Barbara L. Ayers -- Author

My mother had been a member of two bridge groups for over thirty-five years. They got together every week for laughter and fellowship. Oh how much my mother loved to play bridge. She wore out cards so fast! Every year for Christmas I would place a new deck into her stocking. Shopping for that perfect deck of cards was not easy, but could be quite interesting. Mother was a history student throughout her life, so finding just the right picture or motif on them was important to me. Equally fun was to find that one deck having unique characters representing the face cards. Did you know that those face cards were originally designed to represent actual kings and queens—royalty from actual history? When I think about such a representation of reality, I drift off into thoughts of how a deck of cards is a lot like a person. The outside picture doesn’t tell us much about the actual person. We have to turn the deck over and look inside at the individual cards and what is represented therein....

Retired Admiral William McRaven wrote a book titled   Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World . I have frequently touted the same philosophy. Just ask my girls. By doing this one simple thing every morning, we can say that we have accomplished one thing today. If nothing else, we can begin the day with a small accomplishment and work our way towards bigger and more important accomplishments. When we feel down or oppressed in life, doing little things can help to clear the way for realizing and accepting that we can take control of the direction of our life. This morning, for example, I was feeling a little sad and didn't feel much like doing anything except crawling back into bed and feeling beaten. The only way out of this was to get up and make the bed. Step one. Don't they say that things often begin with baby steps? Then off to the kitchen to find some sustenance, even though my appetite has dissipated with the onset of my sadness. But I...

  Are you experiencing conflicts trying to understand your parents’ or friends’ Christian beliefs? Are you having difficulty explaining your Christian beliefs to other people? Are you having trouble defining it for yourself? The goal of this book is to help provide some of the answers you seek, exactly as God intended—from his written Word. Ten essential areas basic to Christianity are presented to help you establish a foundation from which to grow and mature on your journey. While God is a mystery to all of us, the Holy Spirit has been placed inside each of us to help bridge the gap. Throughout the book, three things will become clear. First, God desires to reconcile with humankind, to have a personal relationship with every one of us. We merely need to reach out toward him in trust and to respond in faith to his call. Second, when you understand God’s free gift of grace, righteousness can become a tangible and significant attribute within your very being. You will mature an...

  When young people leave home for the first time, life can seem daunting or overwhelming. Becoming an active member of society today is fraught with so many rules and a lot of fine print. Most of our youth are faced with not having been taught so many of the skills necessary to move swiftly and successfully into the adult world.  This book presents some of the common pitfalls experienced by so many on the road to becoming independent. It is based upon listening to what parents and young adults had to say about the trials and tribulations they faced along their paths. Throughout my hundreds of conversations with adults of all ages, I discovered so many identical descriptions of problematic situations each of them had encountered. These brave people provided valuable insight into some of the knowledge and coping skills that helped them through some of those unfamiliar and often costly experiences.  Topics included in this life guide are the ones that were mentioned most fr...

As I stood in front of the pantry in my kitchen, I was debating on which type of potato to include in my dinner. I found my mind wandering back to my incredible trip to Peru in 2013. My small group of travelers were captivated by one of the lectures we had on potatoes. Of course, one of the most revered foods originates from Peru. We love potatoes! Did you know that there are over 4000 varieties of potatoes in the world? Most of them are found in the Andes. Each one has a different flavor and hence a different preferred use. Paula Dean taught me that the best potato salad is made with purple potatoes--the ones we can now find in grocery stores. Personally I think her cooking show had a lot to do with them becoming more widespread in the United States. Such an influencer she is… It is indeed interesting that there are so few varieties available in this country. We cannot help but wonder why. Have we become so engrained in our habits that there is virtually no demand for more? For differ...

In the days of Aristotle and Plato, the heart was considered the location of the soul. Many centuries later, even with the new understanding of human anatomy, the heart has maintained its status as the seat of our feelings--the depths of our soul that gives our lives meaning and purpose. We all feel joy and sorrow. They manifest within our hearts both physically and ethereally. It is often said that my heart aches or my heart has skipped a beat. The chemical processes are real as are the mental processes that get us there. These processes are influenced by what we experience. What we hear. Words are usually at the forefront of our experiences. How we interpret them at any particular point in time will determine our reactions. Sometimes we feel strong and secure. Other times we feel vulnerable and insecure. When we were young children, we learned the phrase sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me . Well, some times they do. Sometimes the right person, at...

One of the effects of my town’s current societal shutdown has been an increase in outdoor activities such as walking around the neighborhood development. Most of us end up in socially distanced packs as we wind our way around this way and that. I often pass the time listening to conversations of some of those talkative little groups. A valuable exchange at times. On one such walk a few days ago, I was listening to a woman exclaim how sad things are for so many disadvantaged people in other countries. I silently nodded in agreement to some of the things she espoused. But at one point she began to take this a bit too far in assigning her own expectations and values to other cultures.  Yes, we do take for granted the hot showers that we can take any time we want. Yes, we do not truly appreciate that we can pick up a wide selection of foods from our local grocer almost any time we chose. These actions are just the tip of the iceberg of our mainstream American experience. Yet at what ...