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…
I’ve been absent for a bit. Sorry about that. I had a long bout of a Covid-like virus in November and I’ve been scrambling to catch up ever since. I didn’t feel like writing anything until just recently, and now my brain is lighting up with ideas. Here’s the first one….. We just had a…
I recently enjoyed a much-needed vacation to Hilton Head Island. I was blessed to spend some time relaxing on the beach and bike-riding on the trails through the pine trees and live oaks. The beach was fairly empty, with only a handful of people setting up their chairs and umbrellas each day. At times it…
My daughter is in the process of applying to vet schools. It’s a highly competitive field, and though there is currently a national shortage of veterinarians, there are only so many slots in each university’s program. Maybe because I was Riley’s teacher for so many years, I feel extremely responsible for her performance in college,…
Presidential hopefuls take the debate stage to brag about their accomplishments and bluster about the incompetencies of their opponents. At the same time, a frail elderly woman lies in bed waiting for hours for someone to come change her and clean her up; no one asks her about her accomplishments in her life before age…
No summer of my childhood would have been complete without Vacation Bible School. Wafer cookies wrapped in a napkin, styrofoam cups filled with Kool-Aid, crafts in the church basement, and memory work competitions that drove me to spend every afternoon of the week cramming Bible verses into my brain so I could win a trophy…
It’s back to school time! I don’t care how old I get, I’m always going to love the excitement that this season brings–the prospect of all the new things… learning new and fascinating ideas, making new friends, and relishing in the joy of new lunch boxes, freshly sharpened pencils, and colorful new folders. (I love…
“What about having Christmas in July?” That was a recent text I received from a nursing home volunteer. She had been crocheting teddy bears as Christmas gifts for the care home residents that attend our weekly Sunday afternoon gatherings, and she had completed them much earlier than expected. As someone who will gladly use any…
My grandparents lived in a house with no central air conditioning. As spoiled as I am today, I probably wouldn’t last one summer afternoon inside their house. Of course, we didn’t stay inside the house on hot summer days. The house sat in a flat little clearing that was surrounded with trees–God’s natural air conditioning!…
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