“Put me in jail, put me in jail,” our six year-old grandson shouted. “Put me in jail, Gramma,” The boy’s scooters whizzed by, daring me to move out of the way, challenging me to capture little law-breakers with their laughing taunts and haul them into garage jail. They were doing just great whizzing by until […]
Continue ReadingSylvia Schroeder
Do you Worry about What Might Happen?
So, my husband moved the big trash container outside, you know the move-once-a-week hunker on wheels? It’s a job he accomplishes without thinking much about what might or could happen. Well, guess what was underneath? I believe the analogies of finding a copperhead snake coiled under the trashcan are unlimited. A jungle-man of missionary-offspring with […]
Continue ReadingIt’s Our 50th Wedding Anniversary
“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:24 NKJV) 50. The Big 5-0. 5 Decades. A Half Century. As a bride, I had no idea. I thought people who had been married five years were already old. I recognize how rare it is, to hit a 50th wedding anniversary. […]
Continue ReadingWhen God Seems Remote
I was my big brothers’ TV remote. I can still hear their call. Through the bleaching heat waves of Kansas, over the baked and cracked ground, their summons reached me. Underfoot brown farm grass crunched crispy-fried. An adoring mutt panted at my side, his long tongue hung red and wet. I loved being outside in […]
Continue ReadingAre You Barely Hanging On?
“Just hang on,” he told me. I was at the wrong end of a washing machine stuck cattywampus in the stairwell half-way down to the basement. The heavy metal box towered above as I tried to hold it from sliding on top of me. I did just as he said, I hung on. I didn’t […]
Continue ReadingSafely Shadowed Under His Wings
A shadow, long and wide, interrupted the sunshine for just a moment and then glided over the bright green foliage. My grandson and I squinted into the blue above us. We saw the outstretched wings of a big black hawk as it soared above the trees. It’s shadow slithered over us. For just a moment […]
Continue ReadingAm I Still Your Favorite Mother?
You were at boarding school and we were six hours from you in our ministry. Our first and oldest to fly from home, you seemed far too young, and we felt so unready. But, the label “Missionary Kid” found a home with other third-world high-schoolers from all over Europe. And for the first time, you […]
Continue ReadingDemolition Day is Like Party Time
If you are a fan of home improvement networks like I am, you are well acquainted with the satisfaction some people get from Demolition Day. It’s like party time. However, although I enjoy those shows, I much prefer to watch the process on a screen from my couch, than to experience it. If you […]
Continue ReadingGod Moves Behind the Scenes
We all have them, markers of good and bad in our lives. April marks our spot. It’s another anniversary of when life altered through our daughter’s illness. I often wish I could box up our difficult experience which happened many years ago, and put it on a shelf like those seasonal totes which I take […]
Continue ReadingGod’s Light Pierces the Darkest Grief
Our last few weeks have been ones of weeping with those who weep as we’ve watched dear friends mourn the loss of a beloved son. Yet, they have also been days of seeing glimpses of pure glory shining into the dark. It isn’t the first time God has displayed His light inside a penetrating darkness […]
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