Who Am I?

What is the difference between an author and a writer? One person describes it as "Authors are self-oriented, while writers are service-oriented."

I write what pops in my head! Makes my girls nervous! I started out writing a blog.  Then I wrote my love story of the love of my life. I do nothing halfway so I took online classes and connected with local writers and read a lot of information on how to write! Now I am writing short stories on growing up in the sixties and seventies. (Beau Max series available on Amazon.)

When I started playing music, I did the same thing. There was no internet, so I got books and read anything I could find on the structure of music. It wasn’t enough for me to just play what I heard in my head, but I wanted to know what I was playing! I learned there were 3 diminished chords with the name of the root note inverted and called that. The same was true for augmented chords. As I studied more, it became an in-depth training with major and minor chords with 7ths and 9ths! By the time I learned all this, I had ended up with the beginning of a music degree but was too old and set in my ways to go to a liberal arts college which is probably a good thing with the current liberal curriculum. 

I consider myself self-oriented in music but service-oriented in my writing. I pour out the thoughts in my head as words on a computer keyboard like I poured out the sounds I heard to the piano keyboard!  

Now, if you are lucky enough to read what I write, you get to know what I know!  That may be a little scary but stay tuned while I try to find out who I am, which may be even more frightening!!

Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection
or reload the browserDisable in this text fieldEditEdit in GingerEdit in Ginger×

Sex has become a commodity to sell an item to the public.

In my first marriage, I think the worst thing was everyone in town knowing my husband was cheating ... except me!

We were both too young to get married, but in the fifties and sixties; it was just what you did. If you had not married by the time you were twenty, they considered you an old maid and snickered behind your back! Therefore, girls got married young! Far too often immature and TOO young!

When you are deceived, it is the most difficult emotion to handle. You are angry at the cheating spouse and mad at yourself for being so blind.

In today's world, with social media, the integrity of a person being faithful has gone from ten to zero overnight. It is easier to cheat but also easier to get caught. In yesterday's world, the woman stayed home, did not know what was going on around her and always the last to know.

Now, more women are working in the real world, and computer literate. With the internet, they can google and quickly find answers. We live in a fake, throwaway world. We use paper cups, paper plates, plastic eating utensils, and even our appliances are dispensable. When they quit working, it is cheaper to replace than to find a repairman to fix them. Sadly, that mentality has bled over into our relationships and so easy to toss aside a mate and get another someone to make the same mistake with.

Marriage is an institution and a commitment with God, as a husband and wife which makes it a threesome. Ecclesiastes 4:12 (KJV) says: And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him, and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.

The proverb, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link," has a literal meaning. The 'weakest link' is a symbolic reference and applies to a person rather than the link of a chain.  The strong link is the character and integrity of the husband and wife. Infidelity breaks the strength of the marriage.

Man has distorted what God meant to be holy. Sex has become a commodity to sell an item to the public. God made intimate love to be blessed in the marriage bed but sex outside of marriage is a sin against your body. Discern the difference between love and lust. Pure, true love will wait with respect. We have become so politically correct; we won’t take a stand against sin. Someday, God will ask us why.

Separate the essential qualities of true love from a surface love and DON’T SETTLE. Pray for your future husband or wife before you date. Ask God to help you choose the right one and then listen to His direction. If you want to have perfect love and a near-perfect marriage, love your spouse as Jesus loved the church and gave His life for them!

The Accident

©2019 Suzie Tyler  

We had gotten engaged on October 13th. 

Just before Halloween, Odis had to be home several days after an accident at work, Some metal had splashed in his right eye, and he had to go to the hospital. His eye was burned pretty severely on the white of the eyeball. It wasn’t expected to affect his vision but would leave a scar. The doctor deadened it and dilated the pupil and taped a bandage across his eye, nose, jaw, and forehead. When he wrote to me about it, he said,

It feels like a big rock is in it and sure hurts. I have to go back tomorrow to see the doctor again. He said I would have to be careful of infection. One of the ladies at work got the metal out of my eyelashes, and a pretty nurse held my hand at the hospital, is that ok? She did not turn on my switch. Only you can do that. You’ve got the touch that turns me on.

I wish you were with me now. I would hold you tight, and you could kiss my eye, and it would get well real quick. I have to keep the bandage on to keep me from blinking my eye. He said if I blinked, it would irritate my eye. If you need me for anything, call, ok? I love you, little girl, more than life. Gonna take a pain pill and lay down and close my other eye.

When I got the letter at noon, I called him immediately. “Why didn’t you call me when this happened?”

“I didn’t want to worry you.”

“So, I am worried now.”

