MOUNTAIN ISLAND VILLA FOUND!              DO 63            4/71

SUGGESTIONS ON UNDERLINING & HEADLINING

         1. FIRST OF ALL, AS SOME OF YOU JOURNALISTS KNOW, EVERY PARAGRAPH IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE SOME KIND OF TOPIC SENTENCE WHICH IS MORE OR LESS THE SUBJECT OF THE ENTIRE PARAGRAPH, on which the rest of the paragraph merely enlarges & gives the details. USUALLY THIS SENTENCE IS IN THE FIRST LINE OR TWO, ALTHOUGH IT COULD EVEN BE IN THE MIDDLE OR EVEN SUMMING IT UP IN THE END. But wherever it is, it's got the main thought of the paragraph & should contain a key word or two or three which are really the theme of the entire paragraph--its headline, so to speak, & THESE FEW WORDS SHOULD BE UNDERLINED, SO YOU CAN CATCH THE TOPIC OF THE PARAGRAPH AT A GLANCE, without having to comb through the entire maze of words to find it; especially when having to re-scan to review, remind, sum up or answer. HEADLINING OR TITLING IS AN ART IN ITSELF, but I'd certainly hate to think I'd written a whole paragraph with nothing worth underlining, God help us!

THE SEARCH FOR MOUNTAIN ISLAND VILLA!

         2. BUT BEFORE I GO FURTHER, WE MUST TELL YOU OF THE VERY THRILLING EXPERIENCE WE HAD JUST BEFORE LEAVING CYPRUS! You remember the dream we had about Mountain Island Villa (See No. 21), along with the flash that we had after deciding to stop over in Cyprus that we might find it there. Well, we DID! And I have to give all due credit to Maria & her confidence in the Lord's revelations to me.
         3. IT WAS HER FAITH IN MY DREAMS THAT DROVE HER TO KEEP ASKING EVERYBODY ABOUT DIFFERENT PLACES ON THE ISLAND. Finally we heard of a small port resort on the North shore, which seemed to fit the description, & everyone urged us to go there. But we were so busy packing, writing & winding up our affairs in preparation for our major move clear across Europe that I didn't see how we could possibly have time to run around chasing rainbows at the last minute, but Maria insisted, & I'm glad she did!
         4. DESPITE MY RELUCTANCE, I DRAGGED MY POOR TIRED FEET TO THE BUS TO KYRENIA only two or three days before we were due to leave. We rolled quietly through the beautiful countryside & finally wound over the lofty mountains to the small resort town & port of Kyrenia.
         5. AND THERE, BEFORE MY WIDENED EYES, LAY THE VERY SCENE FROM THE DREAM OF THE TOWN HARBOUR WHICH WAS CLOSE TO MOUNTAIN VILLA! I remembered well the stores, shops & cafes on my left circling this little anchorage, & all the small boats tied up along the sidewalk on the right. Hallelujah! There was this unusual little port, the like of which I've never seen anywhere else in the whole World--only in the dream!-Even the chairs & tables of the little sidewalk cafes, as well as the milling tourists & the men with little blue hats that I had thought were sailors in my dream, but which turned out to be U.N. troops!
         6. WE WERE THRILLED WITH THE EXCITEMENT OF OUR DISCOVERY, & I KNEW EXACTLY WHICH DIRECTION THE VILLA LAY FROM THE HARBOUR, but we were too hungry to go on without eating. And by the time we finished our lunch, it was already dusk & too late, I thought, to go searching for the villa. But Maria had such faith that we were going to find it even if we had to stay overnight, that she went out & secretly bought me a razor to shave with, in case we did!
         7. DESPITE THE FACT THAT I HAD SEEN THE VERY TOWN & HARBOUR IN THE DREAM, IT STILL SEEMED NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE THAT IT COULD BE A REALITY, & I was almost afraid to look. How do you tell people that you're looking for a place that you saw in a dream? Well, I took the plunge & began describing the place in detail to the manager of a cafe, & even began describing the owner of the house in detail!
         8. FINALLY THE DESCRIPTION RANG A BELL, and he said, "Oh yes! That would have to be Mrs. Goldstein!" So excitedly we clambered into a cab & were on our way! Only a mile or two from town, we turned right on a small dirt road which wound through the hills, & immediately I recognised it as the very road on which we had approached the villa from the rear in my last dream before coming to Cyprus, & sure enough, there was the villa, & we were driving right up to the rear of it just like in the dream!
         9. THE DOOR OF THE VILLA OPENED, A LADY GREETED US CHEER FULLY, & THERE BEHIND HER WAS MRS. GOLDSTEIN, THE VERY ONE WE'D MET IN THE DREAM! PTL! But how to introduce ourselves in a surprise call at 9:00 at night as perfect strangers was somewhat of a problem, as you can imagine! But again, by faith, we took the plunge, as I hesitatingly & embarrassedly tried to explain.

