Exiled to Kazakhstan: A Survivor Miracle

by Cindy K. Stewart

When the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Poland at the beginning of WWII,

the secret police (NKVD) immediately began arresting and deporting Polish citizens identified before the invasion. They simply pulled out their lists. . . .

Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

These initial arrests focused on individuals holding leadership roles in the government, in the church, in education, in the military, as well as foreigners and those who had visited foreign countries. In February of 1940, hundreds of thousands of landowners and their families were sent to labor camps in Northern Russia and Siberia, and in April of 1940, family members of individuals previously arrested were transported to camps in Kazakhstan. Smaller numbers of Ukrainians and Jews were also deported.

Over one million people "rode the rails" to exile.

Maria Zareba
Courtesy of the Canadian
Polish Historical Society

Maria Zareba Andrzejewska was deported with her mother and sisters during one of these mass roundups. Prior to WWII, Maria’s father was the mayor of a small town in Eastern Poland where Maria and her sisters lived peacefully, enjoying skiing, hiking, playing sports, reading, and picking mushrooms.

The war changed everything. . . .

After the Soviets occupied Eastern Poland, they arrested, imprisoned, and deported Maria’s father in October of 1939. Six months later, in April of 1940, Soviet soldiers pounded on the Zareba’s door at 4:00 AM, demanded entry, and allowed the women fifteen minutes to pack. They gathered a large amount of clothes but only a little food and rode by horse and buggy to Kolomyja where they were ordered to enter a cattle boxcar holding 50 to 60 people. The windowless boxcar was bolted from the outside, and the occupants were only allowed to leave their quarters one time during their month-long journey.

Deportation to the Soviet Union. Courtesy of Official Composite

Maria and her family prayed and sang as they traveled to Kazakhstan, hoping they would be able to return home soon.

Upon arrival, the Zareba women were assigned to a dirt-type hut with no stove or furniture. Thirty people slept side by side on the clay floor. They dug water ditches for field irrigation, gathered hay during harvest season, and subsisted on very small rations of food. Before winter set in, Maria’s family bartered clothes for food in the villages because there would be little work, and the Soviets didn’t distribute food to those who didn’t work. In the fall, they moved to a small chicken coop and endured the cold, dark, and brutal winter which followed. Snow built up until it covered the entire building.

The Zarebas survived by melting snow for water and making a thin soup, which they ate once a day.

To entertain themselves they sang and played instruments made of combs. After walking to the local villages, Maria’s feet froze, causing festering boils on her toes. Maria’s sister developed large black sores all over her legs that spread to her torso, and she lay unconscious for weeks. Maria developed a milder form of the disease.

In the spring of 1941, the Zarebas worked in the fields and later in huge stables, caring for cattle. The deportees were told they could gather leftover sunflower seeds after the harvest, but other officials drove up and told them they were committing a crime against the state and could be arrested. The officials confiscated the bags of seeds the hungry children and teens had collected, much to their sorrow.

In June of 1941, the Germans invaded Eastern Poland and attacked the Soviet Union. Two months later the Zareba’s manager revealed that the Soviets and the Polish Government in Exile in London had signed an agreement granting the deportees amnesty so they could form an army to help the Allies fight the Germans.

The exiles were free to leave . . .

so the Zarebas sold everything possible and purchased train tickets to go south where General Anders was gathering and training the Polish Army. Traveling for weeks and suffering more hunger and disease, the Zareba women hoped to find their husband and father if he was still alive.

The women arrived in Samarkand and lived on the streets for three weeks, where they were attacked and robbed.

A friend helped them move to Zirabulak where Maria worked in a cotton factory and her older sister labored in the mines. They lived in a little factory living quarters. Maria’s older sister met her future husband, a Polish Army officer, and he helped the family arrange transportation to Krasnowodsk, a port town on the Caspian Sea. From there they crossed over to Pahlavi, Persia, on an overloaded dilapidated ship, full of hungry and ill passengers.

A ship carrying Polish soldiers and civilian refugees arrives in Iran from the Soviet Union, 1942.
Courtesy of Wikipedia.

They sheltered temporarily in tents on the beach until relocating to Tehran. The British occupied part of Iran at this time, but the Iranians assisted the Polish exiles and treated them warmly.

In Tehran a miracle took place. . . .

Maria’s father had survived his imprisonment and was searching for his family. What a joyful reunion took place when they were reunited in Iran. All the Zarebas were together again except Maria’s oldest sister who had fled with an aunt to Romania at the beginning of the war.

