When we lived in Italy, going to the American Embassy was always kind of a big deal. We needed to have papers and identification in order. We prepared. Despite our home country’s flag and passports in hand, walking into that imposing building, always brought a mixture of solemnity, pride, and respect. Guards flanked the doors, […]
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“Just do what’s right today,” my husband’s voice said into my ear. The cell phone pressed hard against me, as if the very pressure could somehow put his words into my being. But doing right that long-ago day, felt like a calling above my capabilities. Beyond all reasonable expectations. Utterly impossible. 2025’s Christmas wrapping paper […]
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Growing up we called it the “Mennonite game.” Within a short span of meeting someone new, we somehow managed to find a connecting relative within a massive tangle of roots. When one of our daughters was in college, she spent some months in Africa where a simple greeting turned into a rather long and involved […]
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An angel appeared. A virgin conceived. Thousands of miles away a ruler declared a census. Like a drum roll of Sovereign timing and unstoppable happenings, the wheels of prophecy turned. With purpose. Sudden. Dramatic. And uprooting. The virgin, blessed and chosen was destined for a sword to pierce her soul. The King of Christmas was […]
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Every year for the last five years my three youngest grandchildren have come to our house in December for Starry Night. The idea birthed in 2020 when the “Christmas Star” appeared. It was the first time in nearly 800 years two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, aligned. We turned it into a bit of an outdoor […]
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Long before America created an overflowing and beautifully sophisticated Thanksgiving table, thanksgiving was a thing. Before pilgrims gathered around a rough wood hewn table, or a sweet row of little hands clasped in prayer at my own table, thanksgiving was a thing. The Israelites in the wilderness didn’t do so well with the concept of […]
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In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV) Last weekend I picked up my grandson’s big fat backpack to throw over my shoulder. It got the upper hand. I mean, it was half my height, thick, and heavy. How in the world does […]
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“Thank you for the sghetti,” the little voice said. My daughter’s hands, folded in prayer sat against the edge of the kitchen table. Those first prayers were so pure and yet so very contrived, for while they searched the entire room for fodder, they droned on and on. Her forehead puckered and her eyes squinted. […]
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When we moved into a tiny Italian village, we gained immediate notoriety as, The American Family. In fact, we were the only Americans in the area. We were an anomaly. I could feel the tension rise every time I stepped into our little corner grocery store. When I pushed open the door, the shopkeepers looked […]
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What is it about autumn that calls all gnats into my kitchen like the plagues of Egypt? And woe to the one who leaves out the banana peelings. Jesus’ message in Matthew, chapter 23, seem meant for me in my gnat infested world. “Blind guides,” Jesus rebuked in a litany of strikes against the Pharisees, […]
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