There are many things I wonder about at this time of year. I wonder about silly things like what it would be like to go “a wassailing” or what the words of “Good King Wenceslas” really mean. And then I wonder about more serious things like what Mary’s family must have thought when she told…
Perhaps you’ve heard of the great thermostat wars…the battle each household must fight over who controls the temperature of the house. We fight that one in our house, but we have an additional battle– the Christmas lights fight. I love Christmas decorations. I go all out. I have lights all over our house, and not…
For the past several years, I’ve been expanding my creative outlets and thinking about what it means to create. Those of you who know me would probably say that you’ve always considered me to be a creative person, but I never saw myself quite like that. I think that’s because I was comparing my creations…
(This is an update to a devotional I wrote two years ago.) I can’t believe it’s been two years since I watched the demolition of my grandparents’ house. It still doesn’t seem real sometimes. My family has lived in Kentucky since the days of Daniel Boone. In fact, as some of the first settlers, our…
“Tell me a story! Tell me a story!” When I was a little girl visiting my Granny, I often asked her to tell me a story, particularly at night after I climbed into bed. Granny told the best stories, and they were usually silly ones she made up, as opposed to just telling me true…
I’ve been reading the very in-depth biography of Alexander Hamilton that was the inspiration for the hit Broadway musical about his life. It’s been quite the educational read. I’ve learned so much about our nation’s early days, and I’ve also kept a journal of all the words the author used which I had to look…
In Part 1, I mentioned Job and his three friends who came to sit with him during his time of intense suffering and grief. For seven days and nights, they ministered to him with their presence. But soon, they began to offer Job their opinions on why he was experiencing these tragedies. I imagine that…
Recently I was asked to pray with a nursing home resident who was nearing the end of her life. Other than her name, the only thing that I knew about her before I arrived was that she was in her fifties though she looked like a much older woman, and that she had had a…
I’m convinced that most people today conflate the concept of manners and respect, and I do not believe that the two are the same. The Oxford online dictionary defines manners as “a person’s outward bearing or way of behaving toward others.” Think of it like saying “please” and “thank you,” “yes ma’am” or “no sir,”…
My grandfather and his brother Nathan were musicians in a band that toured. Well, actually, it was just the two of them, and by “toured” I mean they played the fiddle and guitar at parties and barn dances. This was rural Kentucky pre-World War II. They wore their best suits and provided the entertainment for…
For Mother’s Day my husband took me to my grandparents’ farm. And when I say “farm,” I mean 110 acres that includes fields for growing crops, an old barn that used to house tobacco, woods where you can still see the old wagon trail if you look closely enough, and a creek that cuts through…
When I was a little girl, there was no question that my family would spend Easter weekend with my grandparents and attend Sunday church services with them. This also meant that my sister and I would wear frilly spring dresses and our patent leather white shoes. Some years I had dainty little gloves, a hat,…
I was asked to write a devotional for a ladies group–“Growing in 2024.” Here’s what I came up with. (Rather, here’s what I think God helped me write.) If you know me even a little, or if you’ve read much of my writing, you know I love trees. It’s difficult to pinpoint why I love…
This Christmas was my second year singing Handel’s Messiah with a large choir and orchestra. If you aren’t familiar with The Messiah, it’s an oratorio (similar to an opera but without the theatrics), written in 1741 by a composer named George Friderik Handel. It tells the story of the coming of Christ through some of…
I had coffee with a friend the morning after Christmas. “It just didn’t feel like Christmas this year,” she said. Many of her family members had been sick, and she was exhausted from working her new job and trying to take care of everyone. On my drive home, I started thinking, “What does Christmas feel…