a Journalism class around age thirty, I finally realized
I could
write – but my genre strength was non-fiction.
My
Journalism instructor was a local “retired” man in his eighties,
who had invested his entire life in newspaper reporting. He had
worked his way up to National Editor and been a Foreign Correspondent
to France for the Washington
Post.
“Just
the facts, Ma'am,we want just the facts,” he
told the class.
Last
May, after participating in an online motivational course, I wrote
down some goals on paper, saying I would print a piece I had written
back in 2005 in the next 18 months.
Well,
after just eight months this goal is becoming a reality!
How I Came to Be a Vegetable Gardener
Growing
up as an artist, I didn't have a steady income which would allow me
to pay rent. And so, I remained at home for many years. In order to
help my family financially during this time, I cooked, cleaned, fed
animals and wood fires, and grew large 60'x90' vegetable gardens
annually. Providing vegetables for five months of the year was a
large savings, most years.
Gardening
every Spring, Summer and Fall was hard work that tied me down. Plenty
of times I chose to stay home to weed or harvest rather than go
anywhere. I've pretty much always been more interested in my projects
than having a social life.
I
was very dirty from being in the soil a lot, and I'm sure I looked
like the Peanut's
character, Pig
Pen,
but the natural world taught me so much.
As
I tended thousands of little plants over many years, I often imagined
how, if they had been my children, I would want them to grow strong
and healthy.
Young
plants, like young children, need constant, vigilant oversight so
they continue to mature.
There
were plenty of dangers from which to protect my little seedlings.
Wind, hail, geese, chickens, ponies getting through the picket fence,
hot and cold weather, and even mice and voles...I became very
emotionally attached to my little plants, I felt their pain and I
admired them as they grew, matured and gave fruit in their season.
Writing to Educate Others About Genetic Modification of Seeds
When
I first noticed Genetically Modified Organisms written about in the
local paper, it was 1997. I remember my mother handing me a newspaper
article and saying, “You may be interested in this, Elise.”
I
thought the idea of Genetic Modification was an extremely stupid
idea, that would soon die a normal death.
But
I was wrong. This unnatural idea grew exponentially and proliferated.
The idea carried a big lobby in government, with millions of dollars
behind it. Feeding people is big business.
Around 2004, author and speaker Jeffrey M. Smith came to the Vermont
Statehouse, to speak about the dangers of GMOs. I attended and
remember a question he was asked by someone else in the audience.
“Do
GMOs become weaker with every generation and then die out, as hybrid
seeds do?” “No,” he replied, “they actually become more
and more promiscuous with
every generation, breeding with the weeds around them.”
I
had been reading and noticing agricultural passages from the Bible
for many, many years, and this statement was the final catalyst for
me to begin compiling and writing what
I felt I
simply
had
to,
from a scriptural viewpoint. Other scientist's writings had also
greatly moved me to action.
But
it was not an easy topic. I struggled greatly, to know how to pare
down the reams of information I had read in many different books, and
include the most important Biblical passages, into something which
could be understood by the general public.
As
I prayed for our Father's assistance, slowly, over a period of six
months, my paper began to take shape. Some days I typed for ten hours
straight. I remember the elation I felt – I was not tired at all! I
was grateful that my sister and mom took on more of my house work
chores, letting me focus on my writing.
I
remember evenings when I would hear my mom calling from downstairs,
“Elise, we're watching a movie, do you want to see it?” “Is it
any good?” I asked. “We don't know yet, we haven't seen it,”
came the reply. “No,” I would say, “I'm working on my tome.”
What
I finally compiled and wrote became a rebuttal of Genetically
Modified Organism's (GMOs) being a wise idea, from an unusual
perspective, which has never been written before, that I know of.
I
feel it is one of the most important projects I have ever completed
in my entire life.
Although
I've never been given the blessing and privilege of having physical
children, this book is my way of leaving a legacy. Unlike my more
fun-to-read children's books, this book contains an extremely serious
message.
My
tome was completed in July of 2005. I took it with me to a science
conference, where it essentially changed my life. And I sent it out
via email to around seventy-five interested folks.
Because
the message is still very
applicable and educational twelve years later, I want the information
to be more accessible to the general public, in book form.
How
to Print A Book You Have Written
Over
the past two years or so, despite four moves to different locations
and many other responsibilities, I worked to turn my original paper
into a chapter book.
I
formatted the front matter in November of 2017, and asked my printer
for an estimate on what it would cost to make a First Edition of one
hundred copies.
Then,
in December of 2017, enough funds arrived for me to print. The First
Book Proof was put into my hands just three days after Christmas! The
Second Proof arrived and I am excited to say this book is going to
print very soon!
This
little book is just over one hundred pages, contains over one hundred
references and end notes, and the front cover looks
like this:
I'm
asking a gift of $12.50 for each book. With Book Rate shipping and
handling added, one book would be $15. Please write
scriptureseedsandscience@gmail.com
for more details, and to order your copy of the book, or to obtain
information about bulk orders.
I
gratefully remain, among other things, your painting and writing
friend,
Elise
