A bit of a ruckus in Aisle Four grabs my attention. Stacks of bright notebooks and bins of colored pens separate me from a young father trying desperately to check off the teacher’s list in his hand. A little girl circles about his knees. Little fingers fly over items faster than he can stop them. […]
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“Call me Mara,” Naomi said. Tragedy chiseled her face and spilled from her lips. Pleasant, the meaning of her name no longer fit. Mara suited her, for it meant “bitter.” “I went out full and came back empty,” Naomi told them. I know many Mara’s. Women and men whose lives turned out so very […]
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The first August I lived in Italy, I had no idea what had hit the entire country. Still anemic in language and culture, I didn’t know what to make of the silent streets of Florence, usually full of people, suddenly deserted. My bread store with its big gray steel closure had a handwritten note on […]
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“You only live once,” she quipped. Laughter followed that flippant remark. I turned away from the screen. I’ve used those same words to justify indulgences from purchases, to a risk, and maybe most often, to eating that last piece of chocolate. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. This week, as I hear her […]
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Today I’m delighted to introduce you to Jeannie Waters. Besides being an accomplished writer, she is always ready to help and encourage me in my own writing journey. Jeannie is an award-winning devotional and article writer and blogger. The devotional she is writing will be published in 2023 by Bold Vision Books. A wife, mother, grandmother, […]
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“Would you rather be a bullfrog?” I ask my grandsons. My finger dramatically lands on the big green bullfrog leaping across the left side of the page. The book with the same title, by Theo. LeSieg (better known as *Dr. Seuss,), lays open on my lap. I slide my finger to the right and I […]
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The blue-overall-clad farmer plucked a bearded head from its white stalk. His form blotted a black silhouette against the bright sky. I squinted in the sunshine. A shadow lay across me, its black outline with the billed cap looked like a crow atop his head. Hands browned like leather, spotted with age, rolled the wheat […]
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Do you go on vacation with more than just what’s in your suitcase? This week you’ll find me at https://www.jeanniewaters.com/blog/. Today it’s my privilege to be Jeannie’s guest blogger. My post, What’s in Your Suitcase? Three Treasures to Pack and Three Attitudes to Leave Behind, may help you decide what is really worth packing. I […]
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My father-in-law used to shake his head and say with a bemused look on his face, “Who knew that someday…,” then he’d finish the sentence with something particular from that season of life. Honestly, it kind of irritated me. Like, what did you expect? Did you think you would always be 25? Or, didn’t you […]
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This year as Father’s Day approaches I am so aware of the attack on the family, on the role of Fathers, and disengagement and disrespect placed on family in society. It’s complicated by personal stories within family units which may portray completely different experiences. Adult siblings from the same family may grow up with such […]
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