LINDA SAMMARITAN
When God says no to my shortsighted demands, He shows me the beauty beyond.
Worthy of our Praise
Do you ever feel God doesn’t hear your prayers, that He doesn’t care? Have you been praying a specific prayer for forever, and nothing has happened?
I’m not promising easy answers to those questions. I’m still seeking answers myself. No cookie cutter solutions–which I’m sure you’ve already given up on, but I hope this blog site and author website can provide hope while we both wait for the God of the universe to finish His work behind the scenes.
Like us, Debbie and her family, the main characters in Reaching Into Silence, are waiting on God to help them through their struggles. As I come up with ideas, I may post some little detail related to the plot. Something in life worthy of reflection. The questions we have for God, questions Debbie might consider. Occasionally, I add photos of my sister and our family, the real-life Debbie, Krista, Phil, and Wayne!
Also once a month, I post an article related to thoughts on God and people and the universe–spiritual metaphors.
I trust He has a perfect plan for me–and for you. Plans to make us better than we ever dreamed. The God who set the galaxies in motion and who put together all the parts of an atom is more than worthy of our praise!
My Blog
What Does It Mean to Dedicate Your Child to the Lord?
As each of my sons were born, my husband and I made sure to participate in an infant dedication...
The Pledge of Allegiance: What Does It Mean?
I made a rare exception by sharing this from my Do Not Delete page. Red Skelton alone makes the...
The Joy of the Lord Is Your Strength
With a sneer, you may have clicked open this post. The Joy of the Lord. Ha! Whoever wrote this...
I Want to Be a Dandelion
The dandelion gets a bad rap. I know. It’s a weed. But it’s a nice weed. Beautiful—for a while—and...
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo’s consistently wins the highest awards in the nation for her stories. Because of...
The Ultimate Sacrifice For All Time
Every Christian knows the story of Christ's Resurrection. We celebrate His victory over death and...
Books
World Without Sound
World Without Sound is a fictionalized version of our family’s struggle to communicate with my deaf sister. Tricia was a “German Measles” baby, born at the end of 1964 in the middle of the rubella epidemic. Hundreds of thousands of children were born with severe disabilities.
Tricia is profoundly deaf. She is also blind in one eye and has a mild case of cerebral palsy. At three months old, she underwent pioneer open-heart surgery to close a hole in the aorta.
What was it like to grow up with a sibling who couldn’t hear or speak? How did she learn our language? World Without Sound shares those answers with all who are interested.
Short Stories in Anthologies
While I enjoy reading fantasy and science fiction, I don’t write in those genres. My writing portrays real life, and each of my published short stories is grounded in a true event.
“Right 232” in Light Bearers is nonfiction. My father never told us what happened until years after his miracle.
“Higher Ground” in Hodgepodege recounts some real events that my parents experienced in Hurricane Irene.
The idea for “Save the Last Dance” in Dancing Up a Storm came from my high school years. However, the main character is a vague (and better) version of me at that age!
ASL
Fifty years ago, most schools for the deaf believed teaching deaf children to speak was the most helpful form of education if they were to get along in the hearing world. So I never learned sign language when I lived at home with my sister. Times and attitudes have changed.
Do Not Delete Notes
I entered first grade in September of 1960. Aside from my fascination with the letter M card, the thing I remember the most was the beginning of each day. We stood, faced the flag, and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I had memorized it in kindergarten, and in my...
Prepared and Armed, Strong and Determined
"It is the fate of our generation that our life requires that we be always prepared and armed, strong and determined, for if the sword be struck from our grasp, we shall die." Israeli leader, Moshe Dayan, stated those words in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. He had...
Negotiations, Appeasement, and the World Watches
In 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Britain negotiated an agreement with Hitler in order to halt Nazi aggression. Negotiations. Appeasement. And the world watched. The result: World War II. The world has been watching with bated breath as Russia invades...
Christmas Truce
Mustard gas. Muddy trenches. No Man's Land. In 1914, Britain, France, and Russia united to stop the greedy German kaiser. Surely, they'd have him running for home, his tail between his legs by Christmas. But Christmas found both armies weary, wet, and cold....
Hard times make hard men. Hard men make soft times. Soft times make soft men, Soft men make hard times. I wish I could credit the four lines above to the person who created it, but I heard it on some talk show and didn’t know the man who spoke them. Nor do I...
Disinformation: A Web of Distortions
The Name of the Game During the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union and its satellites, disinformation was the name of the game. On all sides. Below are a few quotes from a 2002 Reuters report. "You would try and recruit a journalist and he would...
The Worst Attack On the Capitol
On July 21st of this year, Nancy Pelosi stated that the January 6 insurrection was the “worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812…an attempt to overthrow the government.” By taking selfies with their cell phones? I watched the footage of that day. In one...