Safely Home

If tomorrow starts without me,

And I'm not there to see,

If the sun should rise and find your eyes

All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry

The way you did today,

While thinking of the many things,

We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me, 

As much as I love you, 

And each time that you think of me, 

I know you'll miss me too; 

But when tomorrow starts without me, 

Please try to understand, 

That an angel came and called my name, 

And took me by the hand, 

And said my place was ready, 

In heaven far above, 

And that I'd have to leave behind 

All those I dearly love.

Anna Maria Francesca Lynn

Age 63 of Rockford and formerly of Panama City, Florida, passed away peacefully on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Born in Palermo, Sicily on April 19, 1956, to Vincenzo & Giuseppa Conversi (Saladino). Anna enjoyed reading, cooking, painting and working on crafts. An avid gardener, she spent time outside bird watching and caring for stray animals. She had a wonderful sense of humor and frequently talked about her love for her family and God. Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt and dear friend; she will remain in our hearts forever.

She is survived by husband, Jeffrey Lynn; children, Jeffrey Jr., Cecil (Nuet), Joshua (Rebecca), Josephine (James) Hutchinson and Jacob (Dustie); grandchildren, Sebastian, Andrea, Caleb, Adam, Zalen and Brody; numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles & cousins; dear friends, Kitty, Robin, Cindy & Priscilla. She is predeceased by her parents.

Psalm 23:6

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

A Work in Progress

The following is the autobiography of Anna Lynn

Written By: Anna Lynn

Compiled By: Josephine Hutchinson

He's Still Working on Me

He's still working on me

To make me what I need to be

It took him just a week to make the moon and stars

The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars

How loving and patient He must be

'Cause He's still workin' on me

There really ought to be a sign upon my heart

Don't judge him yet, there's an unfinished part

But I'll be better just according to His plan

Fashioned by the Master's loving hands

In the mirror of His word

Reflections that I see

Makes me wonder why He never gave up on me

But He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray

Remember He's the potter, I'm the clay

Nonno and Nonna

Giuseppe Saladino came to Palermo looking for a wife who would be a mother to his three orphaned daughters whom he had left in the United States in the care of maternal relatives. Giuseppe was introduced to Anna Minagra who refused his offer of marriage. Undeterred he asked for the hand of Anna's younger sister Silva Minagra who accepted. His daughters Maddalena, Virginia, and Antonia then joined him in Sicily, but because of trouble in the relationship with their stepmom, the two older girls returned to the United States while Antonia opted to stay with her dad. Giuseppe and Silvia had three kids, Giuseppa, Salvatore, and Benito.

Anna Minagra now wed to Orlando Conversi came from Rome to Palermo where she visited her sister Silvia. She showed pictures of her children Concettina, Rosetta, Vincenzo, and Domenico. Somehow pictures were exchanged of Vincenzo Conversi and Giuseppa Saladino. The two began writing to each other and after about a year Giusepppa eloped in a civil ceremony. The cousins married and had one daughter named Anna Maria Francesca Conversi.

Grandpa Cecil and Grandma Mae

Levi Miller married a woman whose name was Martha. They had a child who was given the name of Ruth Naome Miller. She in time married Shell Lynn and had a son by him who they named Cecil Willard Lynn who in turn wed a young divorcee with a baby named Judy. His wife's name was Lola Mae Tuttle and together they had six children: Sandy, Nancy, Jimmy, Jeffrey, Joseph, Cecil, and Jay. Mae and Cecil divorced when Jay was a baby and she married another man whose name is Amos Davis.

Mom's Life Growing Up

After Giuseppa Sladino married Vincenzo Conversi she lived with her in-laws. Over the next five years, there were several separations due to physical threats and mental abuse by her husband. She would leave Rome taking me with her. She would take the train to Palermo to stay with her mom. Every time she left, Vincenzo would plead with her to come back, which she would and the whole mess would start over again. What no one realized was that Vincenzo was mentally ill. He was later diagnosed as a schizophrenic-paranoid. This going back and forth continued until I started k-5. It was at the time that my grandparents realized there was something wrong with him and after an evaluation, my dad was placed in an institution. He was in and out of that place until he came to the United States. My mom decided to give him one last chance and we came to the United States as a family with I was seventeen years old.

