He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I'm holding out a treat out for our six-month old puppy who sits with great expectation. (Did you know there are "high stakes treats"? For Lena, it's a morsel of smoked chicken.) But then comes the challenge. "STAAAAY!!" I back away and stare her down while counting slowly. Our goal is five. But Lena loses... Continue Reading →
"Where's the Big Love?" Lena, our new puppy, responds to this prompt with kisses and the occasional love bite. She is gradually learning to restrain her puppy teeth and lick our outstretched hands, in exchange for more petting and loving on our part. (Each day there is more of her to love, as groomer appointments... Continue Reading →
When God told Moses that he was the one God had chosen to lead the Israelites out of slavery and into the promised land, how did Moses respond? He basically countered God with everything he had. Who was he to do such a thing? He had spent the last few decades as a lowly shepherd... Continue Reading →
Sometimes we are reminded of God's presence through a brilliant sunset, a waterfall, the moon emerging amid a starry backdrop. Other times these reminders are more obscure, intended just for us Yesterday I was walking our new puppy through our new neighborhood feeling, well, new. Friendships have been slow to develop and family is in... Continue Reading →
Well, not exactly. On a recent Sunday afternoon an Amazon box was plopped at our front door. When I opened it, I was disappointed. I meant to order a box of individual note cards with Bible verses on them. Instead, what Amazon thought I wanted was one single giant card with one giant verse. I... Continue Reading →
“Thank you for this food. Thank you for our family. And thank you for being with us." I placed a bowl of mixed vegetables and chicken nuggets in front of my three-year-old granddaughter. “WHERE IS HE?“ she demanded. She looked around the kitchen as if to find God sitting on a nearby bar stool. “Well,... Continue Reading →
Last Sunday during church, Wendy (pseudonym) leaned over to me and whispered a prayer request. Her three-month old grandson was in the hospital, struggling with a respiratory virus. "Please pray!" Then she did something unexpected. She put her hand over her mouth and said these words into her hand, "Lord, I trust you for baby... Continue Reading →
Natalie Grant has a song called Held which reminds us that even when life is at its lowest, we have the promise of the hand of God holding us up. When I am feeling low, I think of verses that support this message. In Isaiah 41, God declares, "For I am the LORD, your God... Continue Reading →
It was October 12, 1964, and we had just moved from Long Island to Jupiter, Florida. I was a fourth grader at Palm Beach Day School, some 45 minutes from our home, struggling to make friends among the self-assured girls with their beachy blond hair (mine being brown and with bangs cut by my mother... Continue Reading →
There is nothing better than playing hide and seek with a toddler! When it's your turn to hide, they stare at you wide eyed as they count to ten, skipping a few numbers here and there for good measure. And when it's their turn to hide, they shout, "Here I am!" Or they simply stand... Continue Reading →
In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King expresses an aversion to adverbs. He does so unequivocally (sorry, Mr. King), saying, “F…k adverbs!” I read Mr. King's book as an assignment for a class called Writing for Teachers and sadly the only thing I have retained is this colorful phrase about a certain part of speech... Continue Reading →
When I was five years old, I was given my first Bible. It was a King James version with tiny print and a surplus of thee's and thou's. However, it did have about a dozen illustrations which depicted dramatic biblical scenes. There was Noah's ark tossing precariously on massive waves and Samson straining between two... Continue Reading →
Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, describes one fan who paid him the ultimate compliment. Don't you just love that sequence? He saw it. He loved it. He ate it. This is actually a biblical concept. Both the Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, and the disciple, John, were instructed to "eat" a scroll.... Continue Reading →
I was working on my tennis serve. My husband stood on the other side of the court, giving me pointers on how to hit a slice that could be (his word) "unreturn-able". He placed a water bottle in the service box so I could aim toward the receiver's forehand side - short and wide. The... Continue Reading →
My son and daughter-in-law have an endearing way of waking their twins up from a nap or a night's sleep. They gently knock on the bedroom door and pause before entering. Even when the girls were infants, they knocked first, and I half expected one of the babies to announce, "Come in!" It reminds me... Continue Reading →
Shadows and Shelters 