Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Grow Your Own Penicillin: Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit
    Grow Your Own Penicillin: Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit
    Grow Your Own Penicillin: Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit
    Ebook159 pages1 hour

    Grow Your Own Penicillin: Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit

    By Ellenor Shepherd

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The author wants to share what she has learned through the many diverse experiences in her life. Some were joyful, some sad. There were times of hurt, times of surprise, times of questioning, and times that dealt with life-threatening issues that have strengthened and shaped her faith. Her stories reveal to you that in order to have a healthy spirit, we must listen to the doctor, God, and to grow good penicillin, we must allow what we do to be Christ-centered.
    Whenever you need a devotion, wisdom for mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual issues, youll find the appropriate and meaningful story with an Rx for a special prescription within these pages.

    Rx: Thoughts, Devotions, Meditations, or Just Thinking
    Rx: Lifes Little Lessons
    Rx: Laughter, the Catalyst that Jump-Starts the Healing System
    Rx: Gods Amazing Creation
    Rx: Learning to Live and Leave the Hurt Behind
    Rx: Finding Our Own True Self
    Rx: Relationships
    Rx: Stories Which Touch My Soul

    In addition, selected Scripture, significant sayings, and challenges for you to find your own lesson, help impact and enhance these simplistic messages.

    These stories beg to be read again and again, in increments or as a whole, whether to seek an answer, to find comfort, to have a good laugh, to connect with Gods creation, or simply to enjoy.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateDec 11, 2012
    ISBN9781449777494
    Grow Your Own Penicillin: Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit
    Author

    Ellenor Shepherd

    Ellenor Shepherd is a native of North Carolina and the author of two children’s books as well as the non-fiction books Holding God’s Hand; Teaching Children to Pray and Grow Your Own Penicillin; Words Prescribed for a Healthy and Happy Spirit. At eighty-three, she wrote her first novel, The Secret Shack. Now age eighty-seven, Ellenor lives in Greensboro where she serves as a church chaplain and enjoys competitive ballroom dancing.

    Read more from Ellenor Shepherd

    Related to Grow Your Own Penicillin

    Related ebooks

    Self-Improvement For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 18, 2022

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Dearest You,

      Nov 16, 2022

      Dearest You,
      4 min read

    • Article

      Rooted IN Compassion

      Dec 17, 2019

      Rooted IN Compassion
      7 min read

    • Article

      Happiness is Yours

      Jun 14, 2022

      Happiness is Yours
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Incurable Optimist

      Sep 11, 2019

      The Incurable Optimist
      8 min read

    • Article

      Thrive Again

      Mar 30, 2024

      Thrive Again
      4 min read

    • Article

      Viewpoint

      Sep 27, 2022

      Viewpoint
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Nov 19, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      8 min read

    • Article

      Introducing… JULIA FAYE WEST

      Jul 21, 2021

      Introducing… JULIA FAYE WEST
      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Mar 10, 2023

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      8 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Apr 5, 2024

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      10 min read

    • Article

      Magical Manifesting

      Dec 12, 2018

      Magical Manifesting
      8 min read

    • Article

      Clearly, God Loves Me: The Millions Interviews Nada Alic

      Sep 21, 2022

      "The whole point of art is to ask, 'Are you seeing what I’m seeing?'" The post Clearly, God Loves Me: The Millions Interviews Nada Alic appeared first on The Millions.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Counter Culture

      Nov 18, 2021

      Counter Culture
      4 min read

    • Article

      Living Large

      Aug 24, 2021

      Living Large
      5 min read

    • Article

      Waiting To Exhale

      Mar 8, 2020

      Waiting To Exhale
      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Sep 23, 2022

      D ear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to k

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Most Powerful Words

      May 28, 2021

      The Most Powerful Words
      6 min read

    • Article

      How God Loves Us

      Mar 30, 2024

      How God Loves Us
      7 min read

    • Article

      Your Say

      Aug 8, 2017

      Did something resonate with you in this issue of WellBeing? Tell us! Write to WellBeing, Locked Bag 154, North Ryde, NSW 1670, email wbletters@ universalmagazines. com.au, comment on our Facebook page or tweet us: @WellBeing_Mag. We reserve the right

      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The EDITOR

      Apr 14, 2023

      Send your letters to editor@joymag.co.za Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for

      7 min read

    • Article

      Pray With a Pen

      May 24, 2019

      Pray With a Pen
      4 min read

    • Article

      ‘Rowing Grew My Resilience’

      Jan 26, 2024

      The gentle sound I chose for my alarm became less pleasant with each early morning ring. No matter which tones I chose, the sound was not what I wanted to hear at 4am. I usually chose to snooze once. It was a reflexive pattern I found hard to let go.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Joy and Pain

      Feb 14, 2023

      Joy and Pain
      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Grow Your Own Penicillin

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Grow Your Own Penicillin - Ellenor Shepherd

      Grow Your Own

      Penicillin

      Words Prescribed for a

      Happy and Healthy Spirit

      STORIES, DEVOTIONS, AND POEMS

      Ellenor Shepherd

      logoBlackwTN.ai

      Copyright © 2012 Ellenor Eubanks Shepherd

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1-(866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-7749-4 (e)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-7750-0 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4497-6969-7 (hc)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012922527

      WestBow Press rev. date: 12/06/2012

      Contents

      Section 1 Thoughts for Devotions, Meditations, or Just Thinking

      Section 2 Life’s Little Lessons

      Section 3 Laughter: The Catalyst That Jump-Starts Our Healing System

      Section 4 God’s Amazing Creation Gifts

      Section 5 Learning to Live and Leave the Hurt Behind

      Section 6 Finding Your OwnTrue Self

      Section 7 Relationships

      Section 8 Stories Which Touch My Soul

      Section 9 Are You Ready?