Moving to America

Since Antonia was born in the United States she was a citizen by birth. After she became a wife and mother of three children, Concetta, Emanuele, and Giuseppe, her and her husband decided they would have a better life in America so she went to the American Consulate and had herself repatriated. Once she had settled herself she sent for her husband and children. While all this was going on she kept in touch with her half brothers and sister. For many years she wrote trying to convince them that America was the land of plenty, but it's hard to leave your homeland and start from scratch. Nina finally managed to convince my mom that we would have a better future in the United States and we left when I was eleven and my mom was thirty-nine. Within a year I had mastered the American language and had integrated into school pretty well. I attended St. Anthony Catholic School until my eighth grade then went to East High School but quit before graduation.

Nonno's Health

Around my seventeenth birthday, my mom felt the need to prove to me that it wasn't her fault that my parents were not together. She began the immigration process for my dad. I don't remember how long it took but finally, he arrived chaperoned by his younger brother, Domenico. Before Domenico left he gave my mom a bottle of medicine and told her to make sure Vincenzo took his daily dose. Without really explaining that the medicine was for mental illness. Everything went well for six months. My dad found a job as a janitor and we celebrated Christmas together. My mom eventually found out that my dad stopped taking his medicine when his illness took over. It began with him not being about to sleep and then accusing my mom of trying to poison him. He then started to threaten to kill her with a knife. That is when my mom and I went to the police station to report him. The police couldn't do much except escort us while we removed our things from the apartment. My mom and I moved into a shelter but that didn't stop my dad from finding us and making threats. My dad eventually was put into a mental hospital where he stayed for over three months. After a period of time, the doctors declared him sane enough to return home. After a while, my dad started skipping his medicine again and the same thing happened again. I encouraged my mom to divorce my dad for safety and financial reason. My mom listened to me and divorced my dad soon after the incident.

Mom and Nonna's Salvation

Around my twenty-first birthday, my mom fell on ice and broke her ankle. She was admitted into a hospital room with another woman who happened to be a Christian. She told us about Jesus Christ and how we can accept Him as our personal Savior. After my mom was released from the hospital the woman name Priscilla Robertson and her husband, Billy came to visit us. My mom and I asked as the jailer did in Acts 16:30, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" We were told to believe and confess. So on the same day, there were added two more names in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Mom's Missionary Calling

After a couple of years, I felt that God wanted me to become a missionary. So I talked to Pastor Billy Robertson and Priscilla. They said I would have to go to College and they suggested I go to Fellowship Baptist College in Peoria, Illinois. I gave notice at the factory where I worked for over seven years and with the money saved up from that, I went to College. I thought my money was going to last a long time or at least until I got a job but my mom got laid off from her job as a seamstress for a man's clothing store. I used some of my College money to help her with bills and I gradually started draining my College fund. To cut on College costs I moved out of the dormitory and in with a senior student. She promised to help me find work. The promise was never kept and I struggled to keep up with paying for College as well as helping my mom. After I met Jeff, my future husband, she became more of a boss then a roommate. She would tell me when to leave and come home. My roommate turned against me and did everything she could to have me removed from the apartment and the college. I spent most of my time with Jeff, helping him at work and going to his mom's house to visit. Eventually, I received too many complaints from my roommate to the Dean that I had had enough and moved out of my apartment. I was in luck with finding a new apartment because Jeff's Aunt Alice had a few apartments I could pick from to rent. The Dean expelled Jeff and me from College due to complaints from my former roommate. 

