Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller

The Best Present It seemed to be the worst Christmas present ever as I unwrapped it. I now value it as the best I’ve received.   It was Christmas 1973. I was a seventeen-year-old high school senior.   The present was from my Uncle Bill. ...

My short story collection, Christmas Jelly, was written in 32 chapters.  This allows you (the reader) to enjoy one chapter per day beginning December 1 and ending on January 1. Here’s today’s serving of Christmas Jelly! Enjoy!  The following fictional short story comes from a story told ...

      “Christmas in Winterset” was written during our African sojourn.  I met a church group from Winterset, Iowa. It was too good of a town name not to use in a story.  The actual story was related to me by a Beauregard Parish ...

My short story collection, Christmas Jelly, was written in 32 chapters.  This allows you (the reader) to enjoy one chapter per day beginning on December 1 and ending on January 1. Here’s your fourth helping of Christmas Jelly. Enjoy! December 3 Chapter 4 Stolen Christmas Trees     ...

  From now until New Year’s Day,  we’ll be featuring stories from our short story collection, Christmas Jelly.   My prayer is that you and your family will enjoy a wonderful Christmas, and you’ll feel the personal presence of Jesus, the King of all Kings. ...

I love this quote: “Lord, you’ve given me so much. I ask You for one more thing: a heart of gratitude.”   This week’s word is Gratitude. This is my favorite story on gratitude: Vance Gill, my guitar-playing Dry Creek friend (who I always remind ...

    Tough or Hard—The Choice is Yours   In front of me are three objects: a hammer, a brick, and a flat piece of leather. They make for a wonderful lesson we all can learn from. It’s amazing observing folks as they go through ...

Down in the Well   “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”   Proverbs 3:4   My neighbor Dudley Mercer tells a story from his Dry Creek childhood.  His family farm had a 35-foot deep well on which ...

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today. It’s a story worth retelling. His name is  John Stephen Akhwari and he had the dubious honor to finish last in the Marathon at the 1968 Mexico City ...

The Sermon in the Hayfield   He was one of my heroes, and today would be his birthday. This is a story of what made him special.     Love is patient and kind. . .    I Corinthians 13:4 As far back as I can ...

  The following is Chapter 1 of As You Were, the sequel to our novel, A Spent Bullet. I’d appreciate your feedback on: What makes you want to pull for (and care about) Elizabeth and Harry? What emotions do you sense as Elizabeth stands in ...

    Earthshine   If you study the moon and its phases, you’ll come to realize there is a God in heaven. -Unknown The quote above is true in my life as I’ve never grown tired of observing the moon. One of the best things ...

Love and Discipline I once read a story about a father’s wise advice to his daughter, who was struggling with disciplining her young children. The father invited her to take a boat ride on a nearby lake.  The boat had two oars and the father ...

The Wall from the Curt Iles short story collection,  Stories from the Creekbank.    …By my God have I leaped over a wall. -Psalms 18:29   As I stood in the shadow of the twelve-foot wall, sweat popped out on my forehead. In my ears ...