Speaking and Singing at Women's Annual Ecumenical Luncheon in Fairfield Glade, Crossville...along the trails of Tennessee

Below: My write-up as it appeared in The Crosssville Chronicle May 10, 2015. Approximately 150 women enjoyed my uplifting talk, with music, fellowship, and a delicious light lunch.
  
The Women’s Annual Ecumenical Luncheon will be hosted this year by the Fairfield Glade Community Church Women’s Fellowship on Wednesday, June 10. Lynne Drysdale Patterson, an accomplished worship leader, singer, songwriter and author from Nashville, will present Abigail Smith Adams, the Faith of Our First Lady. She will also perform her National Society Daughters of the American Revolution award-winning song, "Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams)" and her state award-winning song  “Trails of Tennessee.” The cost for the June 10 program and luncheon is $10. Doors open at 10 a.m. for check-in. The program begins at 10:30 a.m. and luncheon will follow. 
If you attend a church in Fairfield Glade, contact your women’s group for more information and to make a reservation. All others can make a reservation by sending a check for $10 to “FFG Com. Church/WF”, 521 Snead Dr, Crossville, TN 38558. Include your name, address and phone number. Last day for registration is June 1. For more information, call (931) 707-7964.

The Unique Origin of Our Constitution Women's Event at Del Webb Community Mt. Juliet, Tennessee

         In July, while spending the summer in the mountains of North Carolina, I received an email from a friend and fellow Daughter of the American Revolution, Fort Nashborough Chapter, inviting me to speak to her women's group at their monthly meeting at The Del Webb Lake Providence Community Constitution Day event September 17th. I'm not a Constitutional scholar, but on our deck, with God's gorgeous view as my inspiration and after considerable reasearch, I began preparing my talk, The Unique Origin of Our Constitution. There would be 125 women in attendence.

       As an aside, growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Del Webb and his family grew up, and where my grandmother would take us downtown to Webb's City (a wonderland of 'mermaids', and everything delightful), members of our family were friends with the Webb family back in the early days of St. Pete. So, it was particularly special for me to be speaking at an event in this place named after Del Webb.

September 17th arrived quickly. Now, back in Nashville, PowerPoint presentation intact, I introduced my topic, The Unique Origin of Our Constitution by singing my award-winning Trails of Tennessee and my NSDAR award-winner Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams.) The women loved it! They love singing along to Be Like Abigail with its memorable, singable chorus.

My talk followed the 5 W's of Literature: Who, What, Where. When and Why. "Why," answering the main question: Why did we need a 'Constitution,' when John Adams had already composed The Articles of Confederation? Interesting. From information gleaned from several sources including W. Cleon Skoussen's book, "The Making of the Constitution," I was able to answer this question with my topic, The Unique Origin of Our Constitution.

I explained to my interested audience that The United States Constitution is based on Exodus 18:17-27, where Moses, acting on advice from his father-in-law, Jethro, changes his governing style from tyrannical (which he witnessed growing up in Pharaoh's court - where all the people brought all their problems and concerns to Pharaoh) - to what Thomas Jefferson coined as "The People's Law;" in short, where government of the people, by the people, and for the people begins to take shape as a representative form of government based on delegated authority and biblical principles. This would take the load of responsibility and governmental control off Moses and give it to the people. Yes, America was founded on biblical principles. Take a moment and read Exodus 18:17-27.

Reciting the Preamble (on Powerpoint) makes more sense after understanding the principles upon which it was written.

The event was a total success. Everyone left the meeting informed, encouraged, and inspired. Blessed.

The condensed content of The Unique Origin of Our Constitution can be seen (sans PowerPoint graphs and illustrations) below:

The Unique Origin of Our Constitution

By Lynne Drysdale Patterson

Fort Nashborough Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution

As presented to Del Webb Lake Providence Women’s Club

Constitution Day September 17, 2014

     Did you know our Founding Fathers—George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison—were students and philosophers as well as soldiers and statesmen?  They observed that all of mankind seeks the same three things: freedom—both personally and nationally, prosperity—both personally and nationally, and peace— the means of escaping “anguish” brought on by the plague of war.

