Shade Tree Stories

musings and memories rooted in faith and family

Latest stories from Under the shade trees

  • We’re Not Going Away
    I can’t believe that it’s been 4 years this month since I had the honor and privilege of speaking at our nation’s capitol on behalf of nursing home residents in…
  • Where the Gospel Slows Down
    On my last visit to the nursing home, I had two separate encounters that spoke to my heart about how we use our most valuable resource: time. The first experience…
  • Wave Watcher
    I just got back from the beach. It was a quick, five day trip to Florida. As usual, I went prepared with a book, my journal, and my laptop. I…
  • Comparison; Thief of Joy…Sometimes
    “Comparison is the thief of joy.” I had to look that up to see who is credited with saying that. Apparently, President Theodore Roosevelt was a smart guy. He said…
  • Connecting The Dots and A Happy Breakthrough
    I’ve been doing a lot of work lately. Hard work. And I don’t mean manual labor. I mean the difficult work of sitting with your feelings, examining them, and processing…
  • Hailstones in Battle
    A few weeks ago, on a Friday night, we were sleeping in our basement because the weather forecast was predicting strong storms for our area overnight. Around 5am, I was…
Yep, that’s me with my grandfather.
Marla and Pa, 1978

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A breathtaking view of a starry winter night sky over snowy trees in Viuz-la-Chiésaz, France.

I Wonder As I Wander

Posted on
(part two of my previous post….) “I wonder as I wander out under the stars…” We’ve had some frigid weather since Christmas. We had snow, followed by ice, followed by…
Read More I Wonder As I Wander

Five Year Fight

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This is a hard week. It’s been five years. Five years since covid forced our lives to change forever. Sometimes it feels like it was an eternity ago, and other…
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Wave Watcher

Posted on
I just got back from the beach. It was a quick, five day trip to Florida. As usual, I went prepared with a book, my journal, and my laptop. I…
Read More Wave Watcher