Lazy Little Cheats 

I confess to cheating. I eat a few stolen calories I don’t add to my count. I spend money on an outfit and hope it goes unnoticed. Oh and another really bad one…I cut my walk by skimping off the cul-de-sac.  Sure, I know those aren’t horrible cheats, but the other day I realized how […]

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Precious Scars Invite Faith

Two favorite features on my nose are little grooves that criss cross the surface. They are barely distinguishable, but I’m proud of them. Both remind me of people I love. One reminds me of a brother’s love and care after a screen door mishap. Since I can’t even remember it, he has always felt much […]

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The Blame Game

Today my best friend is writing a guest post. He’s been around since high school, and I’m honored to have been married to him for almost 49 years. You may not realize how much Phil already contributes to whenthehouseisquiet.com. Besides doing the whole technical side of the blog, I depend on his knowledge of Scripture, […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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. […]

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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 […]

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Incomprehensible Faith

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

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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, […]

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