Sylvia Schroeder


Even Bathroom Stops are Wonderful in the Eyes of a Child

I heard the truck-stop bathroom door squeak open from my perch inside the painted wooden stall.  “Oh Momma!” A little voice said full of wonder. “It’s pink.” Pink was an understatement. It was like Pepto-Bismol trying to brighten up a bad case of the runs. It covered every inch of the public lu. My door […]

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Life Will Never Be The Same

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Proverbs 16:1 (ESV) “Life will never be the same,” I told my friend. “No matter how this turns out, life will never be the same again.”  We walked through a white marble hospital corridor, its antiseptic walls […]

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All for Jesus. Sorta. Kinda. Well Almost.

Here they come again. Younger each year, or maybe I’m just older. They come with their finger on a map and feet pointed forward, eager to go anywhere and do anything for Jesus. Men and women arrive ready to learn and willing to obey. Every new group of global workers amazes me with talent, energy […]

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Clean Slates of Possibilities or Endless Piles of Heaviness

Sheets of frozen white driven by cutting wind kept my snow-loving son indoors. By late afternoon, the worst moved past. Glittering flecks blew from drift to drift, tiny razor shards of snow bit into anyone brave enough to challenge the outdoors. My husband shrugged into his marshmallow puffed coat, scarf, and hat to make a […]

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If You Aim at Nothing are You Really Bound to Hit It? 

In the month of January, when people sit down with year planners and good intentions, I realize, I’m not a great goal setter.  I don’t like to see on black and white what I’ve kept locked in my brain. It’s not as much seeing it there as feeling like the words are looking at me. […]

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A Timeless Christmas Priority

It’s crazy how much time it takes to make the season perfect. The ratio of hot chocolate and cookies to lights and greenery is only outdone by the numbers on my gift list. What should fill me with delight has begun to overwhelm me. Control slips as does my ability to accomplish all that I […]

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Hidden Things

A rubber duck accompanied my walk around the room. I laid it in plain sight on a shelf of the bookcase. Its classic yellow face and orange bill pointed to the door where my daughter would skip through in a few seconds. “Heidi,” I called, “Come find the ducky.” Heidi scampered inside. Her eyes sparkled. They […]

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What if the Light at the End of the Tunnel is Just More Tunnel?

-Guest post by Charity George Too often I wait till I’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel, to be thankful. “Thank you that those test results turned out good.”  “Thank you that the pain is gone.” But what if that light at the end of the tunnel is…just more tunnel, or a […]

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How to Kill a Thankful Heart

I did it again. I took out my measuring tape and measured. It wasn’t the dainty kind I carry in my purse and embarrass my husband with, or the big black one pocketed in his tool belt hanging in the garage. Rather I used a sly invisible one I carry inside of me, the one […]

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 Is your practice helpful or harmful?

My dad, talented in all things musical, had a sharp ear and an equally sharp tongue. His pitch was perfect. He judged without apology.  “Should have been a B-flat not a B-natural,” he burst in shouting.  He could be working the back 40 but when I struck a wrong note on the piano, he appeared […]

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