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 […]

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 […]

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.  […]

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 […]

     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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.  […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.  […]

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! […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

     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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

            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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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], […]

The Storyteller’s Trip Down Memory’s Lane  Written after Christmas a couple of years ago.  I have been at my computer working hard to finish the memoirs while the Lord spared me.  I HAVE NOW PUBLISHED MY MEMOIRS, AND THE TITLE IS “Under the Gooseberry Bush”  Many memories of Christmas are shown in it and I believe since I did […]

Dreamy Christmas   ‘Tis the season to be jolly And we say the words to mean “Deck the halls with boughs of holly Berries red, and wreaths of green.” We remember with affection Family treasures kept in store,, Arrange them now in mute perfection, Some on mantel; some on floor.. Place the tree in stand and view […]

You just can’t imagine how wonderful it was for me at age 94 to go back to our Southern Baptist Conference center at Ridgecrest, North Carolina and teach two workshops in Storytelling. It would seem that after many years of delving into the matter—that is the teaching of such a subject—that a teacher would exhaust every […]