Teheran,1943. The group of Polish students from Junior
High School. Maria is sitting in the first row (first from right)
Courtesy of the Canadian Polish Historical Society

While waiting for the war to end in Tehran, Maria, her sisters, and thousands of other Polish youth attended school.

Maria’s father was sent to England, and the family later followed him. At a Polish Military Resettlement Camp near Liverpool, Maria met her future husband Antek who had fought in the Polish Home Army, survived four years in Auschwitz, and escaped to join the Polish Army in Italy.

Maria and Antek on an
 Edmonton street. May 5, 1950. Courtesy of the Canadian
Polish Historical Society 

Maria and Antek became engaged, Antek moved to Alberta, Canada, and Maria followed six months later. They married the next month in February of 1950. Maria’s sisters and their families also immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, where many other Polish immigrants had settled after the war. After the death of Maria's dear father in England, Maria's mother joined them in Canada. Maria and Antek were blessed with three children and four grandchildren in their new home.

*********

Cindy Stewart, a high school social studies teacher, church pianist, and inspirational historical romance author, writes stories of hope and love. Her first manuscript was a 2020 finalist for the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Award of Excellence, placed second in the North Texas Romance Writers Great Expectations contest, semi-finaled in the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Genesis contest, and won ACFW’s First Impressions contest in the historical category. Cindy is passionate about revealing God’s handiwork in history. She resides in North Georgia with her college sweetheart and husband of forty years. Their daughter, son-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren live only an hour away. Cindy’s currently writing two fiction series set in WWII Europe.

Waffling on the Idea?

 

  By Cindy Regnier 

Hubby likes to indulge in a waffle supper on occasion. He is convinced they are far better than pancakes, though I can’t see the difference beyond one being baked and the other fried. So how did someone sometime envision a waffle made from pancake batter? When the hubs suggested I look into it for a blog post, I kind of pooh-poohed the idea. Waffles can’t be old enough for an historical blog topic. You need non-stick waffle irons and electricity to make them – right? Nope. I stand corrected. What I found out was really quite interesting. Waffles have been around for hundreds of years, maybe even since the 13th Century. Not waffles like Americans know and love them today, but waffles nonetheless. Here’s what I learned:

The first waffle irons with the characteristic honeycomb pattern appeared in the 1200’s when a craftsman designed and forged cooking irons. 

The original irons were hinged and the batter poured in and pressed together, much like we do today. The first waffles were baked over an open fire, of course, rather than with electricity, but they quickly became quite popular. This time period is when the word “guafre” was coined. The English adaption of this French word became “wafla.” You can still find this printed word in some old English recipes.

As the hand forged waffle irons required to make them were scarce, most waffles were sold by street vendors. By the 16th Century, they were a well-known staple for all social classes. The poorest folks made them from basic flour and water, more like a thick biscuit while the more well-to-do added ingredients like eggs, milk, and honey. In the 1800’s Waffle “Frolics” or parties become the rage in the South. Guests topped their waffles with sweet molasses or syrup. Some even used a savory kidney stew So guess where the popular-today southern treat of Chicken and Waffles originated?

The first waffle iron patent was issued in1869 to Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York.

The anniversary of the patent marks what’s now known as National Waffle Day – August 24. By 1911 the first commercial electric waffle iron was created by General Electric, and by the 1930’s the appliance became a staple in the American kitchen.

But what about those things we pull out of the freezer and stick in a toaster? “Eggo” was introduced in U.S. grocery stores in 1953, originally called “Froffles,”. The name changed in 1955 because everyone referred to them as “Eggos” due to their eggy taste.

Belgian waffles, as we know them today, debuted at the New York World’s Fair in 1964 with an enterprising vendor selling his wife’s recipe for Brussels waffles—fluffy yeast waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Apparently he changed the name to Belgian from Brussels so they weren’t associated with those little green vegetables so many of us find distasteful! 

If you love waffles , I hope you remember some of these fun facts the next time you treat yourself. Just for fun let me know how you like to eat waffles. Savory or sweet? Syrupy? Lots of butter? Just between us, my favorite way is plain and toasty, straight from the waffle iron. 