Mom and Dad's Marriage

About two weeks after we were expelled I got married. Jeff and I got married by Pastor Melvin Porter on December, 16th, 1981. We planned to marry at Mackinaw Baptist Church where Jeff was the song leader but we had the wrong county on the marriage license so we had to marry in the county written.

Reunited with Nonno

I lost track of my dad's where about. A lot happened about the divorce and my dad moved into a nursing home. My mom and I got saved, I married Jeff and had a son. It wasn't my will but God's will for me to seek out my dad's location, give him the gospel, and let him know he had five grandkids. It wasn't easy to forgive and move forward but the Lord put a desire in my heart to see all of my relatives get saved. I began to communicate with my aunts and uncles to trace down my dad. I found out that he lived in a rest home in Dixon, Illinois. I began writing to him and then calling him and finally meeting him face to face. The staff at the rest home was glad to have someone to discuss his advances and problems with. Medically he had been stable for years. They found the right medicine and method to keep his illness under control. The problem was that he refused to learn English or go to workshops that would train him in a job so he could leave the rest home. Every now and then he would throw a tantrum at the residents but nothing too serious. My dad loved cigarettes and sweets but they had to be controlled because of his diabetes. At first, Jeff and I visited my dad just the two of us then gradually introduced him to his grandkids a couple at a time. I encouraged him to attend church with me at Victory Baptist and he said yes. At first, my dad only came to church to get out of the rest home. One day my dad got into a fight with another resident and a staff member was hit as a result. A knife was involved but I'm not sure if it was my dad's or the person he was involved in the fight with. After the fight, the staff looked diligently for a more permanent home for my dad. Due to the nursing home closing my dad was transferred to another nursing home located in Rockford, Illinois. My mom Giuseppa was bitter and angry against my dad during this time and didn't care to hear anything about his progress. As I prayed for my parents I noticed my mom started to ask me questions about my dad's care and then asked Jeff and me to bring him over to visit her. The visits turned from coffee to supper, weekends together, and whole weeks. The more time they spent together the more they realized they still loved each other and wanted to remarry.

Nonno's Salvation

My parents remarried. I was the bridesmaid and Jeff was the best man. My dad still was not saved but he knew about what Jesus Christ did for him. His problem was understanding salvation. Priscilla Robertson visited my parents one day and witnessed to my dad and all of a sudden it was like a light went on and he understood. The miraculous part of it was that Priscilla witnessed to him in English but he understood it in Italian and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. I will never forget the day he was baptized. When it was time for him to come up to the baptismal he jumped out of his seat, skipped and hopped to the changing room with the biggest smile on his face. Both of my parents came to church when they could. It was difficult for them to attend services because of transportation problems and their health. A year after my dad got saved he passed away due to a heart attack. A year after my dad's passing my mom passed away due to a heart attack and loneliness for her Vincenzo. Even though they are not here with me on Earth I know I will see them again.

1Thessalonians 4:13

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.” 

Mom's Favorite Recipes

"Man shall not live by bread alone." - Matthew 4:4

Mom's Easy Pork Chops

4-6 pork chops

1 1/2c. apple jelly or apple juice

1/8tsp. ground cloves

1/8tsp. ground lemon peel

1/2c. water- don't add if using juice

Mix jelly, cloves, and lemon peel. Place 1/2 on the bottom of your skillet. Put chops on top and then add the remaining mix. Cover and let simmer on medium high. Stir occasionally. When the meat is done remove and add one package of gravy to the juice. Put the pork chops back in and let simmer for about 10 minutes so the gravy can thicken while the chops heat up.

Artichoke Canape's

1c. mayo

1c. freshly grated parmesan

1 can green chilies chopped

1c. chopped artichoke hearts

Mix mayo, parmesan, chilies, and artichoke. Put 1 tsp. of the mix on toast round. Broil till lightly brown.

Pecan Snowballs

1lb. butter

1/2c. sugar

4c. pecans or walnuts

4c. flour

4tsp. vanilla

Mix butter and sugar. Add flour and pecans. Add vanilla and a pinch of salt. Roll dough into 1 inch balls. Bake at 300 degrees for half an hour. Roll in powdered sugar.