Our Founding Fathers carefully scrutinized every existing system of government in order to determine which one was most likely to make it possible for humanity to attain these three great goals of freedom, prosperity, and peace.  Despite their thorough search, they discovered that among all the political systems in the world … there was no such government. And so it was, in order to achieve these three great human aspirations, the Constitution of the United States was written; in order that our country would no longer be just a “confederation” of states but “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Throughout their writings, there are numerous references by the Founding Fathers to their commitment to build a new civilization which would not only provide freedom, peace and prosperity for themselves but could serve as a model for the rest of mankind.

Thomas Jefferson, who would become our third president, had already discovered the basic pattern for a model constitution by studying an ancient people group: The Israelites. Jefferson discovered that ancient Israel was the first nation in history to have a system of representative government. Jefferson discovered the historical, biblical account of Moses and how Moses, after heeding the advice from his father-in-law, Jethro, developed the system upon which our Constitution is based.

According to chronologists, the Israelites came out of Egypt 3,500 years ago. They were led by Moses, who was brought up in the court of the great Pharaoh. Observing Pharaoh, Moses was acquainted with the Ruler Law – which means ‘the Ruler has all the power.’  Moses’ experience was that the ruler of the land handles all the problems large and small – by himself. Moses, initially, tried to govern the Israelites by the Ruler’s Law – which was an enormous undertaking. Moses father-in-law, Jethro, observed Moses dealing with all the people problems then going to his tent at the end of the day totally exhausted.  Jethro said to Moses in the Book of Exodus 18:17-27, “What you are doing is not good. ¹⁸ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. ¹⁹ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. ²⁰ Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave. ²¹ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²² Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. ²³ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” ²⁴ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. ²⁵ He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. ²⁶ They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves. ²⁷ Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own country. (NIV)

Initially Moses began ruling the Israelites like Pharaoh and the King of England – which was total tyranny—where the ‘king’ had all the power and made all the governmental decisions.

This was the form of government from which the colonists fought so hard to free themselves. Jefferson and the Founding Fathers were looking for a form of government which was somewhere in the middle of Tyranny (total control governmental of the people) and Anarchy (no government at all.) The Founding Fathers were looking for a system of governing that was somewhere in the middle. They called this The People’s Law – with the balance of government in the center by the people. Jefferson described this in the Declaration of Independence when he said, “to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Moses went before the people and said, “How can I myself alone bear your cumbrances, and your burdens and your strife. Take you wise men, and understanding, and known men among your tribes and I will make them rulers over you” (Deuteronomy 1:12-13.)  Instead of trying to rule over the people alone, Moses found himself with 78, 000 elected leaders to help administrate the affairs of the people.  And Moses said: “So, I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known and made them heads over you: Captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds and captains over fifties.” The emphasis under this system was a strong local government which solved problems—to the greatest possible extent—at the local level where they originated.

The whole emphasis of Israel’s new system was reflected in the proclamation, “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” which is cited from the Book of Leviticus chapter 25 verse 10 and is, in fact, emblazoned on our very own Liberty Bell; “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto the inhabitants thereof.”

In conclusion, what is unique about the origin of our Constitution is that it’s based on biblical principles by means of delegated authority. The United States government was set up as a commonwealth of free men. In the words of George Washington, “The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.”



My First Publishing Contract with Focus on the Family Clubhouse Magazine

 

       I'm very pleased to announce I just signed my first publishing contract with FOCUS ON THE FAMILY Clubhouse Magazine for "The Story of Abigail Adams." I wrote this story based on my National Society Daughters of the American Revolution American Heritage Music Composition international award-winning song "Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams.) Clubhouse Magazine is geared to ages 8-12 year olds. I am a big fan of this magazine. It's an honor to speak into the lives of our youth.

