Nearly every Sunday for a decade, our younger son, the lone extrovert in a family of introverts, came into worship after Sunday school with one friend or another in tow, asking if he could come over after church. Has your friend asked his parents? No? Then we’ll make a plan for another time. End of …
Is Your Conscience Clear?
My daughter and I were venting when her husband rounded the corner. Had he heard what I’d just shared in confidence? I had spoken heatedly and from frustration rather than grace. I immediately regretted my words. I tasted them still on my tongue. It’s not the first time I’ve swallowed hard to choke down the …
Uprooted
During February last year, a series of tornadoes skirted our neighborhood bringing high winds and taking down trees in our neighbor’s yard. Our home is adjacent to their vacation house so the three trees that fell into the wooded area of their property, taking out part of the fence, stayed down for the better part …
Hard Headed
You need to call Dad now, she chided, unable to hide the uneasiness in her voice. I’ll be fine once you get me home, I replied, not entirely convinced myself but determined to tough it out. My right knee has given me problems most of my life, catching, for lack of a better word, usually …
Let Him Speak
“Ba” is my grandson’s multipurpose word. He uses it for names and words he knows but cannot yet say. His mom understands most of his cues because she sees him in their personal context. She knows what he knows and can quickly translate. Did you know that the Spirit of God intercedes for us in …
Group Assignment
In high school and college, I despised group projects. I hated having to rely on others for my grade, but since most students also had extracurricular activities or a job outside of school, it was difficult to coordinate schedules and invariably, I felt the need to complete the project in its entirety on the off …
Anxious Thoughts
Reach with your hands. Now move your feet up. I stood, feet planted wide, at the bottom of the slide, ready to play catcher, while my daughter coached her toddler up the ladder on the other side of the platform. At eighteen months, he’s reached that phase where he’s comfortable enough on his feet to …
What’s For Dinner?
My husband hit a home run with dinner plans when he asked if he could pick up a specific meal from a specific restaurant for us one evening. In our thirty-one years of marriage, we’ve had plenty of exchanges involving what we’d have for dinner that sound like echoes. What do you want? I don’t …
Where is your Damascus?
The spring of my daughter’s wedding, she asked if we could ride the Virginia Creeper Trail together. We traveled to Damascus, the midpoint of the thirty-five mile trail, rented bikes and chartered a lift to the trailhead seventeen miles up in Whitetop. That first year was perfectly magical! We shared a quaint little room in …
Not What I Want
I experience claustrophobia in moving crowds, more particularly behind moving crowds. When the way ahead is clear, I breathe easier. When my way is blocked by a wall of humanity, even though we are all moving in the same direction, I hold my breath and make a dash for the nearest opening. Shopping malls have …
A Fitting Reply 