After talking with him, I drove to see him after work. I wanted to make sure he was okay. As he walked to the car to greet me, I could see the bandage over his right eye. He was so glad to see me and hugged me so tight it was difficult to breathe, but I didn’t care. I was just happy to see him. He said, “You shouldn’t have driven up here, but I’m glad you did. You are sweet. I love you and have missed you.”

I said, “Well, I had to protect my interest from the nurses.”

“Honey, you had no reason to be concerned. None of them could compare to you. I love you, and there is no one else for me but you.”

“If something like this happens again and you don’t call me, I will be so mad at you.”

All the while he is kissing on me and saying, “I love you. Stay with me, okay?”

“I love you too. I can stay for a little while. Does your eye hurt?”

“Yes, but much better now that you are here. You’ve got the magic touch.”

I left Diane with Margaret so she could do her homework. The boys had a ballgame, and his dad was at the gym with them, but I enjoyed visiting with his mom. I asked her, “Is he okay?”

She said, “The doctor said it should not affect his vision.”

I said, “Thank the Lord for that.”

The T.V. was on, but I don’t think anyone was watching. I was sitting on the couch by the side of his mother, and Odis was seated at the dining table across from me. He was mouthing to me, “I love you.” I would smile at him, wondering if his mom could see him and what she might be thinking. She recognized our love and was pleased. I showed her my ring, and she said it was beautiful. As I got up to leave, Odis walked out to the car with me. I said, “Please take care of yourself. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Don’t worry about me. I will be fine as long as you are with me.”

“I know you will, but I love you, and I worry about you. It isn’t fair for this to happen. I pray God will protect you and keep you safe. Please don’t strain your eye when you go back to work, okay?”

“I’m so glad you came. I’ll let you spend the night with me.”

“I wish I could. One day soon I can. I sure love you.”

“I love you the most.” He kept kissing me and holding on to me. “I know you have to go but don’t want you to. I love you. Please drive carefully.”

I opened the car door to get in and turned to look at him. “Get some rest.” I carefully kissed his eye bandage. “Now. That should make it all well.”

He grinned. “It already feels better.”

I hugged him, “I love you.” I kissed him goodbye and got in the car to drive back home. A few days later, he wrote the sweetest letter to me. 

Thank you for coming to see me. I know you really, really love me. When I touch your hand and look into your eyes, I see pure love. You don’t have to say anything I feel your heart beating love for me when I hold you tight against my chest. I see the smile on your face, the look in your eyes and I know you love me and will never leave me. Your heart can speak to my heart without saying a word from across the room. Don’t ever doubt my love because it is real. Your sweet love gives me hope and faith in us. You are the only one for me. Please believe me.

I miss you, darling, more all the time, and I feel lost when I am not with you. I love you more than anything on the earth, and I will continue forever. Please never stop loving me, please darling. No one can ever love me like you do. It was wonderful being with you this weekend. I fall more in love with you the longer I’m with you. I just hope you never get tired of me. I love you more every day. I would not want to live if I lost your love. You are part of me, and you are so very precious to me, and the most wonderful girl in the world.

New City, New Job, New Home.

In 1978, we moved to Texarkana from Lonsdale. I didn't really plan to move back to my hometown. The printing industry was changing, and the opportunity became available for Odis to work as director of Public Works for the City of Nash.

All we could find was an upstairs two bedroom apartment available at Woodbridge Apartments on Belt Road. Odis knew I was not moving without my piano. He said, "Sweetheart, we will get that piano in there if I have to get a forklift." That was the right answer!

Six months later, we found a house in Nash on 989. We had lived there for about a year and had been looking for a house to buy. One Sunday evening when I came home from playing for Marejohn, Odis told me I needed to pray for a place to live because our landlord's son was moving back and wanted her house. 

I had all my Christian friends at church and Aglow praying for us a house. God gave me the scripture in First Chronicles 14:1 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David and timber of cedars, with masons and carpenters to build him an house.

Odis was driving down Post Street and saw a man building on a house and stopped to ask him if it was for sale. He told him he had just built himself a new home and was fixing his old house to rent, but might sell it later. Odis said, "I want it either way." That evening when I got off work, we went to look at it. It was like it was specially built for us. It had a master bedroom with a huge bathroom and walk-in closet, double oven, garbage disposal, fireplace and a room that was added on with a private entrance that I could teach piano. 

It was just one of the many miracles God supplied in our years of marriage beginning with how we found each other after being separated for fifteen years.  God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Just trust Him to make all things work out for your best!

