River of Thoughts

Christine Royse Niles — Changing the world one word at a time

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Vinyl Fever

Today I’m participating in a Blog Carnival about first music memories. Don’t miss the other amazing contributors who shared their own memories linked at Michelle Woodman’s blog.  Big thanks for Michelle for such a fun and inspiring topic!   Once upon a time, people could buy records at the grocery store. Records, you know?  Those big, flat, black platters made of hard vinyl?  The old fashioned iPod? Music was different then.   I strain on my tippy-toes, arms stretched to reach the back of bin.  I carefully flip from one album to the next. Andy Williams oozes through the PA at […]

Top Three Adoption Questions

Adoption found us. When it did, a boatload of really difficult and confusing and overwhelming decisions were made for us.  They just fell into place.  Our story is pretty unusual, and is an example of how God chose to use a 2×4 upside of our heads to get our attention and change our lives… For most families, it goes a little differently.  A million paths as unique as the families following them lead to the decision to adopt.  A million equally unique paths follow after that critical decision. I’m not an expert in every family’s journey into the decision to […]

I live for words

  Some days the words flow like a river.  Other days…the riverbed is dry. Today?  Parched.   So, here’s your chance–it’s DeLurking Day at River Of Thoughts.  Y’all know a lot about me by now…Leave a comment and introduce yourself!  

Blast

Lena and I had tickets to Blast! last night. I have to admit, I didn’t have great expectations. I was wrong. Wow. The longer the show went on, the deeper it drew me into speechless wonder, captivated by the creativity of the sensory experience. There was no story. There were no lines. I sat enraptured for a full two hours…even by the informal intermission jam session played on a garbage can and four barstools. Not only was the music perfectly played, but it was visually stunning…the color, the motion, the flowing precision of each movement. The most amazing part, though, […]

Snow Day 1983

5:57. The voice of the morning DJ jarred me from my dream.  ”Northern Wells Community Schools, Closed.  Paulding United School District, Closed.” Crap. Even though I know they list the schools systems in alphabetical order, I listen in rapt attention for as they continue to name off the school districts in our listening area.  As name after name floats into history, I pray that we, the DeKalb Central kids, will be also be gifted with a day off. I stare at the numbers on the clock, unblinking as the dial shifts and the card snaps down.  One minute passed.  Another minute […]