Reality Filtered

Photo by Ashley Goodlett The community grocery store near our first home had an automated coin sorting machine the size of a smart car. My husband took our children there periodically to cash in the pocket change he’d saved up for special adventures. The kids loved the clanking and flashing that followed their upturned paper …

Love Enabled

How can you love someone you’ve never met so very much? Our first granddaughter is making her way into the world as I write and though I’ve watched her momma’s belly expand and I’ve felt her move and seen ultrasound peeks, I can only imagine what she’ll look and act like once she arrives. Her …

Navigating the Currents

My younger son, Jacob, had a love-hate relationship with surfing. The east coast doesn’t offer much to the enthusiast but after surf lessons with the Eternal Wave Surf Shop in Surfside Beach for his thirteenth birthday and watching hours of YouTube videos, the surf challenged him plenty. We’d load up his gear and head out …

Faith That Sees Beyond

A heavy cloud hangs overhead tonight. Having flown above a storm, I see this dense grayness and imagine what must be just beyond what I can see. I’ve watched the sun set outside the international airport north of Houston, Texas before taking off on my flight home only to see the sun above the horizon …

Glitchy Faith

One of the major employers in my locale is a global automobile manufacturer. My younger son is employed in their logistics department where various parts are moved from shipping areas to the production line. He describes it as an entire city of electronics similar to the machine world in The Matrix (1999) movies. Each person …

Oh, Grow Up!

My grandson, Thomas, is nearly nine months old and when he is ready for his meals, he folds his hands together, almost like a clap, signaling that it’s time to ask a blessing as we do before each meal. He has already learned this routine and he’s starting to bow his head as he sees …

Pack Your Bags

We live by a lake but we travel to the ocean and we pay handsomely for the view. Even a peek above rooftops or between high rises costs a premium. We have potable tap water piped into our homes yet we purchase bottled drinking water by the gallon or the ounce. Marketing isn’t entirely to …