Sylvia Schroeder


Vizsla dog sitting with sock in his mouth

Where to Set Our Attention in an Attention Shifting World

Thor belongs to four of my grandchildren. He is a Vizsla with a beautiful brown coat and liquid brown eyes which clearly speak dog-beg. He knows exactly how to sit at your feet and patiently ask without saying a word. I’ve watched my grandchildren teach him to set his attention on their command, without shifting […]

Continue Reading

A Passover Rebel and The Lamb

“Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them.” Mark 15:6-8 ESV  If we could […]

Continue Reading

The Tipping Point

Life holds a succession of pivotal moments. They distinguish themselves with phrases like, “from now on,” “if I had it to do all over again, “never again,” or “I’ve made my decision.” But there are sacred tipping points too. I love to hear salvation stories, those unique testimonies of how Jesus found and chose, how […]

Continue Reading

What’s Beneath It All?

Things were bad, dire in fact. A line which separated life and death grew so slender at times I thought she was already gone. My forehead found a resting spot on my daughter’s still one, my cheek against hers. It was there my friend saw me as she entered the room.  “Come on,” she said. […]

Continue Reading

Finding Balance When the Lava Flows 

“Don’t step on the lava!” It’s a chorus of young and old watching little bare feet hop, skip, and jump from pillow to pillow, over and under chairs.  My youngest grandson just turned four. His genius mom, with her creative birthday party juices, has done it again. Complete with lava cake and a “real” volcano […]

Continue Reading

Incomprehensible Faith

The incomprehensible actions of God are far beyond my feeble understanding or explanation. But they are real.

Continue Reading

Are You Walking In the Mire? 

Mud, thick red goop clumped his little shoes like melted cheese oozing out of a sandwich. Hunks of it fell in globs I tried to avoid as I scooped him up. Briefly his legs swung from side to side and in the arc. Piles of wet Virginian soil splattered. He’s too heavy to carry now, […]

Continue Reading

When Insignificant Connectors Pave the Way To Important Truths 

This morning I woke up feeling like it was time to go to bed, like every year of my life creaked and groaned somewhere or someplace in my connections. Purpose felt dried and brittle. Pieces of life felt disconnected.  Then I read Psalm 92, a song sung as part of Old Testament Sabbath worship. It […]

Continue Reading

Do You Carry More Than You Should? 

Oh my goodness, how I loved my three older brothers. With a number of years between us, I looked up to them like heroes, as if the sun rose and set in their background. And in spite of being paid to eat raw sparrow eggs and earnings gained per electric fence shock, they were the […]

Continue Reading

Red Hearts, Chocolates, and Five Bible Verses About God’s Love

Growing up my bedroom faced a dirt road. A small gravel circular drive half-mooned just feet in front of my window. I watched the mail man drive up in a cloud of dust. He was as punctual as Betsy the cow at milking time.  He amazed me with his one handed skill. His left hand […]

Continue Reading