Month: August 2016

Introducing Content Options: An Easy New Way to Make Visual Changes to Your Site

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Thomas's avatarWordPress.com News

We’re excited to announce a newly launched Customizer panel called Content Options.

The Content Options section gives you an easy way to make small visual modifications across your site—like hiding the post date or displaying an excerpt instead of a full post, with no custom CSS needed!

There are three main features for now:

  • Blog Display: choose between displaying the full content of each post or an excerpt on the blog and category, tag, and date archive pages. A “default” option is also available for themes that mix excerpts and full posts based on post format.
  • Author Bio: Hide the author bio on single posts.
  • Post Details: Show or hide the post date, tags, or categories.

You can see Content Options in action in this video:

Check out the full support documentation to learn more about how these new theme options work.

Not all the themes support all these features…

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SNOWBOUND SUNSHINE

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Jennifer Kay Lewis

It was Christmas morning of 1963.  It was bitterly c-o-l-d outdoors across the rolling hills of our majestic and peaceful Missouri countryside.

We had lived here for about ten years; but, we had never the seen such an intense snowstorm.  Over a period of ten-hours, we had received the most severe, white-out conditions we had ever experienced.

Daddy anxiously listened to the man on the radio,  “our local area had received nearly ten inches of slippery ice and hazardous deep snow.”  I remember how hard it was for Dad to walk two steps in this.

Our views from all directions – seemed to reveal no end to the extent of this blizzard or the storm’s unyielding magnitude.

From a child’s perspective, the best thing I got that year was a dolly I aptly named, Jill.  She was dressed in a bright red dress adorned with white lace, and like a tiny version of myself, she had thick, blonde, curly hair.  I still have my baby Jill.  Over the years, she has become rather tattered,  but I still remember how I cherished this baby-doll.

We had numerous funny, tender and compassionate caring times spent with many various needy animals and barnyard livestock.

One of the most vivid impressions that my brain captured, is that of Sunshine, our pet calf.  We nurtured that weak calf until she could, literally, stand on her own two legs.  Sunshine quickly took rich nourishment from our crudely fashioned nipple.

I remember, for a couple of days she seemed to be doing okay.  Then, all of a sudden, she took a turn for the worse.  Daddy shouted for us kids to help him get Sunshine in near the warmth of the oven.   The boys held her head in their diminutive arms and Daddy cradled her weakened, ravished body.  We kept kissing her and reassuring Sunshine “everything was going to be okay- she need not worry.”

Can you imagine this scene?  There we were, four little kids facing what we thought was the end of the world.  Our very own superman, Dad came to the rescue and convinced  us “we could nurse our pet back to health.”  Whatever happened ahead, we knew we were not going to give-up on Sunshine.  She needed us!

As time marched on, Sunshine became stronger and more and more active.  She stood-up and started walking-around in the house curiously checking things out.  Was this a good thing, or not?  As hopeful kids, we thought so.  However, it seemed rather questionable as Mom tried to create boundaries limiting where Sunshine could roam.

A couple of weeks had passed and Sunshine was well on her way to rejoining the rest of the herd.  She was jumping over furniture trying to find the nearest escape route.  I remember Mom yelling, “get that calf out of here!”  It was clear – it was time for her to go to her permanent home.

Since we lived so far off the beaten-path, we didn’t always call the vet.  We often chose to nurse animals of all kinds and hurting livestock back to wellness.

It is impossible for a child to see a sick animal,  or rejected animal and not take care of their prized possession.  Those kind of dejected livestock quickly won our compassionate Hearts and instantly managed to capture our time and attention.

On a more personal note, I vividly recall a little white lamb with brown markings rejected by her mom.  She was in dire need of being bottle-fed nutrient rich milk and I joyously answered her heartbreaking, cries.

As the smallest and weakest, my frail lamb was left behind.

When an animal got adopted into our family, one of the first things we did, was name the animal. Following protocol, I decided to name her.  It seemed fitting to me to name her Duckie.  “Why name her Duckie?”   Well, that is another story in itself.