 

 

With 4 book proposals edited by Eva Marie Everson (one of the nicest, wittiest writer/editors on the planet) in my briefcase and a couple of story ideas I think warrant the time and attention of weary publishers and editors and as a longtime tunesmith, wordsmith, journal keeper, reader, writer, student, and blogger, I decided to attend the 2013 Florida Christian Writers Conference.  I made an appointment with Jesse Florea, Clubhouse Magazine's editor.  I had an idea and proposal for a wonderful children's story - which he liked! Long story short (no pun intended) I'm reworking that story. In 2014, I submitted The Story of Abigail Adams to Clubhouse Magazine. The story was a joy to write and I am beyond thrilled that my story will appear in a 2015 publication of Clubhouse Magazine.

 

I am a lifelong songwriter. The gift and desire was given God, but I had to study the craft. With a song, the writer has approximately 3 minutes 30 seconds to tell a complete story. Writing words is a different animal, but one which walks to a similiar rhythm. It's an interesting dichotomy and I appreciate the craft. But I digress...

 

I'm reading The Breastplate a fiction based civil war novel by Shirley McCracken and will retire early tonight to continue saga. Just finished rereading Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard - which I began in the mountains of North Carolina. How apropo! Also, pulled Jeff Gerke's "Plot Versus Character" off the shelf and am reading that and am learning, learning, learning from Christopher Maselli's Writing Momentum at www.writingmomentum.com Awesome video's worth a writer's weight in gold.

 

On another note, I have been waiting a while to hear from a university press regarding a non-fiction book proposal I pitched. After some favorable back and forth, the acquisitions editor left for another press. The new acq. ed.  likes my book idea, but must run the proposal by a review board. Art is subjective. I should hear something soon. Whatever it is, it'll be good news. (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11)

 

Come what may, I am thrilled, honored and humbled, really, to know The Story of Abigail Adams will be read by young inquiring minds. I truly enjoy writing for tweens with the hope of planting good seed for their future. If you'd like to hear the song Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams) go to www.trailsoftn.com and in the left-hand column, click on "Be Like Abigail icon. Scroll down and click on the MP3. It's a tutorial toe-tapper. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Perspective From The 'View'

 

     The above view, from the deck of our house in Sylva, North Carolina, has been our family summer home, since 1985. The four and a half hour drive across the scenic trails of Tennessee is like waking from one dream...and walking into another. There have been lots of fun times, love, and fabulous memories under the roof of this house, and on the deck of our mountain paradise. This year, Bruce and I have been especially blessed to have been here since June 16th... and it's the first year we've had the place to ourselves. As much as we love 'family,' we've really enjoyed this particular trip. We have to time to work and play, cook, travel, and visit with our neighbors; some who live here full-time, others who are summer residents. Most of all, I enjoy the quiet, with time to think, write, and read; truly, three of my favorite things.

But we make time for kayaking

 

Playing golf

 

 

 making peach gifts from God's gifts

 

 

With the view from my 'office,' it's all in a day's work!

 

 

 In the above photo, I'm enjoying working on a talk for an upcoming Del Webb Community Ladies Contitution Day event, September 17th. I was invited to speak and share music by a fellow DAR. I discovered some unique, solid, biblical principles upon which our U.S. Contitution is based....which I will present. Thomas Jefferson uncovered these principles and brought them to the table. Thank God for our Founding Fathers!

 

Tomorrow we head up to East Tennessee, a scant 3 hour drive from here for three speaking/singing engagements. I'm so glad Bruce can accompany me on this trip. These three club are part of Stonecroft Ministries. I have enjoyed being part of their speaker roster for the past twelve  years. Bruce and I will come back here afterwards, close the house and head home to Nashville. Whew! Lots to do in the meantime......... and my quiet time? I'll have to get up in the morning extra, extra early :)

 

It's a blessed life, indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abigail Adams Went To School!

    Wednesday, September 18th was a beautiful day in the minds and hearts in a classroom of brilliant third grade students at a local elementary school where I was invited to share my National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) American Heritage Music Composition award-winning song, " Be Like Abigail."