      To my grandchildren,

      Harrison Flynn; Grace, Amelie, and Peter Shepherd; and Clay Lanford.

      Acknowledgments

      To Lisa Moore, my household engineer, who weekly teases me about growing mold in my refrigerator, thus triggering the idea for the title of this book … I am forever grateful.

      And to my family and several friends who provided a cache of material for these words, I give a special thanks for their faithfulness, their zest for living, and their willingness to tell all.

      To my daughter-in-law, Molly Shepherd, my son, Dr. Clif Flynn, my church friend, Dr. Andy Mitchum, and my dear friend, Barbara Heilig, who edited this book. My gratitude is boundless.

      To my other sons, John Shepherd and Dr. Wes Shepherd, who have faithfully supported and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I treasure your confidence in me.

      And, as always, to Lisa Whisenant, who, with her technical and communication skills, and her patience, rescues and saves my life as she fine-tunes my efforts. A lifetime of thanks.

      Preface

      Each week Lisa, my delightful household engineer, greets me by opening the refrigerator door and saying, Well, what are you growing penicillin for this week?

      This has become a ritual, especially since I am notorious for never throwing anything away, even though I’m aware of the ugly mold attacking my cache of food.

      In defense, I quickly say, Penicillin is a good mold and has saved many lives. As a matter of fact, it was called the miracle drug at one time.

      Of course, we should take it only if prescribed by our doctor. And it’s of utmost importance to complete the dosage; otherwise, new bacteria will be allowed to develop.

      Hey, isn’t this what happens in our lives? Sometimes the bad mold takes over; sometimes we don’t do what God says. God wants us to grow our own penicillin, with His help, of course. He wants us to learn to find our own good prescriptions, those that give us encouragement, courage, hope, joy, compassion, wisdom, strength, gratitude, and all the things that make our lives healthy and well.

      Daily doses of penicillin, reminders of God’s amazing love and power, definitely gift us with a healthy spirit.

      PS: And if you should be allergic to penicillin, just find another good mold like I did!

      Introduction

      The stories, poems, and devotions in this book were written over a period of years as a result of many diverse experiences in my life. Some were joyful; some were sad. There were times of hurt, times of surprise, times of questioning, and times that dealt with many of the things life throws your way.

      I have learned that in order to have a healthy spirit, we must listen to the doctor, God, and to grow our own penicillin, we must allow what we do to be Christ centered.

      You are invited to step into each story, savor each word, and then let it speak to you and whatever you might be experiencing in your life at that time.

      Give in to your feelings as you read. Find relief in tears of release. Enjoy the stress-cleaning laughter that produces healing endorphins. Rest in the contemplative moments which can lift you up, offering encouragement and hope, or simply a place to be.

      These words are intended to touch your heart, open your mind, strengthen your faith, and encourage you to hold God’s hand in everything you do.

      I strongly urge you to write or discover, with God’s directions, your own devotions, stories, and poems. In other words, Grow Your Own Penicillin.

      Section 1

      Thoughts for Devotions, Meditations, or Just Thinking

      Rx: for Restored Energy

      My Bathtub Retreat

      A haven … a sanctuary … a rest stop … an oasis … a place of solitude … a place to shed tears … an energizer … a place to wash away tears.

      When my children were small, the luxury of privacy was found only in my bathroom. Once the door closed, they knew that the bath was off limits and dared not disturb Mom.

      It continues to be my retreat, even though my three sons have grown up and no longer live at home and my husband and I have been divorced for several years; obvious quiet now pervades this entire space I call home.

      Yet I still retreat to my bathtub, perhaps out of habit, and I like to think of it as one of those holy ordinary places that gives meaning to my life. Whenever I crawl into my tub, a pen and pad are inevitably placed on a towel on the side of the tub just in case I am inspired with a special thought, idea, or revelation. This has happened more times than I can remember.

      In this ordinary white, porcelain vessel, I have written a Christmas play, poetry, and parts of a book; read many novels; prayed; given freedom to my thoughts; and just relaxed.

      What is so special about this old, white tub, which at times evokes such an outpouring of creativity that even I am surprised? At other times, it compels me to lower myself into the warm water and simply savor its restorative power.

      I will find peace in my bathtub, a place where I am naked before God with all my imperfections, both physical and spiritual, without even a fig leaf. I am free to be me and free simply to be and feel His presence.

      Rx: for Elimination

      Weeding as Prayer Song

      Pulling … digging … clipping. Sweating … panting … groaning. This is my aria, my solo, my offering, my peaceful straining to coexist with this amazing symphonic interlude in my out-of-doors life.

      This struggle to run with the weeds is never ending. Forever invading … forever threatening … forever marring the beauty.

      And yet how else could I harmonize so completely with the dove that calls and the chipmunks, rabbit, and squirrels frolicking and eating their day through my yard?

      Both wildlife and I together, attuned with the wind gently blowing through the trees, delicately teasing the several wind chimes that seem to chant words of encouragement.

      And finally a

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1