Zebra, our cat, luxuriates on the bed. He stretches to his length, exposing his spotted belly and invites, “Rub my tummy, scratch my chin.” He tempts, but if I fall for it, one of two things will happen. He will rocket off the bed or snag my hand with front claws, eviscerate with back claws …
“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Yours.” 1 Chronicles 29:11a We arrived at the airport at 3:30 AM as instructed, two hours before our flight. After traveling in three different planes, renting a …
In every direction, a mountain range graces the Irish skyline. The ancient peaks are rounded and clothed with patchwork vests of tan grasses, green forests, and pink heather. Distinct borders set aside each odd shaped patch of color from its neighbor. These borders are built of stones cleared from fields and stacked vertically, or more …
On my walk this morning, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Gorgeous pansies, a deep velvety purple suitable for a king’s robe, as well as yellow ones with faces of pure sunshine, and orangey-red ones withered in a heap on the street. Twice I turned to go back, thinking of scooping up the best and planting …
I shuffle papers until motion out the windows draws my attention. Our new dog, Diggity, races alone around the yard like a rodeo dog. He scoops up a toy mid-gallop and tosses it in the air, then circles around at top speed to nab it again and carry it to an imaginary finish line, …
It’s the strangest thing to step out the back door with mowers thrumming in the neighborhood and motorcycles zipping on the interstate a mile away then to spot a dark speck circling overhead. The form is a red-tailed hawk unexpected in this environment, but there he is lazing in curves. His eyesight amazes me. He …
Are your thoughts disorganized from this unexpected and oddly threatening, yet quiet time? The mockingbird seems scattered in his thoughts. He cannot finish a song. He’s so enthralled with one, he belts it out until another distracts his perky little mind, and he quickly switches with as much enthusiasm as he sang the first. I’m …
Mark 10: 46-52 Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, …
Trees, barren of leaves and color, appear dead in winter. Winter that period of waiting, waiting, waiting, with our feet on the edge of despair, willing for life to return when there’s no sign of it. Does life still run underground, bubbling in secret? Weeds have crept over the garden so slowly that I hadn’t …
Advent ponders Jesus first and second comings. Thinking about God coming as a babe makes me smile, but I rarely think about Jesus’ second coming. Usually that comes to mind when I’m weary of politics and violence or my failure to live faithfully. In those instances, I’m eager for “every knee to bow and every …
I mumble when people ask about how Lent is going. I promoted preparing for Easter, but this year I’m bombing it. How could I have allowed Lent to gather lint? God is teaching me this season but not through my Lenten intention as He has in the past. I wrote about His authority over my …
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 …