My Mom had made me this cute white dress with rick-rack trim all around the ruffled skirt.  It was appliqued with an orange duck.  That dress was my favorite.  Mom even made stylish clothes for our fashionable Barbie, Midge, and Tammy dolls!

As soon as the school bus let us safely exit, I would run up the long drive to find Duckie  waiting.  Her little tail would be wagging so fast that I could hardly contain my giggles!    DUCKIE & JENNIFER

Duckie took to my glass Pepsi bottle rather hastily and soon she was well on the way to being able to be on her own.  That meant I would have to dismantle the temporary fenced-in area I had made for her as she could return to the larger barnyard grounds to join her unknown friends.

As usual, Mom was at hand with her trusty camera!  My treasured prize is a picture of me in my special duck dress bottle-feeding my sweet, little lamb, Duckie.

“Yes, our farm was our own glorious piece of Heaven! ”

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Growing In Christ,

Jen

 

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My Heritage

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Jennifer Kay Lewis

Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.
 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, are children born in one’s youth.  Psalm 127:3-5

My Father came from a family of twelve active and busy children; and Mom was reared under gentle, yet firm-hands guiding eleven inquisitive kids!   (Daddy always jokes they had 2-umpires, nine-baseball players, (all boys) and 3-cheer-leaders.)

Grandpa Lewis and his nine boys performed their daily chores and labored every day into evening on their large dairy cattle farm.  Besides their massive herd of cattle, they raised many pigs, sheep, chickens, and maintained an abundant and fruitful garden.

My Grandpa Lewis left this earth before I was born.  Stories I have heard of my  G’ pa Lewis was that he was a very hard-worker, devoted to providing for his wife and twelve kids, and a very passionate man.

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However, I clearly remember spending many fun-filled days and over-night stays with my Grandma, Mary Jane.  Grandma valued church and sought to instill those Christian morals in her thirty-six grandchildren.  She used to walk around in her home humming and singing the old-fashioned hymns that are beloved by so many.

Dad’s mom ‘welcomed’ many folks to her table to share her mouth-watering home-cooking.  (back then, men that were transient workers offered their skills to make ‘repairs’ or finish some small ‘fix-it’ jobs.)  Most likely, these men would inquire of the locals as to “where they might get a good meal?”  Well, Grandma’s warm hospitality would answer their hungry call!

As for Mom, her Dad, my Grandpa Harry always put-out the largest garden that I have seen to this day.   (remember, Grandpa and Grandma had eleven kids to feed.)  

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”  Isaiah 40:8

I recall that as soon as the onions were picked, Grandpa was replanting that area with some kind of brilliant annual flowers.   The once empty rows or ‘hills’ were replanted with some colorful annual flower.  Thus, G’ pa’s signature gardens always remained a dazzling montage of vibrant hues well into the fall.

(I remember once when I was a teenager, I asked my Grandma, “why did you have so many children?”  Her blushed, red-face, sheepish reply was, “well, Harry couldn’t help it!”   Just from the extreme RED of her face, I figured that I best not ask any further curious questions.)

Mom’s parents, became my Mom and Dad’s built-in baby-sitters.  Mom worked as an RN in pediatric nursing helping to deliver babies.  (since Mom’s mother, Virginia had raised her own eleven, I figure it was pretty-much a ‘no-brainer’ that Grandma could care for us four until Mom’s shift would mature.)

May I share this indelible, memory of my Grandpa Harry?  When one of us kids got into something, or did something ‘unapproved,’ we found ourselves beholding to G ’pa.

He used a bit of psychology in having the ‘culprit’ kid climb up one of his willows or maple trees to get a specific branch he spotted  so he could ‘whittle’ the branch into the shape of a ‘whip.’  Then, he could  inflict  his corporal punishment.   (Grandpa Harry was often seen sitting on his front-porch whittling the time away.)   (it must have been some sort of quiet therapy?!)