Biscotti

1/4c. butter

1/2c. sugar

1 egg yolk

1/4tsp. nutmeg

1/4tsp. baking soda

1c. flour

2tsp. milk

1tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Cream butter and sugar. Add yolk, nutmeg, soda, and flour. Mix well. Stir in milk and vanilla to form a stiff dough. Chill about fifteen minutes. Roll out and cut. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown.

Mom's Scripture Recipe for the Heart

(Nonna's Italian bread recipe)

1 package of Luke 13:21

1tablespoon of Ezra 6:22

1/4 cup of warm Mark 9:41

3 cups of sifted Ezekiel 16:19

Soften Luke 13:21 in Mark 9:41 then set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl put 1 3/4 cups of Mark 9:41 with Ezekiel 16:19 and Ezra 6:22. Mix well. Measure additional scriptures and do as Ruth did in Ruth 2:17.

Turn mix onto a lightly floured surface and let rest 5-10 minutes. Follow instructions found in 1Samuel 28:24. Grease a bowl large enough for the dough to double then cover and let it rise for one and a half to two hours.

Once the dough has risen, do as the soldier did in John 18:22 and as directed in 1Samuel 28:24 for a couple of minutes.

Divide the dough into two balls and let stand for ten minutes.

Place on a lightly greased baking pan and let the dough double again. Bake at 425 degrees for ten minutes then reduce to 350 degrees until golden brown. Makes two loaves.

Mom's Gardening Advise

Plant three rows of squash

Squash gossip, squash criticism, squash indifference

Plant three rows of peas

purity, patience, perseverance

Plant four rows of lettuce

Let us be kind, let us be faithful, let us be obedient, let us love one another

No garden is complete without turnips

turn up for meetings, turn up for service, turn up to lend a helping hand

To conclude our planting we must have thyme

Thyme for God, thyme for study, thyme for prayer

Water freely with patience and cultivate with love.

There is much fruit in your garden

because you reap what you sow.

The world is God's garden. We are here for a short time, let us be thankful for having the privilege of the visit.

Mom's Cleaning Advise

A clean house is very important, but more so is a clean heart.

Psalms 119:9

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” 

John 15:3

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” 

1Corinthians 6:19

“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” 

Keep your heart clean and in good repair!

Mom's Parenting Advise

Proverbs 22:6a

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” 

When you get married and have children remember the following verse,

Proverbs 22:15

“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” 

I agree with disciplining a child but not beating.

Proverbs 13:24

“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.” 

Not all kids need a spanking, some may respond to a word of warning.

Proverbs 19:18

“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.” 

Mom's Advise to Women

Proverbs 31:10

“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” 

Proverbs 31:30

“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” 

1Timothy 2:9-10

"9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;

10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works."

You should try to look your best as a woman but keep in mind:

Matthew 6:21 

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

1Peter 1:18

"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;"

 Earthly treasures are corruptible.

1Peter 3:3-4

"3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;

4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."

Mom's Crafts and Projects

Mom's Artwork

Mom's Love of Nature and Water

Mom's Love of Animals

Mom's Love for Music

Mom's Love for Missions and Children's Ministry

Mom's Love for her family

Mom's Sense of Humor

Q. What did the porcupine say to the cactus?

A. Is that you, Mommy?

                                   

Mom's Favorite Bible Verses

Ecclesiastes 3:3-8

"3 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

Psalm 23 

"23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

Romans 3:10

"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"

Romans 3:23 

" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

Mom's Message for You

The greatest road anyone will ever travel:

  Romans Road of Salvation!

1. Admit that you are a sinner and need to be saved. 

Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

2. Repent and be willing to turn from your sin. 

Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross. 

Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

4. Receive through prayer, Jesus Christ into your heart and life. 

Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

5. Find a Bible believing Church to grow your new faith in. 

Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”