
Supplemental Blog
Blog entry date – October 2 2020 We wanted to share the comment Frank made on Maxine’s July blog with all of Maxine’s followers so they are aware of what has happened this past month. Please see the next paragraph for his own words about Maxine. ” HALLELUJAH! Mom was 101, and 6 months, when […]
Read MoreBLOG FOR JULY 2020
I have been meditating all of June asking the Lord for the words to bring a composition for July. Because at this advanced age, I am aware of the brevity of time and the need to write something that people will read and it should give a lift. God is faithful and sure enough He […]
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BELATED BLOG FOR MAY 2020
Every time I think I will begin to write this, a huge interruption causes me to stop, so finally I have the chance to start on it and maybe I can get a paragraph written before another something has to take center stage. I believe I can count on at least half an hour before […]
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CHRISTMAS AT ST. JOHN’S
Once I went to tell Christmas stories at St. John’s United in Richmond. I was early, and the sanctuary was empty, but the house lights were on, and I went in. The huge tree at the front was ablaze with white lights and was decorated with the lovely white Chrismons. The church was banked with […]
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BLOG FOR JULY, 2019
I want to write this July blog on the subject of HOPE. The Bible says that it abides in the spirit of the believer, and I find that to be one of the greatest blessings that we claim and live by. Just this past month it has again come to my rescue while ill, in […]
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Blog For May 2019 – Dancing With God
This is the year of the Big Birthday! I am now at the middle of May and just now back from a journey to my wonderful home- town of Richmond, VA, where I celebrated again with all of my family in that region and a host of precious friends. In going through my old files, […]
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BLOG FOR MARCH. 2019
This should be an easy blog to compose because in January I celebrated the 100th birthday, and then February was the wind-up and poem of appreciation for the wonderful family reunion that was staged by one of my nieces. My own children wanted to take me back to Virginia, but I had asked them to […]
Read MoreONE HUNDRED YEARS
All family and friends come lend an ear, I have a few words I want you to hear, My one hundredth birthday has now come and gone And I am already days into one hundred one! The words that I need now have tucked tails and fled, I feel that perhaps, when all has been […]
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MY CHRISTMAS BLOG 2018
THIS CHRISTMAS IS TAKING PLACE JUST A MONTH BEFORE MY 100TH BIRTHDAY. I WANT TO BE SURE TO WRITE THIS MEMORY DOWN AND LEAVE IT FOR MY FAMILY TO ENJOY. I MAY HAVE SEVERAL MORE OF THESE CELEBRATIONS, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE LORD WILL COME FOR ME! I STAY PREPARED FOR THAT JOURNEY […]
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BLOG FOR MID-NOVEMBER, 2018
I want to write this blog to all my reading public to let you know that I am now awaiting the copies of my revision of the out-of-print book, Storytelling in a Nutshell. Many of you are aware that I have been preoccupied with this task for many months—a relatively simple job of going through […]
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BLOG FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST 2018
SOMETHING I WROTE IN 1978 I wrote only the year and not the day, nor month. I found this rough draft of something I wrote for the editor of the daily paper when I lived in Richmond, Virginia. That was the Richmond Times Dispatch, I believe. At the same time, I found a promise that […]
Read MoreFor the Beauty of May-time on the Island of Samoa
This is the 22nd of April and I have decided that I will do the May blog and get it out of the way, just in case of eventualities. One never knows when one is 99 just when the Lord may bring things to pass that will cause these fingers to stop writing, and there […]
Read MoreMARCH 2018 BLOG
STORYTELLING AND TEACHING VALUES Here I am in the one hundredth year, and this is March. Already the calendar is showing the day is the tenth! The first book that I wrote was for the purpose of imparting to many people the way of acquiring the skills of the storyteller. It was published in 1998. […]
Read MoreThe Pumpkin Giant (as told by Mackie)
The Pumpkin Giant Mary E. Wilkins, from the book, The Lost Half Hour by Eulalie Steinmetz Ross, Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc NY c1963 Adapted for oral presentation by Maxine J. Bersch. The first time I told this was at St. Andrews school library, in Richmond, VA. To a third and fourth grade audience. The […]
Read MoreSOMETHING I WROTE IN 1978
I wrote only the year and not the day, nor month I found this rough draft of something I wrote for the editor of the daily paper when I lived in Richmond, Virginia. That was the Richmond Times Dispatch, I believe. At the same time, I found a promise […]
Read MoreThe Pumpkin Giant (Note: Addition to October Blog)