 

 

Rand Stafford isn't looking for true love. He'd ridden that trail until his fiancée left him with a shattered heart. What he needs now is a wife to help him care for his orphan nieces. Desperate, he sends an advertisement to a Baltimore newspaper and hopes for the best.
   Fleeing her former employer who would use her to further his unlawful acts, a newspaper advertisement reads like the perfect refuge to Carly Blair. The idea of escaping the city, the intrigue, and the danger to hide herself on a cattle ranch in Kansas is her best shot for freedom.
   But its sanctuary comes with a price—a husband. While marrying a man she doesn't know or love means sacrificing her dreams, it's better than being caught by the law.
   Or is it?

The Castillo de San Marcos, Part 2—And a Giveaway

By Jennifer Uhlarik

 

On October 25, 2021, I began telling you about the history of the Castillo de San Marcos, or the large masonry fort in St. Augustine, Florida. During its existence, the Castillo has existed under six different flags, the first being the Spanish flag. I told you of the building of this impressive structure by the Spanish in my earlier post if you would like to read or refresh your memory.

 

We’ll pick up where we left off—the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. In the Treaty of Paris that ended this conflict, several Caribbean Islands went to the French, Spain got Havana and Manilla, and England had Canada and the newly acquired Florida. With that outcome, all North American land east of the Mississippi River belonged to the Brits. When this happened, the Spanish settlers in Florida made a mass exodus to Cuba. But the tropical paradise wouldn’t stay empty for long. 

The British government noticed that conflicts were brewing between the British colonists in America and the Native populations. To curb this problem, the government created the English Crown Proclamation of 1763. In it, all settlers were forbidden from moving any farther west than the Appalachian Mountains. So with their western expansion cut off, they drove southward instead—to Florida. England’s government, in return, offered 20,000 acres to any group that chose to settle in Florida, and for individual pioneers willing to settle in the new land, they gave 100 acres, plus 50 more per family member. In the first ten years of British rule, St. Augustine’s population rebounded and doubled from what it had been during the Spanish period.

 

British colonists flooded the new area, taking over the one-story Spanish-style homes their predecessors had left and, in many cases, building second or third stories onto them. They also built new homes and business buildings in St. Augustine and surrounding areas. With water on three sides of the state, Florida made for an excellent shipping locale, and its rich, fertile soil made for excellent farmland and grazing land for cattle. The British colonists prospered here.

 

However, not all was so rosy in the British colonies. Other colonists in more northern locales were beginning to rebel against the Crown, so Florida—and Fort St. Mark, as the Castillo de San Marcos was now called—became the staging area for British soldiers brought in to put down the rebellion in the Southern colonies. The fort was used as a supply base, and more interestingly, as a prisoner of war camp. During this time of British control, three signers of the Declaration of Independence were captured and held at Fort St. Mark: Thomas Heyward Jr., Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge. Also held at the fort was the lieutenant governor of South Carolina, Christopher Gadsden—held for 42 weeks in solitary confinement.

Arthur Middleton

Edward Rutledge

     

Thomas Heyward, Jr.

 

As the Revolutionary War actually broke out, Florida didn’t see any great action. It all took place in the more northern colonies we are familiar with. But Spain took plenty of shots at Britain while their attention was focused on the war with their unruly colonies. The Spanish came in to take Baton Rouge, Mobile, Natchez, and even Pensacola. When it became obvious to Britain that they were not going to be able to hold onto their American colonies, they granted America its freedom in the Treaty of Paris in September 1783. And with little use for the British outpost of Florida, they also made a separate treaty with Spain, giving control of Florida and Fort St. Mark, back to its original owner. So the British control of St. Augustine and Fort St. Marks lasted only twenty years, and resulted in Spain’s return. What did that second Spanish period look like? We’ll explore it in next month’s post, so stay tuned!

It’s Your Turn: Were you aware that St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos wasn’t always under one country’s rule? What, if anything, did you find most interesting about the British period of the Castillo’s history? Leave your thoughts with your email address to be entered in a giveaway for a print copy of Love’s Fortress.

 

Award-winning, best-selling novelist Jennifer Uhlarik has loved the western genre since she read her first Louis L’Amour novel. She penned her first western while earning a writing degree from University of Tampa. Jennifer lives near Tampa with her husband, son, and furbabies. www.jenniferuhlarik.com

 

 

COMING MARCH 1, 2022

 

Love’s Fortress by Jennifer Uhlarik

A Friendship From the Past Brings Closure to Dani’s Fractured Family

 

When Dani Sango’s art forger father passes away, Dani inherits his home. There, she finds a book of Native American drawings, which leads her to seek museum curator Brad Osgood’s help to decipher the ledger art. Why would her father have this book? Is it another forgery?