Beau-Max

Just finished my second fiction short story called Beau-Max and will be a series as my character grows up and experiences life. Available on Amazon.com 
https://www.amazon.com/Beau-Max-Suzie-Tyler-ebook/dp/B07R9LTBTP/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1558240960&sr=8-1-fkmr0

This fiction short story is based on my experience as a thirty-year-old after inheriting three sons from my husbands first marriage. When we married, he had full custody, and I accepted the responsibility of raising his sons and my daughter.  Never having been around boys, I had a big surprise learning the behavior of boys versus girls. I found out first hand the ways of boys involved in dirt, grease, and coon hunting while girls were made of buttons and bows and frills. It is dedicated to the memory of my youngest son, Tim Tyler.

This is a small clip from the first edition:

After supper, dad said he needed to talk with me. I thought, oh, no. He is going to give me a father to son talk about girls. My dad is quiet but very smart. When he talks, I listen. We sat down on the couch, and he looked at me and said, “Son, you know you shouldn’t scare girls like that.” I explained to him that Earl had told them that, and I scolded him for lying to them, but we just wanted to fish without silly girls. Dad chuckled. Then he smiled at me and said, “Beau-Max, someday you will grow up and look at girls differently. You will fall in love, and your life will change. You will get married and have children, and they will make you happy just like you make me happy.”

“I understand, dad.” I told him that I understood, but I really didn’t. Girls are a nuisance. They are okay to be moms who belong to dads, but Earl and I had other things to do that didn’t include girls.

#Beau-Max,#SuzieTylerWriter, #AGAINSTALLODDS, #ThePerfectLove

Why does Jesus love us?

This is a question older than time and I have never heard anyone explain it. Who would want to send their Son from a mansion and wealth to a world who would not appreciate your gift and actually mock him as he died a horrible death so they could have eternal life?

Remembering Mel Gibson's movie, Jesus, with the scenes of the flogging and thinking about all the pain of the cross, it is even more of a mystery why God loved humanity that much. And even more puzzling, "What did I do to deserve His love?" The answer is, I didn't deserve His kind of love, but I'm glad He made it available for me.

I attended the eighty-first Easter Sunrise service at Camp Preston Hunt yesterday as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was my first time to attend since I was 12 or 14 years of age. I saw several families there with their children about that age and I hope they will always remember the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the best gift they will ever receive. 

So, there is not a reasonable explanation for God's Love, but God is not logical. We did nothing to deserve it but He gave it anyway!  

Have a great day and thank God for your blessings!

Divorce

Talking with a friend the other night about divorce and the scripture's allowance of it.  When you make a vow in marriage to another person before God, you promise and pledge a covenant to love each other as Christ loves the church and gave his life for it. When that vow is broken, you are loosed from it. You may choose to stay in the marriage if the cheating spouse is repentant and you are positive it won't be repeated. Only you can make that assessment.

For me, with physical abuse and a safety issue in my first marriage, I searched for a biblical reason. I had kept my head in the sand and did not look for the truth until I felt I was in danger. In the seventies, divorce was looked down on, and women were at a disadvantage.  Salaries were nowhere near what men were paid. Today, a lot of women make more than their husbands and can be self-sufficient on their own and don't have to accept abuse, physical or emotional. Both are the same. One affects the body, the other the spirit. Not sure which is worse because I had both. I was cursed for even going to church and threatened to be physically yanked out if I stayed too long. 

In today's terminology, we were toxic for each other. He liked going to bars and drinking, and I loved God, and the church became my life away from the strife. Back then society AND the church frowned on you if you were divorced. I was the first of my eight siblings to get one and put it off because of fear and shame.  I wasn't sure if I could make it on my own and figured I wouldn't get child support and didn't.

It was a struggle financially and emotionally. For me, God sent a loving Christian man who helped stabilize my life. I don't recommend that for most. My situation was unusual. It is best to find your own identity for a year or so before getting into another relationship. I had prayed for a Christian man for 9 years and thought it would be the one I was married to, but he edged away from Godly things more the longer we were married. God answered my prayer for a Christian husband in a way I had not expected. I had been mysteriously separated from my first love, but God brought him back in an unusual manner.  

I had been reading a book, Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin when I met Odis and I highly recommend it.  It is still in print and has a workbook. It teaches a young woman how to be a Godly woman and wife with a celestial relationship. That is what God gave me, and He can do the same for you. The key is putting God first in your life. 

If you find yourself in divorce circumstances without biblical reason or unsure if you do, don't despair. God's forgiveness is never exhausted.  Your credit line of forgiveness is unlimited. The bottom line is don't make another mistake which will compound your life. It would be better to stay single than be unequally yoked if you are a Christian. If you are not ready to give yourself to God totally, then don't get married again. Or at least that is my advice.  As my mom always said, "advice is like armpits, everyone has two."

