He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
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 →
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 →
We were driving home from visiting family when I realized my phone was not in my purse. It was exactly where I had left it - on a coffee table next to my adorable grand babies who were adorned in full princess attire and whom I was trying to video. "Should we go back?" my... Continue Reading →
"Can I have a running hug?" The toddler looks up from her toy box, turns to her dad, and then runs with wild abandon into his open arms. She is lifted up, held tight, and rocked. It lasts but a moment, as toddlers are notoriously busy and she squirms to resume her investigation at hand... Continue Reading →
I was 10 years old... too old for a babysitter (I thought) but too young to be left alone in the evening, (so my parents thought.) They went to dinner parties at least three times a week, leaving me with our senior border collie, Shep, who barked at nothing and emitted gross smells of which... Continue Reading →
We Christians are fond of saying, God really showed up. We love to share our God sightings. My personal sightings include the time I was walking to a podium, my heart pounding thunderously, and suddenly I lay eyes on my college speech professor sitting impossibly right in front of me. I had not seen Dr.... Continue Reading →
When I was 17 I hitchhiked through Europe with my brother. It was the 1970s and, as strange as it sounds, my parents seemed OK with this. My brother's hair was well past his shoulders and I was doing my best to look like Peggy Lipton from the Mod Squad or Susan Day from the... Continue Reading →
My niece and I have a monthly challenge of memorizing a Bible verse. We started this practice in early March, on the eve of the pandemic and just prior to her son's boarding a plane for his deployment to the mountains of Afghanistan. Her son is now living in a remote tent village where worries... Continue Reading →
"Every day my mother would name out loud 3 things she was grateful for. Toward the end of her life, it became increasingly difficult to identify her 3 ... but in the midst of tubes and pain, she still managed to give thanks to the God she had followed all her days." Grace (pseudonym) shared... Continue Reading →
Brett and I are trying to reel in our consumption of cable news which has a habit of playing in the background on our kitchen TV. Staying informed is important, but when the dire images leave you distressed and immobile, it's time to make changes. Our TV now plays the Tennis Channel most of the... Continue Reading →
You sit in the doctor's office waiting for test results. A midnight phone call bodes difficult news about a loved one. You don't get the job. (Or worse, they neglect to inform you that you don't have the job.) At such times, there are different responses falling into two categories -- ignoring (or resenting)... Continue Reading →
Corrie Ten Boom's autobiography, The Hiding Place, tells the story of an unlikely heroine -- a 50 something, unmarried watchmaker from Haarlem, Holland, who alongside her sister and father, worked with the Dutch underground during the Nazi occupation, hiding Jews in the secret annex of their home. They were ultimately caught and Corrie and Betsie... Continue Reading →
For years, God's voice in my head mimicked that of my mother Peggy urging me to try harder, perform better, attain more. Don't you see? You're not quite good enough. So when my friend, Sally, gave me a copy of the daily devotional called Jesus Calling, it was a spiritual game changer. It turns out... Continue Reading →
Shadows and Shelters 