The Voice of Southwest Louisiana

By Victor Forbes
“The earth was
formless and void…
and God said, Let
there be light.”
(Genesis 1:2-3)
SWLA
Gwendolyn Reasoner
On A Mission
From
“With the pen of a
ready writer” (Psalm 45:1)
Gwendolyn Reasoner, Ph.D.,
sat down at her desk after
a startling dream awoke
her in the midnight hour.
She began to transcribe
the words inscribed on
her heart by none other
than the Creator of the
Universe, God Himself. In
this night vision that was
much too intense and detailed
to be a mere dream,
she was given a mission
clearly authorizing her
to be the messenger to
tell the world about the
goodness of God and the infinite
love and mercy of Jesus
Christ. This was to be done in
the form of a book to be composed
primarily for the young
but suitable for all. It was to
be hip and modern—yet eternal—in
its message. It was to
be the story of Creation: all
seven days compressed into
40 pages of delightful prose,
enthralling illustrations and
the simplest of prayers. Where
Did the Day Go? is the stunning
result.
One of the first reviews
from Ann Powell of ARP Editing,
Dallas Texas who wrote,
“Where Did the Day Go? is a
gorgeously illustrated ‘hip kids’
version of the Genesis account
of God creating our world, one
day at a time, and the ensuing
temptation and fall of man.
Endearingly quirky but recognizable
flora and fauna romp
in glowing Technicolor across
pages of God’s running commentary
that is relevant but
not irreverent. This is a user-friendly,
large-loving God
who continually asks the reader
for responses…Some are
provided, in the form of short,
spontaneous, single-sentence
prayers, including a final one
accepting God’s offer of rescue
from the effects of the
fall…
On the heels of that accolade,
Where Did the Day
Go? was awarded the 2015
National Illumination Book
Award for the Best Keepsake/Gift/Specialty
Book by
the Jenkins Group. With the
motto “Shining a Light on Exemplary
Christian Books,” the
Illumination Book Awards
are designed to honor the
year’s best new titles written
and published with a Christian
world-view. In addition,
Where Did the Day Go? was
named the Gold Winner in
the Religious Non-Fiction category
of the 2015 National
Next Generation Indie Book
Awards. Catherine Goulet,
Awards Chair at the National
Awards Reception held
in May at the Harvard Club
of New York City presented
the Gold to Gwendolyn who
attended the Gala Awards
Reception. She was personally
autographing the book
at the Book Expo America in
NY at the Jacob Javits Convention
Center.
Reasoner recently hosted
an Art Exhibition Opening
Reception and Book Signing
locally for Where Did the
Day Go? on Nov. 6th at the
Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural
Center in Lake Charles.
45 brilliantly illustrated original
paintings from the book
by illustrator Loretta Shadow
Owens are on exhibit
for viewing in the First Floor
Gallery until December 31,
2015. The book is published
by In His Shadow Press and
can be purchased for $
20.00. For more information
call (800) 821-4278 or email:
InHisShadowPress@aol.com
Where Did the Day Go?
benefits hungry children
through a charity that puts
actions to work called Feed
the Children. The book project
was designed to help
feed hungry children’s minds
and bodies so they will have
hope for the future. In addition,
for 2015 1000 softcover
books have been donated
by the author and distributed
to various mission outreach
projects to children
in the US and around the
world. “This isn’t just another
story, “ Reasoner concludes.
“It’s the real story.”
Call to order: (800) 821-
4278 Hardcover / $ 19.99 /
40 pages
By Marsha Dutton
I never was a very crafty
type person, but my mother
definitely was… maybe
enough for both of us.
Each year she started
planning well in advance. She
would have Daddy take us
through drives in the woods,
and send my sisters and me to
haul the exact dead branches
she had spied, into the back
of the van. These were just for
a few of the things she had in
mind.
Depending on her mood
in a given year, the branches
might be sprayed white, silver
or gold. She would use the
smaller artistically shaped one
as centerpieces. Perhaps, we
would hang Christmas ornaments
on them or if they had a
lot of smaller twigs, the entire
tree would have colored gumballs
stuck to them. Sometimes
she used ornamental
snow to decorate them so
they seemed to have been in
a snowfall.
One year, she picked a tall
graceful, dead tree which she
used as one of the three Christmas
trees we had in various
rooms of the house. This one
was sprayed white and starting
at the top, she hung Magenta
balls in colors and sized
that graduated all the way
down from the smaller sizes to
the larger and from the lighter
Magenta to the more vivid.
The colors complemented the
various shades of green that
was the dominant color of our
Living Room. Then she swirled
Angel Hair around the tree.
The tree was placed so that it
could be seen from the street
through the large showcase
window. With the rest of the
room darkened, she had spotlights
shining onto the tree. It
was truly a fairy tale vision, I
shall never forget.
If that wasn’t enough, she
had us paint with brushes, the
leaves from Magnolia trees…
sometimes white, red or silver.
With these branches of
magnolia leaves, she sprayed
with glue and sprinkled them
with stardust. Then they were
used for arrangements on the
fireplace mantel or perhaps
a hutch. All was tastefully
and simply done. My mother
was very artistic that way. Although,
I didn’t care for all the
work that went into those creations,
I certainly appreciated
them after they were done.
DECEMBER 2015 VOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM Volume 3 • Number 5 Volume 3 • Number 5 VOICEOFSOUTHWESTLA.COM DECEMBER 2015