Sylvia Schroeder


Hold Tight, Keep Your Balance and Watch Out for Mud Puddles

 “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.” Psalm 37: 23-24 ESV One tiny hand gripped deep inside my own, another in the hand of my husband. Chubby legs danced in-between, steps uneven but oh so joyous. […]

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This Isn’t What I Asked For!

This past Christmas might have confirmed what we knew all along. Many of the things we want most don’t come wrapped in beautiful packages. While  holidays wind down and stores fill with red hearts, we realize, Christmas couldn’t give what we desired most.  And we beg God for more.  We wished for the list no […]

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Christmas Greetings to Your Home from Our Home

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7 KJV May your Christmas be filled with the wonder of the ChristChild and the miracle of a Risen Savior.  Merry Christmas and a New […]

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burned out Christmas lights

Our Fancy Aluminum Tree 

I grew up with a silver aluminum tree. There will be those who respond to that fact with pity. There will be others for whom an indescribable nostalgia sweeps through from head to toe. Ours was a fancy tree with a turning color wheel at its base. I thought it to be the most beautiful […]

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Four Questions from the Christmas Story that Could Transform Your Christmas

Four different Biblical characters in the Christmas Story point to answers which might change the way you see Christmas.  1. “How can I be sure of this?” (Luke 1:18 ESV) Zechariah the priest’s question came not just from a logical curiosity we can easily relate to, but from underlying unbelief which we don’t wish to […]

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How Prepared Are You? 

Black Friday, get-all-you-can-day, comes directly after be-Thankful-for-what-you-have-Day. Ironically paradoxical isn’t it? After feeding on bounty and gratefulness we rise from our fattened seats ready to grab and conquer.  Christmas preparations begin in earnest. Preparedness defined by the Cambridge dictionary means, “ready to deal with a situation.”  Advent, the drum beat between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas […]

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Chosen Isn’t So Special if You Are a Turkey

My kids used to say I should write a how-to-hide-the-turkey-recipe book. We ate a lot of turkey when we lived in Italy. Affordable and easily available, I disguised wings, thighs and breast, every possible way. But turkey, as often as it showed up at our house, didn’t come whole.   My butcher lady got used […]

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Measure Your Heart of Thanksgiving

“We will be measuring your daughter for a wheel chair at 3:00 this afternoon,” the nurse told me with a cheerful smile on her face.  Befuddled images traced vellum pages on my mind.  A bridal shop. A pencil line on the kitchen door frame.  Stepping paces at a freezing high school track meet. I treasured […]

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Boys playing in a pile of leaves

Whatever State You are In Today

Whatever State You are In Today “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.”  Philippians 4:11 NKJV So what state did you wake up in? Red, blue, maybe a little purple?  Sometimes I wonder why the Apostle Paul had to go and be such […]

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Is The World Getting Better or Worse?

As a kid in grade school I often heard a debate about whether the world was getting better or not.  “Better,” my teachers said.  “Better,” my T.V. screen told me.  “Worse,” my parents said.  The question rankled mom and dad, who as part of an older generation had seen a certain decline in the morals […]

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