The Pumpkin Giant Mary E. Wilkins, from the book, The Lost Half Hour by Eulalie Steinmetz Ross, Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc NY c1963 Adapted for oral presentation by Maxine J. Bersch. The first time I told this was at St. Andrews school library, in Richmond, VA. To a third and fourth grade audience. The […]
Read MoreA MEDITATION ON HEBREWS 4:7
TODAY, IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS. A still, small voice I believe that I have received a transformation of my mind, as spoken of in Romans 12. I have every reason to believe all of that has taken place in my mind. I can hold to this according to […]
Read MoreSTORYTELLING IN LITERATURE APPRECIATION
If we want children to love good literature we must help them to ENJOY good literature! Story-telling brings pleasure to the child and it is the most effective way to lead to an appreciation of literature. If reading is a chore, a boring, tiresome chore, then the child will never acquire the taste for it. […]
Read MoreMOLLY WHUPPIE
Retold by Maxine J. Bersch and written as nearly as possible with the words I use to tell it to boys and girls who always love to hear it. Now I am placing it here for storytellers everywhere to pick it off these pages and lend it the voice that it needs to be a […]
Read MoreFebruary Blog
I am visiting with a friend and having a wonderful time, and I came the last week of January so that has made me forget about getting a blog in for February! Since it is Valentine’s Day and also the birthday of my first born son, to say nothing of our national heroes—I feel that […]
Read MoreMID-JANUARY THOUGHTS FOR THOSE WHO FOLLOW MY BLOGS
Written in memory of sister IRENE JOHNSON BROADDUS WHO WROTE THE FIRST LINE OF THIS POEM WHICH WAS NOT SAVED, AND THESE WORDS WERE ALL THAT I COULD REMEMBER. Maxine Johnson Bersch-Lovern SNOWSTORM Silently, softly, with gentle persistence the snow begins to fall, And the angels forming the trillion flake blanket Smile, as they cover […]
Read MoreA Very Speical Christmas Present From Mackie
THE BOY WHO LAUGHED AT SANTA CLAUS BY OGDEN NASH In Baltimore there lived a boy He wasn’t anybody’s joy, Although his name was Jabez Dawes, His character was full of flaws. In school he never led his classes, He hid old lady’s reading glasses, His mouth was open when he chewed And elbows to […]
Read MoreCHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2016
By: Maxine Bersch-Lovern My first Christmas that I can remember is at age three. I was awakened by sister Irene who was sent to bring me downstairs for the baby sister would not play with her doll until I was down and playing with her! I was dressed in a jiffy and when we came […]
Read MoreNovember 2016 Blog
Here you are, you wonderful month of November. How well I remember you from my childhood, and it was when you made your entrance that our place was absolutely the place to be! Although cool and bright October had come and gone, and Grandma Johnson’s annual visit was still giving us many laughs and pangs […]
Read MoreSWEET ADDENDUM TO OCTOBER’S POST
MOTHER’S SOURDOUGH BREAD I have this recipe from my sister, Clementine who had it from Mother. When I was a child I have watched my mother make yeast many times. I remember that she grew Hops in our garden and she made a tea with it and mixed it with corn meal and mashed potatoes […]
Read MoreOCTOBER’S BLOG
Mother’s Sourdough Bread I have this recipe from my sister, Clementine who had it from Mother. When I was a child I have watched my mother make yeast many times. I remember that she grew Hops in our garden and she made a tea with it and mixed it with corn meal and mashed potatoes […]
Read MoreSEPTEMBER THOUGHTS
September is a month of memories for me because my mother’s birthday was September 13, 1878. She lived until June of 1964. The book, Under the Gooseberry Bush, has many splendid stories of her exemplary life and if you do not own it, you can see here on my website how to get a copy. […]
Read MoreAugust Post for Website
Happy Birthday to all of my August birthday people! I always look forward to August for we had birthdays to celebrate and one time my niece celebrated them all at once at her house and we had water gun battles in the back yard! It was more fun than enough! Big, little, old and young! […]
Read MoreIT IS ALWAYS A MATTER OF CHOICE
A second go-round in writing the July post to all who visit my website. There are always more thoughts when it comes to such a marvelous holiday as July 4 happens to be! Every citizen of our great country has a big bundle of reasons to celebrate the Fourth! The greatest thing to celebrate is […]
Read MoreJUNE NAMED FOR JUNO GODDESS OF MARRIAGE AND BRIDES!
Here we are again! I have been away for a while—since February! And the reason is a story that I will tell here to get us back on track and we can then hope for brighter days ahead. Beginning at the January mark, I stayed at the daughter, Pat’s home through the ninety-seventh birthday and […]
Read MoreFebruary Thoughts
Here we are at the February mark again! A wonderful month because we have Valentine Day and Lincoln’s birthday! My first born child was born on that famous man’s birthday and we’ll be celebrating in a few days! The long awaited book is now in the publisher’s hands! So we have much to be thankful […]
Read MoreMERRY CHRISTMAS!
