I found the crayon-drawn picture lying on a chair, during my hurry-and-pick-up-the-house-cleaning. Time tightened before guests arrived, and the house reflected the chaos of muddy shoes and thrown pillows. I’d read its message on Mother’s Day, when my grandson handed it to me, but I needed it more today. This day, when I deserved it […]
Continue Reading
A message on my phone encouraged me to contact a certain Margaret. It seems she wants to recruit me for a job. I have great potential to earn an amazing amount of money. In fact, my name has repeatedly come to her company’s attention. Perhaps you have received a similar text. It’s a scam. This […]
Continue Reading
I tilted my head a bit to look for myself in his stick figure drawing. I wondered is this truly how he saw me? “Is that me?” I asked. He nodded. He held a felt tip marker in a small hand stained with reds and greens. He waited. Proudly. Seriously. Expectantly. I went for the, […]
Continue Reading
She toddles toward me, hands outstretched. My eyes are wide, excited and inviting, “Come on,” I urge with a half whisper. A foot lifts, and then another. A wobbly sort of drunken-sailor-tilt, propels her miniature body. A little too far to one side and then the other, she comes closer. And then, just before she […]
Continue Reading
“If Jesus wanted to,” my little seven-year-old fellow classmate declared, “He could flatten my thumb and make it big enough to go around the whole world.” He held his thumb inches from my wide eyes. I stared at it without saying a word. I could almost see it spread and widen. I imagined it […]
Continue Reading
Pacing from streetlight to streetlight, with my phone pressed hard against my ear, I wore a circled path on the asphalt. My head down, my feet entered the illumined cone shaped area on the pavement. There I turned again into the darkness and repeated my walk back to the lighted area I’d come from. The […]
Continue Reading
“What’s God been teaching you through His Word?” I ask as we settle in, past the mundane of life. We’ve left behind kids, jobs, routines, and the cycle of activities that spin our lives. It is this question, which brings a smile. The atmosphere changes from just friendship small talk to things that really matter, […]
Continue Reading
“Hey Sis,” she said to get my attention in the store. She was more than double my age with white hair. She looked like my grandma. “Mom,” I hissed, “don’t call me Sis,” I always wanted a sister. Sisters giggle with you when you are supposed to be asleep in bed. They share your clothes […]
Continue Reading
I’m not sure how old they were, but to me the title “ancient” applied. My parents, had an entire cabinet of dietary supplements. Every morning they’d pull them out and a ritual began. They twisted the lids, dumped the contents into their open palms and supplemented themselves. Watching with a child’s eyes, as they shook […]
Continue Reading
In the budding of a greening spring, bringing life and color to these naked woods, a lot of decay happens. We counted five dead deer on the way to church. Vultures are having a feast. Sure, death scares me somewhat. But it is the curse of decay that I find most terrifying. Mine in particular. […]
Continue Reading