If a millimeter or second had been off, I would have died by overdosing, impaling, drowning, falling out of a car, colliding with a car on a bike, and suffocating on a lodged carrot. I’m not a stand out person, so why would God orchestrate the right people to be Johnny-on-the-spot in these situations, unless …
Moving boxes, in addition to dozens of antiques collected over the years, crowded my friend’s living and dining rooms. Half the boxes had been loaded in the rented truck, but still no furniture. I handed a box to Philip, the next person in the box brigade, and I spoke my mind. “We can fit boxes …
I remember that first love for my husband. I also remember that first love when I grasped Jesus’ love for me. Time has softened the ridges and washouts of both loves, but often my love becomes downright dull. I pull clothes off hangers and sort laundry, spray stains and search pockets. I fold and hang, …
Zebra drapes across my legs, and I stroke his striped coat. I can hear and feel his purrs, which echo my own enchantment. Is this love? A cool front sweeps away another bout of fog which had hung in the air for days. The air whisks with clarity and exuberance, lifting me in its curling …
In a pamphlet he published called “Common Sense,” Thomas Paine expresses the last straw that pushed him over the ledge toward independence from Great Britain. No man was a warmer wisher for reconciliation than myself, before the fatal nineteenth of April 1775, but the moment the event of that day was made known I rejected …
A disturbing question confronted me two weeks ago, like an Intervention. It bubbled under the surface in March and April when the Master Naturalist classes were meeting, but I ignored its warnings. On class days, I woke with anticipation, having packed a lunch the night before and set out clothing. During lectures and field trips, …
Nikita, our dog, lay unbothered near the driveway despite passing dogs barking and straining at their leashes. Neighbors exclaimed their amazement at her loyalty. Even on our walks to the park three blocks down the street, she trotted beside us. Every few yards she looked up and synced with our pace. Thunder and fireworks were …
Acting Squirrelly Our breakfast table rests against a wall of windows that look out on the back porch. Each morning a menagerie of birds and squirrels entertain us at the bird feeder hanging off the end of the porch. One morning a young squirrel climbs onto the glider in the breezeway and sits on his …
The air conditioner kicked on as I wound the vacuum cord back into place, but the house was otherwise ominously quiet. Curious, I poked my head around the door frame into one of the boy’s rooms. No one there. I checked across the hall in the other bedroom. No five year old in there either. …
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about what it would feel like to hold hands with God, not metaphorically, but literally. Jesus grabbed Peter’s hand when he was sinking under water. Can’t you see Jesus’ grip with angled bones, muscles and tendons straining to pull his friend out of the dark deep into the boat? …
Do you remember playing hide and seek when you were a kid? We played it at night and called it murder-in-the-dark. All the neighborhood kids gang in our yard, milling around and doing cartwheels until someone yells, “Not it.” The last kid to say, “Not it,” becomes “it” or the seeker. The first person the …
Who Are You? What Defines You? Decades ago I could hold a toddler on my hip while I dragged wet clothes from the washer to the dryer, kept an eye on dinner, and supervised a son’s homework. Multi-tasking comprised daily life. Now, I’m smug if I make it out the door with my purse and …