ABOUT SANDRA WAGGONER
"I could begin this biography by telling you when I was born. Let’s just say, “Yes, I was!” Time, especially to children, means nothing. I once remember telling my grade school class that I was 96. To my horror, they believed me!
I grew up on a farm in western Kansas. My playgrounds stretched from the yard, to the fields and out into the pasture. I climbed every tree on the place, but my favorite prairie tree was the windmill. I loved to shinny to the top and feel the wind surge through the blades and pump the water from deep within the ground. It seemed that I was in rhythm with the very heartbeat of the earth.
On my Kansas playground I became whatever our play called for: a pirate, a cowboy, a jungle explorer, a posse rider, a member of the Jesse James Gang – this is where my stories were born.
I think that I have always written. I still have a poem that I penned around third grade. In junior high I wrote while I daydreamed in my classes. In high school I wrote for our school newspaper. I wrote while driving the tractor or the wheat truck as my dad’s farmhand. I wrote in college. I wrote. I wrote. I wrote. And I write.
In 1977 the most dashing man waltzed into my life and swept me off my feet into a world of happily ever after. God chose him to be a pastor for many years and now a traveling evangelist. As a result of my husband’s ministry I have had the joy of speaking to women – at meetings, Mother-Daughter teas and retreats. I have written many skits for these occasions. Even there, God uses me to write. I didn’t know that he could do that. What wonderful surprises he has given me.
God has blessed my husband Greg and me with four children. They have been the subjects of many of my children’s picture books. It’s a joke around our house – if you do it, Mom will write about it! However, I can be bribed into adding, “The names have been changed to protect the guilty!”
I am a teacher. I love teaching, whether it is Sunday school or my elementary school classes. Children keep me young and dreaming. They are the best audience for my work. I read my stories to them and they critique me. Often I hear, 'Wow! Please read another chapter.' I can live with that."
I Will Praise Thee
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." (Psalms 139:15) Through man, God splashes forth miracles science cannot reproduce. Not only is man unique, but this individuality differs from the billions of humans before and about him. No two are alike. Each tiny preference reflects that I am me, and you are you. Example: My favorite candy bar is Almond Joy. My husband’s favorite is Zero. And this, (I tease him) reflects our personalities!
Read for Science Info
“Behold now the behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth the grass as an ox. Lo now, his strenghth is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar…” Job 40:15-17. This passage continues to describe the behemoth, and I get so excited because this huge creature sounds like a dinosaur! Wow. Oh, wow! Look at verse 15, ‘…which I made with thee...’ That means Job lived with the dinosaurs! He got to see them, watch them and probably run from them. Job even got the honor to write about the mighty dinosaurs. God gives me the information scientists cannot always give.
Why Read?
It spurs the imagination! The imagination spurs learning! “He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, he setteth me upon my high places.” Psalms 18:33
As a girl I always loved those high-heeled shoes, and I dreamed of the time I could dance in them. As an adult I think they are beautiful and graceful . . . but not on me. They hurt, I walk very tipsy and standing for a long time is impossible. With this verse I imagine goat hooves molded to my ankles and groan. How ugly! Yet, to get to the high places you must climb the mountain. Handling the rugged terrain works better with goat feet than stylish stilettos! He makes me what I need to be to get where he wants me to go!
