His Words (for Memorial Day)
Every Sunday around here is for His Words instead of mine. Here are a few of them regarding patriotism, in honor of those who have and do sacrificially serve. Blessed is the country with God for God; blessed are the people he’s put in his will. From high in the skies God looks around, he sees all Adam’s brood. From where he sits he overlooks all us earth-dwellers. He has shaped each person in turn; now he watches everything we do. No king succeeds with a big army alone, no warrior wins by brute strength. Horsepower is not the answer; no one gets by on muscle alone. Watch this: God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking...
What Makes a Hero
About five years ago, I wrote a piece about my mother-in-law. When a young woman faces the altar, she hopes against hope that she will have a good relationship with her husband's mother, instead of the stereotypical alternative. However, I knew, going in, that my mother-in-law was going to be different. She had a loving way and optimistic outlook about her that is born from choosing the high road during instance upon instance of hardship. Today is her 83rd birthday. I started to write another piece, but I don't know that I could improve on this one (beyond adding a current picture). So, I'm offering it to you, now, in her honor, because, well, she's still a hero to so many. Happy...
The Proverbial Empty Nest
I began this blog in 2007, and published the post below - my very first - on almost exactly this date that year. Because all social media is being flooded with graduation pictures and the mixed-emotion-laden posts of the new empty nesters, I pulled this one out of the archives just for them. Who knows, maybe it will apply to you, too. Oh that there had been "the blog" when my kids were growing up. I could've regaled you with stories of their antics, their funny sayings, their "firsts". But, as it happens, I'm writing the first entry to my blog poised on the edge of my almost-empty nest. I guess I will be writing, now, of new kinds of "firsts" for my girls; a new kind of...
Just Out of View
Are you familiar with the morel mushroom? We weren't until we moved to Iowa, back in '98. We built a house on some heavily treed property, that sloped down to a creek. About this time of year, right after we'd moved in, we noticed some people carrying bags down near the creek, and they were all rummaging around like they'd lost something valuable and were intent on finding it. Kevin went to investigate. It turned out that our piece of property, wild and empty and unfenced for years, was known for its morel crop. It had just the right growing conditions, and those people were offering to pay us for the morels if they could harvest them, or share their bounty with us if they could...
Attack and Conquer
It had been sitting there for a couple of weeks, at least, maybe a month. The stack of paper that needed to be sorted through and filed hadn't been shrinking, as I had hoped, but was growing instead. Finally, it was no longer giving me a small wave, or clearing of the throat, as I walked by, but an authoritative command that demanded immediate action. Knowing I could wait no longer, I decided to at least get the aid of fortification, so I did what any procrastinating proactive person would do. I made myself a cup of strong coffee. Caffeine coursing through my veins, I faced my giant. Receipts and statements, business cards for the data base, tax stuff galore; you name it, it was in...