I have finally finished the book and the editing. As soon as I have the preface I will be ready to publish! I look forward to Christmas now with renewed joy! Thank the Lord for Christmas! How good it is to be able to call on the Almighty and to know that He hears—I feel […]
Read MoreOctober-November Post
This is a tardy post due to the book, of course. I am now at the formatting stage and almost completed. So the book will soon be ready to go. I have decided, the therefore, to enter here a few paragraphs from my introductory chapter to whet your appetite. I am expecting to have […]
Read MoreTHE HAMMER AND THE ANVIL
Authors: Virginia N. Sanders and Maxine J. Bersch, collaborating. Virginia did the research and the historic notes in sequence and Maxine wrote the narrative. The two of us did the rewrite and edit. Virginia sent it to the Story Art magazine for publishing including my name in the authorship. I had just gone around to […]
Read MoreRevolutionary Tea
I want to put the words in for an old song that my Mother and Dad liked to sing on the front porch in the season for the Fourth of July. My father was especially fond of quoting all of the Patrick Henry speech for us on that holiday. I remember that he was called […]
Read MoreWhat is so Rare as a Day in June?
I will go into that subject for just a few lines here, since we all are so glad to see Summer roll around this year of our Lord,, 2015! Indeed! It has been a chilly May and a particularly rainy one also. Thank the good Lord for the rain, because the lakes are getting filled […]
Read MoreMAY THE MONTH OF ROSES
I note that I have failed to make an entry for the month of April, and all with good reason! There was simply no time for blogs when I had to travel to Virginia! All who follow on Facebook know that I was invited again to attend the spring conference of Virginia Church Librarians Association […]
Read MoreWE CELEBRATE SPRINGTIME
Although we might remember the poet’s words, In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, and I suppose, since the word, “lightly” is inserted here, we can infer that the young man is not considering love in a serious manner, and since it leaves out any possibility that the young […]
Read MoreTHE GIFT OF LOVE
February, 2015 Now that I am past the ninety-sixth birthday, I want to write something really meaningful for the February entry on the website. I have been praying about it for a week or so. The twelfth is my son Frank’s birthday, as well as President Lincoln’s, and then there is Valentine’s Day. Everyone loves […]
Read MoreMerry Christmas to All
Merry Christmas to All How I love this wonderful season when we celebrate the birth of our Savior! And how do we celebrate? I can think of no better way than the traditional ways that have come down to us here in America from our Christian parents and grandparents. There is the evergreen tree […]
Read MoreTHE IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH LIBRARY STORY TIME
Maxine J. Bersch-Lovern Just a few weeks ago I finished reading Steve Hale’s book, TRUTH DECAY. (RIVERSTONEGROUP PUBLISHING) It is a most disturbing book and one which I wish all church librarians would place on their shelves, and put a copy in the hands of their pastors. The sub-title is The Erosion of Traditional Values […]
Read MoreNovember at the Johnson Place
I set my mind to happily remember How it was at our home every November. By then the frosty mornings freeze the nose You hear a sighing in the wind that blows. The cellar house hangs high the herbal treasure And corn field beans are there for winter pleasure. Dried apples are removed from thread […]
Read MoreMy Sufficiency is of God
I will think first of my insufficiency. I feel very weak and inadequate sometimes and always am wishing for more of God. I have recognized for a long time that I have no strength at all which is not from God. We know that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God […]
Read MoreKING ARTHUR AND THE OLD UGLY WOMAN
Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur’s youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer […]
Read MoreHow To Get Started Learning A Few Good Stories
It is not hard to start telling stories! Simply learn a few good ones and tell them! Folk tales are very simple and easy, and also ones that come out of your own memory that you have made into story form. Aesops fables are easy to learn. For example the story of the how the […]
Read MoreChurch Librarians Network Page
Webmaster’s Note: We wanted to let people know that you can also follow Max on the ‘Church Librarians Network’ by clicking on the following link: Church Librarians Network Thanks.
Read MoreHorse Sense from A to Z
Volumes are in print about the phenomenal way our minds work in the thought process. Computer experts are now working to bring about experiential thinking by computers, no less! Soon, they claim, we shall be able to converse with our computerized robots and interact with them as with another human being! They are bringing all […]
Read MoreOH BEAUTIFUL! FRESH AND GREEN!
Psalm 92:12-15 NIV The righteous will flourish like the palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright, he […]
Read MoreHappy Valentine’s Day
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. St. John 13: 34,35 Every one falls short […]
Read MoreMy response to the movie, Saving Mr. Banks
I wrote in my daily journal the following words after seeing the movie. Quote: I saw the movie, Saving Mr. Banks. It was a psychological study in the vein of the effect one’s childhood has on the personality of the adult. As the great poet William Wordsworth wrote, the child is father of the man[1], […]
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