What is surface love?

When I was researching information for my book, AGAINST ALL ODDS, We Found The Perfect Love, I wanted to know what the types of love were; Human and God's. I discovered that Agape Love, the kind God has for us, is unconditional with depth. Surface love is shallow, lacking depth.

When I thought about the definition of the two, I knew that Odis' love was unconditional. At first, I thought he was looking at me through rose-colored glasses with infatuation. After a bad marriage relationship, I did not think he was real. 'How can he love me when I'm unloveable?' I asked myself!

I knew I had feelings for him that had lasted for fifteen years, but my heart had been deceived once before, and I had my emotional guard shield in place. I did not want to let it happen again.

To better explain, a surface love will love you as long as you perform to their specifications and do what they want you to do. When you no longer play to their liking, or you are old and no longer beautiful or have health problems, that surface love looks for someone else who still has the look and actions they desire. Reading the definition, I realized I had married a man in my teens who loved me according to my performance and the love measure he had set forth. There is a reason the phrase "For Better or Worse" is in a marriage covenant. If the person you love doesn't give that kind of unconditional love, run from them! Otherwise, your dream will become a nightmare.

When I met Odis, he loved me unconditional. He did not care how I looked in the morning when I woke up or if I kept the house spotless. His love did not depend on my having on makeup, false eyelashes or my outward beauty. He loved me for me and did not want to change me. He taught me what Agape Love was.

My advice for young girls and boys looking for a mate that will still love you in your old age, let me encourage you to find a person who loves God first and loves you as Christ loves the Church and gave His life for it. When you do, return that unconditional love for a lifetime of happiness. Only the value of the inner person will sustain a stable relationship and will be priceless.

In the sixties, I was a youth coordinator assistant. We planned activities for our young people and taught them spiritual values. I hope I instilled the principles of God's love in their life.

The world has evolved technologically to the point of invoking a fake persona. With social media, everything is just words and have no meaning or genuineness. There was a saying in my day, 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.' That is not a true statement. Words do hurt and once spoken have damaging effects that last a lifetime.

In the nineties, there was an acronym, WWJD. It came from a book, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. The men in the community made a commitment to ask the question What Would Jesus Do before every decision made in their business. Today, the acronym would be, WIPC or What Is Politically Correct!

Today, not only is everything fake, but it is disposable. This generation is taught to throw away everything that doesn't work. From appliances to marriages, nothing lasts forever to a millennial.

With television entering our world in the 50s, it became the launching pad for technology, and our life has been made easier but more complicated. Sometimes I look back and yearn for that simplistic culture, but would not want to live without the communication available to us today, especially cell phones.

We have made significant trade-offs for our lifestyle today. I hope it has been worth it.

The Final Chapter

Chapter Fifty-Six

The Final Chapter

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”  (Hebrews 9:27 KJV)

I was his music, and he was my love song, and our melody will play on and on.

I believe the stars twinkle when a child is born. God watches with love as a new creation grows to become a brilliant individual and is re-born spiritually.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 KJV) This love story is just a small drop of water in the ocean compared to God’s love for us.

As immeasurable as love and memories are, you will need more when you come to the end of your FINAL CHAPTER of life. None of us deserve God’s love or the giving of His Son to die to pay our sin debt. 

We owed a debt we could not pay.

Jesus paid a debt He did not owe.

God chooses you, today.

10  So, friends, Confirm God’s invitation to you, His choice of you. Don’t put it off; do it now. Do this, and you’ll have your life on a firm footing,

11 the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11 The Message (MSG)

                                                                                Copyright ©2019 Suzie Tyler 

Log in

to use Ginger

Limited mode

The god chooses you

×

Love Letters In The Sand

From AGAINST ALL ODDS, We Found The Perfect Love:

When Odis and I met in 1958, he promised to take me to Florida for our honeymoon and write love letters in the sand. With a returned letter and other circumstances, we lost contact for fifteen years. When we reconnected, he proposed, married me and took me on that promised honeymoon to Florida and we walked on the beach and wrote love letters in the sand.

Love letters written in the sand, Will wash away with the tide.

Love Letters Penned on paper, Will never, never die.

They are love messages Odis left To show eternal love.

Just like God’s love Notes in His Holy Word.

Letters are a hand extended during our time on earth,

To give back Love to others, That God Speaks through us,

They are an expression of passion In verbal language,

That often cannot be spoken in Human verbiage.

Copyright ©2018 By Suzie Tyler

Advice for finding a mate!

I had such a distrust of other people when Odis and I married. I used the Fox Moulder FBI motto: Trust No One! 