When I arrived, I was met by Stanley and Campbell in the "visitors" area who were sent to be my helpers. We traveled up to the their classroom and I was blessed to be able to share historical, patriotic information about John and Abigail Adams. After a short Q & A, I sang "Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams) with the children. Their teacher requested the song be sung again....four times! They absolutely loved the song! I provided book markers with Abigail's picture on the front and the lyric on the back. For the boys, I made it a point to make copies of a picture of John Adams, first vice-president and second President of the United States with bullet point on the back of the picture of his life and times. I handed these out before we sang "Abigail." It was a fun, productive morning that continued until lunchtime. They asked me to autograph their pictures and book marks - which I did. They wanted to touch and see my guitar up close (ly) which they did.

I am posting one of the pictures taken of me. Bear in mind there were nineteen enthusiastic third graders in those desks in front of me in rapt attention singing their hearts out! What a pleasure it was to share! Note the fabulous red, white and blue dress. I hope to do more of this along the trails of Tennessee.  www.trailsoftn.com





Abigail Adams Goes To School

 

Along the trails of Tennessee, tomorrow morning at 10:30, I will share my National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) First Place award-winning song, Be Like Abigail (Ode to Abigail Smith Adams) with a class of third-graders at one of Nashville's premier elementary schools! I was invited by a teacher/friend to share Abigail with her students. How fun! 
 
    As you may know, women of Abigail's generation - The Revolutionary War era (1776) - were denied formal education in favor of domestic responsibilities. Among her plethora of honors (one being the wife of John Adams, first Vice-President and second President of the United States), I know Mrs. Adams would be pleased to be heralded as a patriotic woman of valor, and heroine of The American Revolution to a wide-eyed group of seven-year-olds. What a wonderful opportunity to plant patriotic, godly seeds into the hearts and minds of our children. 
 
    I'll include pictures of "Abigail Adams Goes To School" after tomorrow's adventure. "Stay tuned"...the mantra of any self-respecting musician :)

 

 

 

Daughters of the American Revolution Fort Nashborough Chapter Luncheon

A Life Changing Message

As a member of the Fort Nashborough Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), our luncheon in The University Club at Vanderbilt University was particularly special Thursday, September 12th. It was special not just because I sang " Be Like Abigail " for the first time since I was awarded the 2013 National Society Daughters of the American Revolution American Heritage Music Composition Award during the 122nd Continental Congress in Washington, D.C. And it was special not just because every Daughter at the luncheon is special, has a special patriot and a special story to tell. It was particularly special because of the speaker, Josie McCamish. I don't know when I've been as moved by a speaker as I was this afternoon...and I've heard a lot of speakers.

 Mrs. McCamish is a 1962 graduate of the Kate Duncan Smith School (KDS) one of the schools DAR sponsors and is located in Grant, Alabama. Emerging from a poor family in a rural Appalachian community Mrs. McCamish is only one example of how God provides for His people through His people. Having recently retired from a forty - year career as a school teacher, among her many recollections, Mrs. McCamish's shared an early memory of how God provided for her when her family could not afford even 15 cents for a "hot lunch" so she could eat with the children who, at lunchtime, would eat downstairs; Mrs. McCamish sat upstairs and ate a cold lunch...by herself. Sharing her stories as a small child at KDS were heart-breaking, heart-warming and brought tears to our eyes. What a poster-child she is for what is possible as a consequence of the "good" human beings can do when they focus and care...and give out of a heart filled with the love of "God, Home and Country" - the official motto of The Daughters of the American Revolution

Kate Duncan Smith School is located on Gunter Mountain in northeast Alabama. The school serves grades K-12 and provides opportunities for the children of a large, rural area in the Appalachian foothills to develop a strong love of American ideals as they obtain a distinctive academic background. Emphasis is upon patriotic education throughout the curriculum. Although the school plant and enrollment have increased greatly in size and number since 1924, the same spirit of dedication to achievement, patriotic and moral values, and service to community and country exists on the campus today as it did in the early years of this unique educational experiment of the Daughters of the American Revolution.