 

Brad Osgood longs to provide his four-year-old niece, Brynn, the safe home she desperately deserves. The last thing he needs is more drama, especially from a forger’s daughter. But when the two meet “accidentally” at St. Augustine’s 350-year-old Spanish fort, he can’t refuse the intriguing woman.

 

Broken Bow is among seventy-three Plains Indians transported to Florida in 1875 for incarceration at ancient Fort Marion. Sally Jo Harris and Luke Worthing dream of serving on a foreign mission field, but when the Indians reach St. Augustine, God changes their plans. However, when Sally Jo’s friendship with Broken Bow leads to false accusations, it could cost them their lives.

 

Can Dani discover how Broken Bow and Sally Jo’s story ends and how it impacted her father’s life?

The British Guest Children

By Terrie Todd

The Blitz convinced many British parents to evacuate their children.

In 1940, fearing that Nazi invasion of England was imminent, the British government devised a plan to evacuate children to the relative safety of its Dominions—Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Canada. Although numerous upper-class women and children had already fled the country to Canada and the United States (despite disapproval of both the King and Prime Minister Churchill because of the defeatist implications), many who wished to leave could not afford to. The Children’s Overseas Reception Board (CORB) was formed and tasked with running the scheme.

The list sent to parents of CORB children

A surprising number of parents wanted their children to participate. It’s a difficult thing for most of us to understand. How could anyone send their children thousands of miles away, across an ocean (infested with enemy submarines), into the hands of strangers for an undetermined amount of time? Then again, who among us has endured rationing of food, gasoline, and a host of other things? We don’t know what it’s like to hear air raid sirens, to flee to bomb shelters, to spend the night in cramped quarters with strangers. To venture out after the all-clear signal, not knowing whether we’ll still have a home or even a country. For these parents, all of that was becoming their new normal. Meanwhile, just across the channel, France had already been invaded. Horror stories were making their way to the British who felt like sitting ducks, next in line. Parents will do anything to keep their children safe. Over 211,000 applied.

One of the best books I found to research my novel.

The mind-boggling task of organizing passages, in the middle of a war, for the 25,000 children who were eventually approved, along with volunteer escorts, fell to Geoffrey Shakespeare, the Secretary for Dominions Affairs. Marjorie Maxse took charge of the welfare section of CORB and remained at the heart of the daily work until the end of the war. By September, 1,532 children had sailed to Canada (in nine parties), 577 to Australia, 202 to New Zealand, and 353 to South Africa.

Tragedy Strikes

The SS City of Benares

On September 17, 1940, just three months into the evacuation program, enemy torpedoes hit the troop ship SS City of Benares. On board were 90 children bound for homes in Canada. The ship was abandoned and sank within 30 minutes. A British destroyer picked up 105 survivors, while 42 were left adrift in a lifeboat for eight days. 77 of the CORB children died in the sinking. This unthinkable tragedy brought an end to the evacuation program.

The whole scheme had been controversial on several levels, and on both sides of the ocean. Racial, health, religious, and class issues factored in as each Dominion specified who and how many children they would accept. No one knew what the long-term effects might be of separating children from their families. Arguments abounded on both sides. What was expected to last the duration of a school term dragged into five or six years. Children who were nine when they left home returned as teenagers. Many younger children felt more closely bonded with their foster families than with the parents they barely remembered. Some returned to younger siblings they’d never met.

Among the “Guest Children” who went to Canada, experiences varied as widely as can be imagined. While some evacuees were indeed traumatized for life, others thrived—choosing to stay or return after the war. British psychiatrist Anna Freud concluded that “Love for the parents is so great that it is a far greater shock for a child to be suddenly separated from its mother than to have a house collapse on top of him.”

Note from the Queen (mother of current Queen Elizabeth), 1900-2002

Even If We Cry is Terrie’s novel about the Guest Children and is currently

being pitched to publishers. Terrie is the award-winning historical fiction author of The Silver Suitcase, Maggie’s War, Bleak Landing, Rose Among Thornes, and The Last Piece. She also writes a weekly “faith and humor” column for the Graphic Herald called Out of My Mind. In 2020, she published a collection of her favorite columns in her only nonfiction book, Out of My Mind. Terrie is represented by Mary DeMuth of Books & Such Literary Agency. She lives with her husband, Jon, on the Canadian prairies.

Bitter war might be raging overseas, but Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a dazzling concert pianist. When forced by her own government to leave her beloved home to work on a sugar beet farm, Rose’s dream fades to match the black soil working its way into her calloused hands.