Anyway, we followed his grim command and came back to him meekly crying.  (just getting that branch was ALL the ‘punishment’ we needed!)  He never had to touch us – just the idea was torment enough!  Grandpa only held an eight-grade diploma.  But his wisdom was well-beyond any college degree.

And as Paul Harvey used to say, “and now you know the rest of the story.”

Growing In Christ,

Jen

My Life FARMER

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Jennifer Kay Lewis

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.       Galatians 6:9

Proudly, I was raised on a hustle and bustle working farm sprawling a couple-hundred acres.  We had ten ponds on our farm and a wandering creek divided our land almost in half.  We were passed the life my parents had so well-known as they both had grown-up living similar traditions.  My parents and their parents embraced values of planting and harvesting crops and cultivating huge varieties of garden foods.  As four little Lewis kids, we were fortunate to learn valuable lessons from Mom and Dad and both sets of Grandparents.

As many of you who read this will also testify, the farm-life manages to keep you busy from before the sunrises until well-after sunset!  Our farm would easily be akin to those descriptive images.   Oh sure ~ there are plenty of fun-filled times to treasure as we compiled memories of yesteryear days.  If there weren’t any planned activities, when you put four inquisitive, inventive growing brains together in children, creative adventures are bound to be discovered.

Two little girls and two younger boys seemed to have no boundaries.  Our parents kept us heaped in what seemed endless ‘fix-it’ projects, and repair tasks.  But, as our ages dictated, they also spoiled us rotten with colorful bikes, all-terrain motorcycles and well-trained quarter horses, so we could easily traverse and crisscross our many acres.

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Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.  Psalm 127:3

“Thank goodness for binoculars.”  Mom and Dad could stand on our Victorian front-porch and scout the land to, hopefully, spot their kids.    Think of turning loose four rambunctious young kids over two-hundred acres of investigative beckoning, land, it’s hard-telling where your youngsters may have landed.  Furthermore, it’s common knowledge that when things get ‘quiet’ you better find-out where your kids are and what they may be up to.

Often, our Mom would go to town to buy groceries and other staples we needed.  Typically, Mom would forego her own needs, and selflessly purchase for her children.  She liked to surprise us with a spiffy new outfit or the newest in shoes.  One of her inquisitive little kids would often ask of Mom “where did you get this?’  Mom’s witty and funny answer would always be, “at the ‘gettin place.”

And, as the warming sun rays and the spring rains permitted, Daddy would plant the corn and beans and walk through lengthy fields as he sowed oats.    Our father toiled long, hard days well into evening clearing the land of rocks that seemed to just keep multiplying and growing and out of thin-air.  Arduously, Dad methodically planted and as the unpredictable weather dictated, maybe Dad had to replant crops.  ALL FOR HIS WIFE AND FOUR CHILDREN!!

All summer, our superman, and hero Dad would walk down the rows cutting-down weeds and clearing paths for his combine to straddle the rows for harvest in fall.   (his only request was a Pepsi now and then.)  Then, we all Prayed to be blessed with bountiful harvest

The coziness of winter would creep-in with a kind of ragged sigh of relief.   We girls liked to create to artfully designed snow-angels and the boys would build the most elaborate snow-forts in the fresh white blankets.  On days we were stuck inside, we frequently played monopoly or put 1000-piece puzzles together, after shoveling snow from our long driveway.  (those Big complex puzzles were our Dad’s brilliant idea to keep us busy!  He picked the hardest ones for us to assemble.  Thanks a lot ~ Dad!)

In search of the ‘perfect’ Christmas tree, our vast woods would surely offer just the right sacrifice.   Then, before we knew it, here came spring again.  With God at the helm, we got to start all over again.  Ours was a unique and treasured life.  Indeed, the life, fun, and work of a Farmer is never-ending, but it is also a rich inheritance.  I cherish those days and the tender memories we all made together growing and investing in our beautiful farm!

Oh; but if I could turn back time …               

 … then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.                                                                                                                                                          Leviticus 26:4

Growing In Christ,

Jen

 

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