During a time when Andrew and I were desperately needing help in our marriage and asking God to make it into something beautiful again, I came across a verse in the book of Joel that caught my attention. “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten.” I mulled the words over…
I pick up my Bible rather reluctantly this morning. I am tired and my mind is sluggish. It doesn’t help that I am reading through the Bible chronologically and yesterday’s reading was in 1 Chronicles, a chapter containing a bunch of names of gatekeepers and military commanders. The list of military commanders might inspire someone…
I needed a break from the emotional aftermath of my writing today, so I decided to relax with a light movie. I stretched out on my bed, jammed some pillows behind my back, and pushed ‘Play’ on the remote, hoping to dispel the sense of sadness that still pervaded the edges of my mind. All…
Traveling across the country with your daughter and three small kids is like going to the circus. You sit in your seat, holding your breath, not knowing what the next act will be, but convinced that it will surely be entertaining. However, it is not for the faint of heart! Kids’ bladders suddenly need to…
July 30 was coming up. It was often at the edges of my mind and this morning it seemed to want to demand center stage. I gave in to the stirring in my soul and started down memory lane. It would soon be twenty-one years since that fateful day when Connie went to be with…
I made my way around the kitchen this morning with a dark cloud in my head and a rock in my chest. These two unwanted visitors have sapped my desire to see the good in this day. They have also stolen my joy. I walked restlessly from the kitchen window to the living room window…
“Finally!” I plunk my chair down onto the sand and fall into it, trying to catch my breath. The short walk to the beach felt much longer than it actually was. I settle down to watch the morning sky as it hosts a battle between the bright yellow sun and the heavy gray clouds; a…
I sit on my recliner chair in the little room, with one daughter lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to wires and machines and an IV pole, and the other sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed, scrolling through her phone. We are on the cardiac floor of the hospital,…
Summertime must be coming to a close. Carinda has pulled up all the tomato cages and taken down the wire cucumber fence. With Andrew’s help, they got the garden mowed off, to the point that you hardly notice it’s been there. Of course, our garden is nothing like the garden we had in the good…
I just realized today that the two Amorite kings of Bible times and I have something in common. I have also long been suspicious of the fact that God has one terrific sense of humor! I also think that some people are more amusing to him than others. People like me, for example, who seem…