 Odis had a 'Heart of Gold.' Given my experience in my first marriage, I was amazed that I trusted him, but I knew his heart and actions. As the years progressed, he would tell me, "Not everyone is out to get you, Suzie" and I finally believed him. He always watched over me, and I trusted his advice. He had a unique talent to spot a fake person, and I depended on him.

The modern world is another story. People in the world today have little character, respect or commitment. They have no reverential fear of God. I would hate to be a twenty year old looking for a lifetime mate. Who could you trust? Match dot com?  I don't think so. Everything is Fake! I used to instruct young girls to find a guy in the church and not a bar. Today even that is not a sure thing. Unfortunately, church people can't all be trusted. My advice today is to be so attuned to God's heart that you will know that you know that you know. Find someone who loves you as Christ loved the church! If you don't do that, you are on your own and God help you!

God will not tell you to take someone else’s husband or wife. Just remember, if they cheat with you, they will cheat on you.

My heart will go on with an unforgettable love!

Chapter Fifty-Five

Against The Odds

“Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”  (2 Chronicles 20:15 NKJV)

My heart will go on with an unforgettable love!

True Love is a never-ending story.

Going against the odds, I married my high school sweetheart who had been divorced for three years and raising his three boys. My friends told me I was crazy, and it wouldn’t last and don’t do it. I saw it as a second chance at love and was unwilling to give up my soul mate again.

My unique love story began in 1958 as a fifteen-year-old, falling in love with an eighteen-year-old. Though we went our separate ways, we magically became reacquainted in 1973 with a phone call. Long distance was expensive, and the internet and cell towers were not available. With 450 miles between us, we had the hottest romance via letters since King Henry VIII and his mistress, Anne Boleyn.

Although it was a gamble, we took a leap of faith. Our confidence and love gave us the courage to take a journey we had not traveled before. The love in our hearts ran deep, and we had a new definition of passion added to our vocabularies.

There were no search engines in 1973, and it was a modern-day miracle we found each other with the distance between us. Thank goodness we had the aid of directory assistance for landline phones. In 2018, most people have changed to only having cell phones. With no access to a listing of cell numbers, it is almost impossible to locate someone.

A Google app would have allowed us to connect faster but would not have produced the hundreds of written love letters we wrote. With unlimited talk and text, we would have missed out on the beautiful art of writing —and receiving—love letters.

With today’s technology, the art of letter writing has all but disappeared, replaced by emails and text messages. For me, a love note written as “I ❤ U” is not the same as it is when written, I love you, sweetheart.”

Intro to AGAINST ALL ODDS We Found The Perfect Love

INTRODUCTION

Snapshots are visual memories of our life

Taken by a Kodak and Polaroid camera, the latest technology of the seventies, early snapshots tell the exciting changes two people were about to experience. Today in the 21^st century, these pictures have faded and yellowed from time, yet these 40-year-old pictures will always be colorful and vivid of times gone by in history.

Against All Odds plots a couple who fall in love in 1958. A delayed proposal and letter of explanation returned by the post office created a different outcome from their initial plan as they become mysteriously separated through no fault of their own. Misunderstanding and immature actions of their youth along with poor choices of a marriage partner brought their journey down a different path. Never expecting to find each other again, they were separated by four-hundred-fifty miles without any knowledge of the whereabouts of each other.

In 1973, a pity party and a quick trip to Houston became a catalyst for a crazy phone call that renewed their relationship. Fifteen-years later, an extraordinary reconnection happened without the assistance of Google, and this miraculous reunion rekindled their feelings for each other. As these two old friends met to have dinner, reminisce, and retrace a past relationship an unplanned event took the dinner date to a different level. An innocent kiss awoke their hearts to a devoted love that is rare outside of dreams. This beginning brought together a prior love that changed the present and future, erased the hurts of the past and began the “rest of the story.”

With the inspiration of love melodies, an expression of passion was written in over two-hundred-fifty beautiful love letters chronicling their 7-month courtship. That correspondence supplied information to write their special ‘Love Story’ 43 years later.

Going Against the Odds of the challenges they met, each step was a new encounter neither had experienced before. It was a gamble with their future, but a love for God and each other paid enormous dividends. In this book, you will be transported back in time to ‘fill in the blanks’ for one of the most incredible stories of true love ever written.

From the beginning of their new relationship, Odis was resolute in his desire and determination to make Suzie his wife and take care of her daughter. He was determined to not let her love slip through his fingers again. Becoming a real life “Tyler Bunch,” the love and struggles of blending the hurts and emotions of humans reveal the reality of how communication, devotion and God’s love can unite a couple in a Perfect Love.