Make Today Happy! For the last month, every other Sunday, I have been teaching my Sunday School class, because the regular teacher volunteered to do something with the children. I was somewhat surprised to be asked to substitute teach (actually, I was volunteered). I will admit that I am loquacious in class, sharing other Scriptures... Continue Reading →
Life doesn't get any more predictable as we age. If anything, you never know what new ache or pain will develop. And although the last 11 days have been difficult ones, I am thankful to enjoy another Christmas season, a season of hope in the midst of the uncertainty and incivility of this world. Today,... Continue Reading →
Knocking on the tree. Nature serenades my heart. A woodpecker's song. I thought up this poem as I walked through the woods last week and heard knocking against a tree. I asked Douglas what was the sound, and looking up into the trees, he spotted a red head moving back and forth on a nearby... Continue Reading →
Tomorrow, I will have surgery to correct the placement of the defibrillator implanted in May. Hopefully, it will be the climax to seven months of intermittent pain and lack of sleep. It almost didn't happen. Even though I am an educated woman, with a doctorate in Sociology, and I have taught that women are sometimes... Continue Reading →
On yesterday, we entertained the our grandchildren from Douglas' daughter. It was an opportunity to get together for food and laughter, as they were with their father's family for Thanksgiving in another state. It was also the birthday for the oldest child, a boy, who turned 12! I am still stunned by how fast they... Continue Reading →
Seeing oneself as a victim can become addictive! This was the epiphany I had on last Saturday that has rocked me to my core. I was watching a YouTube video of a preacher from a church in Virginia, and his sermon was on Matthew 18:15, wherein Jesus says that if another believer sins against you,... Continue Reading →
“Never burn a bridge you could push them off later.” That was the ironic advice Janet received from her mother, who was the consummate bridge burner. Mother didn't know how to solve problem with others in ways that allowed her relationships with them to go unharmed. Janet remembered vividly the day when Mother, lamenting her birthday... Continue Reading →
It is official: I am a professor again! I will start on January 5, 2020 teaching once again. I had some reservations about returning to teaching, mostly because it's been two years since I last was in front of a classroom of students. Do I still have the passion to teach? Will the students think... Continue Reading →
Photo from Mindlovemisery's Menagerie for First Line Friday. He came down from the mountains as autumn aged, before the paths could pile with snow and the bridges bowed with ice. He had needed time away from people, even well-meaning ones like his family. They wanted to help him grieve the loss of his dear Molly,... Continue Reading →
My daughter, Jan, had a crush on little Bobby Bird, who lives down the street. They attend the same school. I caught her trying to write him a letter, and I realized the seriousness of her infatuation by the copious sheets of balled up paper in the wastebasket. I said to her, "Jan, darling, you... Continue Reading →
Help from Heaven 