TRUSTING GOD--TAKING THE PLUNGE BY FAITH!

         10. THERE'S THAT ALMOST FRIGHTENING MOMENT when you stand teetering on your toes on the tip of the diving board 25 feet above the water below & wondering if you're gonna hit it right, how it's gonna receive you & if you'll survive the dive, then slowly you lean forward & gravity takes over & you hit the water with a splash!
         11. THERE'S THAT MOMENT OF THRILLING SUSPENSE as you fly through the air with the greatest of ease, knowing not exactly what awaits you when you land; but then to your relief, having made that final decision & taken the plunge, suddenly you're in the water gliding deep below the surface & curving beautifully upward, bursting out again into the air & sunshine with a sense of great achievement & satisfaction, finding it wasn't really as bad as you thought it was gonna be! You made it! t
         12. IT TOOK FAITH, SKILL, COURAGE & DARING--but you've had the satisfaction of a new accomplishment, a new thrill--& you've made it & come through safe & sound, whole & hardy & unscathed, to live & try again!
         13. BUT THAT MOMENT ON THE BRINK & that second you're hurtling through the air with your hands outstretched before your head, as though to defend yourself from the water rushing up to meet you, can be very breathtaking & make your pulse skip a beat, just before the splashdown! IT'S A SENSE OF TREMENDOUS FREEDOM, BUT TERRIFYING DANGER, a feeling of complete liberty from the bonds of the earthbound, but an almost frightening awareness that it's soon to end with a terrific impact, which you may or may not survive in one piece! You diving enthusiasts know what I'm talking about!
         14. IT TAKES REAL FAITH, REAL COURAGE, GENUINE SKILL & A FINAL TOTAL ABANDONMENT TO THAT OUTER SPACE, between the board & the water! You don't exactly know how you're gonna land, but you pray God it'll be right & the crowd will cheer! It's an unforgettable thrill--& only those who've done it know what I'm talking about! There's nothing else like it, except perhaps sky diving or ski jumping or maybe trapeze tricks, which I used to do a lot of too, when I was a kid! I risked my life so many times for a thrill that I'm ashamed to confess it & only the Lord has spared me--but maybe it had to take someone with that kind of daring, that kind of recklessness & ignoring of the possible consequences, that total abandonment to the cause, regardless of the outcome, because you know it's right & the greatest thrill in the World, even if it kills you! Maybe it took that kind of daredevil to plunge us all into the deep waters we're now swimming in, when most of the church is only touching its toes or wading along the shore! YOU & I HAVE LAUNCHED OUT INTO THE DEEP & ARE TRUSTING GOD TO SEE US THROUGH, BECAUSE WE KNOW WE'RE DOING HIS WILL!
         15. AND HE WILL SEE US THROUGH, AS HE DID THAT NIGHT, AS WE BROKE DOWN & TOLD MRS. GOLDSTEIN, NOT KNOWING WHAT HER REACTION WOULD BE, THAT WE HAD FIRST SEEN HER HOME IN A DREAM, & she was exactly as she was now in reality! Take it or leave it, that was it! Believe it or not, that was my story! And believe it or not, she believed it, accepted it & received us with the warmest of hospitality.
         16. FINALLY, KNOWING WE MUST LEAVE, I AT LAST GOT UP THE COURAGE TO ASK HER THE BIG QUESTION: "Mrs. Goldstein, why did we come here? Maybe you can tell us. I've been having this dream for several years now, long before I even knew I would cross the ocean, much less the Mediterranean, & visit the Middle East. Why are we here? Maybe you can tell us."--And she broke down & wept!
         17. "I LOST MY HUSBAND THREE YEARS AGO," SHE SAID, "AND I HAVE BEEN VERY LONELY EVER SINCE. I think maybe God did it for my sake, that He put you on my spiritual plane or channel, that maybe in some way you could help me." I knew she meant to PRAY for her, & we did! PTL!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family