Creekbank Stories Curt Iles, Storyteller
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There’s always more at the Creek. www.creekbank.net
QUOTES AND SNIPPETS
I’ve always been a collector of quotes and pithy sayings.
They motivate me and serve as road signs to keep my feet on the path, my journey straight, and my moral compass set.
Here are recent ones from my journals:
“Always keep your inner moral compass pointing true north. Take time to check and change your direction as needed.”
Go where you can have the greatest influence and make the most 
impact.
Influence: Go wide!
Impact: Go deep!
LIVINGSTONE ROAD
The story is told that an English missionary society wrote to the great missionary David Livingstone and asked, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men deep in the heart of Africa to join you.” Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.” The road to Samaria… As well as the road through Samaria… Neither of these are ever “good roads” or “easy roads” but they are the place to be and will always be the road of blessings.
“You shall not pass here.”
Gandalf the Wizard
Making a stand.
It’s Gandalf the Wizard, in The Lord of the Rings, standing astride the bridge of Khazad-Dhum opposing a balrog fire demon.
The Wizard stamps his staff. “You shall not pass here.”
“You shall not pass here.”
(From Chapter 19, “Grit” in The Three Trees.)
Proverbs 25:11 written in Journal #89.
A SONG
I was lost
And I was found
Take me home
To a pine belt town.
-Pine Belt Blues”
The Dexateens
My Duct Tape Bible
I read Proverbs 20 on the 20th day of each month, and continue daily.
One of the best habits I’ve ever made.
A good Bible is too precious to throw away. That’s why God invented Duct tape.
ON LIFETIME FRIENDSHIPS
“Even though our hands may not often touch; Our hearts always do.”
Statements that have shaped my life:
- If you like people, people will like you.
- He was a kind man.” Put it on my tombstone.
- You cannot outgive God.
- Relationships matter.
- Grit: Perseverance trumps talent
6. Finish Strong
7. Onward!
8. “You cannot have too many friends.” -Mary Iles
9. Make moving memories
“See dirt, throw seeds.
See seeds, water them.
Filling my Life-Buckets. A daily priority.
One way I’m learning to be unoffended is the part of writing I detest.
Rejection letters.
It’s part of the life of a professional writer.
Rejection letters. You’ll have a stack of them if you’re sending out proposals.
I’ve learned not to take it personally.
To accept it with graciousness.
Send a nice note to the editor. Trying to glean anything from them and their rejection that can teach me a lesson.
Additionally, I’m trying to accept life’s setbacks and difficulties with a smile, “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll just put it in the next book.”
You have no friends. You have no enemies. You only have teachers.
Cato’s Warning to the Roman Senate on Carthage:
AD 535, given that the closest distance from Cape Boeo, Sicily, to Cape Bon, Tunisia, across the Mediterranean is only about seventy-five miles, a shorter distance of travel than from the western Sicilian city of Marsala to the Straits of Messina. The Roman historian Livy records the dramatic story of how the Elder Cato warned the Roman Senate of the dangers of an aggressive Carthage by dropping a fig from a fold in his toga, while admonishing the senators that it was still fresh, given that it had been picked just three days earlier, the aggregate direct travel time between Carthage and Rome.
From the story, “A Millionaire Named Bruce” in my book, Hearts Across the Water.
X BRUCE HATW
The difficulties of living so far from family and among a different culture should never be underestimated. Some would claim that the worst mistake Bruce made was messing up his ordered, simple life by wandering off on a two-week disaster relief trip.
But in my mind, I see Bruce’s grin as he holds up over 1 million rupiahs in the market area of Jakarta, Indonesia. Yes, he is still a millionaire—not of the earthly kind, whether measured in dollars or rupiahs.
But Bruce has found his calling And he has found his life partner. And he has found that simple secret, a secret so simple and plain that most of the world trips over it. The secret that real fulfillment in life doesn’t come from amassing wealth But rather from serving others and having the joy this service brings. The kind of joy and purpose that makes a man a millionaire.
JUST WRITE IT DOWN!
I’ve written parts of my ideas, dreams, and future book outlines on napkins and on my hand in ink.
I once wrote a short story outline on a roll of thin Ugandan Camel brand toilet paper.
I’ve used several expensive pens. I’ve used an orange crayon.
The key is to catch that thought before it sprouts wings and flies off.
Just write it down.
CRAFTING YOUR PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT”
That’s what the big corporations do, their mission statements are memorable:
Here’s one:
“To refresh the world…To inspire moments of optimism and happiness…To create value and make a difference.”
Coca-Cola.
That may not resound with you, but you’ve never drank a lukewarm coke in Ethiopia.
“Spend Less. Smile More.”
I bet you see this everyday on your street as delivery trucks drop off packages.
It’s Amazon’s brand.
Spend less. I agree.
Smile more. I agree. There is a cocaine-like high when UPS stops at your drive. Admit it.
Cry with Regret. When your Visa bill arrives. It doesn’t seem like you’re spending money when you empty your cart.
“Hearts Across the Water: Chapter 9: The Road through Samaria
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, a
nd I— I took the less traveled by,
And that has made the difference.”
–Robert Frost “The Road Not Taken”
Well-meaning people will often say to anyone who travels far away for ministry: Why did you want to go way over there when there is so much to do here?”
“There Goes My Hero”
The Major Influences in my life:
My Dad, Clayton Iles
My Mom, Mary Iles
My paternal grandmother, Pearl Iles
My Uncle, Bill Iles
JD Cain
Albert Hagan
Willard Mahaffey
Larry Greene
Leslie King
“One of these men I knew and loved for the first 31 years of my life; the other I’ve known and loved for the last 24 years. One left without warning; the other got to say goodbye to everyone he loved. Both called me sweetheart and were wonderful souls who were loved by all who knew them. Both are in heaven and are missed every single day. Happy Father’s Day to the two very best men we knew. 🩵🩵
“I will make my way across the fields of cotton
And wade through muddy waters one last time.
And in my dreams I come out clean
When I reach the other side.
Waste away the sunsets
Where rainbows never die.”
-The Steeldrivers
Memorial for Kenneth Broussard and Mike King
A song that has taken root in my heart:
May angels lead you in.
Now what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I’ll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
And if you were with me tonight,
I’d sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god couldn’t let it live.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
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There’s always more at the Creek. www.creekbank.net
The Mission of Creekbank Stories is to share moving stories that encourage and inspire.