When Rusty Thorne joins the Canadian Army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the brilliant notes from his mother’s charming helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”


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TOO DANGEROUS FOR A WOMAN

By Mary Davis

Target Tug Tow Duty

Would you volunteer to put an apple on your head and allow someone to shoot at it? I wouldn’t, even if it were a watermelon. 

Would you volunteer to be attached to a spinning board and let this guy throw knives at you?

What about being at the pointy end of this guy’s knives?

Perhaps if I were unconscious. 

Would you hold a target at arm’s length for someone to shoot at? 

I confess, I’m not a brave person. 

You might be thinking that these things must be safe-ish because they have been well practiced and the marksman is well trained. I would agree, but I’m still not going to willingly allow someone to throw or shoot stuff in my direction if I don’t have to. 

Now, for you brave souls who would jump at the chance to do any or all of the above, what if I told you the person shooting at you is learning how to fire a high-powered artillery gun and he needs to learn how to aim at a moving target, would you then? 

Pass. Pass. And double pass. 

But that’s just what the US WASPs did (Women Airforce Service Pilots). Yep, green soldiers learning to fire large artillery weapons with live rounds shot at some of these brave WASPs as they flew in the wild blue yonder. 

In Russia, women were allowed to be combat pilots during the Second World War. In the US, they weren’t allowed in combat because it was deemed too dangerous. American female pilots were kept, primarily, on US soil…for their safety. However, not all the tasks performed by the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were risk free.

Besides ferrying airplanes from factories to bases where the male pilots were stationed for training and to be deployed, WASPs also tested airplanes, trained male pilots, were airplane mechanics, transported cargo, and towed targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice. 

On July 19, 1943, Jackie Cochran, head of the WASP, announced live-target practice to twenty-five handpicked WASPs who had recently graduated from their rigorous WASP training. Any WASP who wanted to could opt out of this “top secret mission.” None did.

One of the most dangerous jobs—if not the most dangerous—was being a tug tow pilot. This is where soldiers on the ground fired live ammunition from anti-aircraft artillery at a cloth drogue (a tube of fabric) towed behind an aircraft. Sometimes the green soldier got confused and shot at the aircraft rather than the target. Other drogue target practice was aircraft-to-aircraft in a dogfight scenario. The ladies had the targets, but instead of the men shooting at them being stationary on the ground, they were flying in the air firing at a moving target.

Most of this target practice training took place at Camp Davis in North Carolina. During such exercises, several WASPs were shot in the foot. At least two WASPs died in flying accidents at Camp Davis, not necessarily from target practice. 

Here’s a 1943 video of one of these drogue targets in action, being shot at. This is in Dublin and is from naval ships toward the aircraft with a drogue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tk1hkxS120

In Mrs. Witherspoon Goes To War, Peggy flies as a tug tow pilot. Though she doesn’t get shot in the foot, the other WASP does. Read all about Peggy’s adventures as a WASP in Mrs. Witherspoon Goes To War.

***COMING FEBRUARY 2022!***

MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR (Heroines of WWII series)

A WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flies a secret mission to rescue three soldiers held captive in Cuba.

Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident.

Pre-order HERE!

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle  4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (The Quilting Circle  3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; The Widow’s Plight, The Daughter's Predicament, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She's an ACFW member and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren.

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Tamar—A Righteous Daughter-in-law

 By Sherri Stewart

We learn a lot about our Father in heaven by studying the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. Most genealogies follow the male line, as is true of the genealogy of Luke 3, but Matthew’s genealogy mentions five women, and it’s these women that tell us about what’s important to God.

Tamar was probably a Canaanite woman. How do we know this? Genesis 38 tells us that Judah moved away from his brothers and married a Canaanite woman. Judah’s wife’s name isn’t mentioned, but she bore him three sons, and Genesis says Judah found a wife for Er, his oldest son, so if Judah married a Canaanite woman, chances are he found a Canaanite for his son.

Er was wicked in the sight of the Lord. That’s all we know about him; in fact, Er was so wicked, God killed him. So what does this tell us? There’s a good chance that Er was known to be a wicked man, and if that’s the case, then both Tamar’s father and Judah were not concerned that this young girl would suffer at the hands of her husband. It was a business deal, and she was chattel. So it’s safe to say that Tamar was an abused daughter and an abused wife.

