Sylvia Schroeder


Baby Blue Birds in their dark nest

Are You Afraid of the Dark? 

Ah, Spring. You’ve been a long time coming.  The day was perfect as I walked the neighborhood. The depth of the sky’s blue called me. Azaleas bloomed in vibrant bush bouquets. Every bird’s choral rendition opened to their unique song page. Bright shades of green burst all around.  I walked and prayed, my senses overwhelmed. […]

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rhododendron flowering bud

How Good Do You Think God Really Is? 

Between believers, a high-five of “God is good,” covers a lot of ground. It is inspired by a happy outcome, good grade at school or maybe a really good deal on a new pair of shoes. How content I am with a certain situation might reveal  how good I think God really is.  “God is […]

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mother holding child in lap

Growing Up To Be Mom

Little hands on mighty hips, my seven-year-old face-offed with her teacher. The innocent question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” torched the classroom. It seems out of the entire class only my daughter thought the response, “I want to be a Mom,” worth defending.  Like a ninja warrior.  I’m afraid the […]

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The Rock That’s Higher

There is a rock outside the church we attend. It’s a huge sort of how-in-the-world did that-big-thing-get-there boulder. It shoots out of the ground with no apparent means or logic. Whether it grew in place or if someone somehow planted it there no one knows.   And every Sunday after church kids swarm to the […]

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It’s Not Over Yet

Holidays come down with a splat for me once they are over. If I’d schedule a pity-party that is precisely when it would be. It’s symptomatic of intense preparation coupled with a lack of forward vision.   And so, in the aftermath of cleaning up and eating leftover lamb, I find in my quiet house […]

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Black and White silhouette of Jesus in rays of sunshine, as if He had just risen from the grave.

Why Did Mary Anoint Jesus For His Burial Before He Died?

A big plastic red cup sits on the edge of the tub where he bathes. It keeps company with a yellow ducky, Noah’s ark, and a flapping tailed fish. The cup, once used for drinking water, now has graduated to one of those communal rites of childhood baths. Dipped and filled it streams a river […]

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The Biggest Reunion

“…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 ESV Fifty years is a long time. Half a century. It’s also just a breath, feather-light and temporary.  My […]

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Taste, Smell and Spiritual Sense

“It has no taste,” I told my husband last summer, disappointed the meat on my plate was not cooked right. But once the words came out, I recognized them as significant. My sense of taste and smell had vanished. This happened to a lot of people in the last couple of years.  My grandkids on […]

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God Sees The Whole Picture

As a child I loved working with dot to dot pictures. I pondered them before I put pencil to paper, trying to form in my mind the whole picture, wanting to unravel the yet unknown. With a crayon tight in his fist, my grandson looked at me satisfied and proud. The dot to dot on […]

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What Do You See?

“I no see it,” he says. His little spying eyes are squinted almost shut, focused on finding the far away airplane I point towards in the blue sky. “There,” I say to my three-year-old grandson. “See?”  I assure him of what is up there that he can’t see.  How often Jesus gently directs my gaze […]

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