Brenda's Blog

The ancient art of squiggle stories
A long time ago (back in 1985) I learned the magic art of writing squiggle stories from the squiggle story master, Mrs. Hill. Each week she assigned her impressionable fifth graders a squiggle. They looked a little like my two year-old's drawings--a few random lines on a piece of paper. Our job was to somehow turn those random lines into a picture and then create a story relating to the picture. Before Mrs. Hill shared this ancient technique with me, I had grand plans to become a math teacher, or a scientist, or a mom. But after the first squiggle story assignment, I knew I was going to someday write a book.

Although the original squiggles Mrs. Hill provided were all random lines converted into pictures, squiggles, or inspiration for stories, can be found everywhere. The squiggles that inspire me most are found in the scriptures. My "scripture squiggles" are sometimes no more than a few lines, a fragment of a verse, yet these words cause me to ponder and wonder. Join me on my blog: Brenda Anderson's Scripture Squiggles as I explore scripture squiggles and stories that express the meaning found within, or that fictionally bring to life the events they convey. Be inspired.

Scripture Squiggle: Mormon 9:15-16

"And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you , Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.
"Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?"

Sometimes, even as members of the Church, I think we tend to look for miracles as big things--the unexpected arrival of a large sum of desperately needed money, a fatal illness cured, an amazing survival from a car crash. As we look for these big miracles, we often miss the little miracles that God blesses our lives with. Elder David A. Bednar, in his April 2005 Conference address, called these little miracles "tender mercies of the Lord."

These tender mercies can do so much more to strengthen our faith than those large miracles. Laman and Lemuel saw big miracles many times--they saw angels, felt the shocking power of the Lord, and witnessed the Lord's wrath on the sea--but these did nothing to convert them. the tender mercies are harder to see; we have to really be looking for them to notice them in our lives, and recognize the source they spring from. By finding the small miracles the Lord blesses us with, we find our faith, our testimony of His love for us.

Fictional Story: Mormon 9:15-16
Bonnie held her breath as she lowered her sleeping baby girl into the crib, praying that she wouldn't wake up the second she touched the mattress. She pulled her hands from under the sleeping form slowly, but the child still squirmed for a few seconds before settling down with a sigh. Relieved, Bonnie glanced heavenward. Thank you, Father.

The letter rested on top of the pile of bills on the counter; it rustled as she walked by, as if to remind her of its existence. Bonnie didn't have to read it; the threat pounded against her mind, worrying her every second since its arrival--take care of the weeds in the yard by the end of the month or face eviction. She had been working hard on the weeds all month, pulling each one by hand every day, when she could get her daughter to nap. The southern Arizona heat was too much even for Bonnie; she didn't dare take her baby out into it.

Now the last day of the month had arrived. Even though it was barely 11 am, the temperature had already climbed to 108 degrees. The last of the weeds waited for Bonnie on the south side of the house, where the sun shone in full force. The house couldn't shield her today. Read More