Israel followed Levirate law, which meant that the brother of a dead husband was to marry his widow in order to produce children in the dead husband’s name. This would prevent a childless family from losing their land. Onan, the second son, was just as wicked and refused to give Tamar a child, so the Lord killed him as well. We don’t hear about God killing individual people because they are wicked, so why here? The reason is because God knew that the Messiah would come out of the line of Judah, so while Tamar the Canaanite was acceptable, the two sons of Judah were not. They had to die.

Judah sent the widow Tamar to live with her father until his youngest son was of age to marry, but Genesis 38 tells us he had no intention of his third son dying due to being married to Tamar. Obviously, Judah blamed his sons’ deaths on her.

At face value, it hardly seems righteous for Tamar to pretend to be a harlot so her father-in-law would give her a son, but we don’t understand levirate law. But that’s what Tamar did. She was a woman on a mission, and she showed great forethought and shrewdness in demanding Judah’s seal, cord, and staff as a pledge.

When Judah heard that the widow Tamar was pregnant, he ordered that she be burned to death. So why would the Lord allow Judah to be in the genealogy of his Son? Answer: It’s not how we begin; it’s how we end. When Judah realized that he was the father of Tamar’s child, he said in verse 26, “‘She is more righteous than I, since I wouldn’t give her to my son Shelah.’ And he did not sleep with her again.” Judah understood Levirate law, and his duplicity in not perpetuating his oldest son’s line. We don’t know if Judah played a role in the lives of his twin sons, Perez and Zerah, but the fact that Judah appears in both Luke’s and Matthew’s genealogy, testifies that Judah ended well.

So why was Tamar more righteous than Judah? Here is a Canaanite woman, most likely from an abusive family, who was forced to marry a wicked man. But Tamar embraced Judaism. If she’d pretended to be the harlot because she wanted revenge, God wouldn’t have blessed her, but Tamar understood her one purpose in life was to bear a son for Judah’s line, and she risked being burned to death to achieve her calling.

That’s what I call righteous.

 

Sherri Stewart loves a clean novel, sprinkled with romance and a strong message that challenges her faith. She spends her working hours with books—either editing others’ manuscripts or writing her own. Her passion is traveling to the settings of her books and sampling the food. She loves the Netherlands, and she’s still learning Dutch, although she doesn’t need to since everyone speaks perfect English. A recent widow, Sherri lives in Orlando with her lazy dog, Lily. She shares recipes, tidbits of the book’s locations, and pix in her newsletter. Subscribe at http://eepurl.com/gZ-mv9

 

Stranded with Pearls

A runaway bride on Route 66. What could possibly go wrong?

https://amzn.to/32SmI7N

The History of Adhesive Tape

Before there was tape, there was glue, fabric, paper, animal skins, and string; when tape came on the scene, everything changed.

Adhesive tape occurred during its first appearance in 1845. Dr. Horace Day, a surgeon used a rubber adhesive applied to strips of fabrics to make surgical tape.

In 1921 Earl Dickson, a cotton buyer for Johnson and Johnson invented the band-aid. The surgical strips created by Horace Day kept falling off his wife’s fingers after cutting them in the kitchen, so he attached a piece of gauze to some cloth-backed tape and covered it with crinoline. Johnson and Johnson made him a vice-president in the company for his efforts.

In 1923, Richard Drew worked for the 3M Company which was located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Drew was product testing 3M’s Wet/Dry Sandpaper brand sandpaper at a local auto body shop, when he noticed that auto painters were having a hard time making clean dividing lines on two-color paint jobs. Richard Drew then invented the world’s first masking tape in 1925, as a solution to the auto painter’s problem.

The brand Scotch came about while Richard Drew was testing his first masking tape to determine how much adhesive he needed to add. The body shop painter became frustrated with the sample masking tape and he asked the workers to tell their Scotch bosses to put more adhesive on it. Scotch then became the name applied to the entire line of 3M tapes.

During World World II, in 1942, duct tape was developed by Johnson and Johnson during . The troops needed a waterproof tape that would seal holes and repair equipment. The cloth tape was coated with polyethylene and duct tape was created.

Today, there are too many adhesive formulations and applications to name. And to think adhesive tape history all started with tree sap is quite something!

Thank you for joining me here today!

Magdelena's Choice releases Jan. 25, 2022 on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and anywhere books are sold.


Magdelena's father doesn't approve of Toby, her choice for a husband. She's never gone against him. Her father insists she marry Zach. Magdelena prays for God's intervention. Visit Molly for a list of her books and appearances.