January’s weeks of storm watch, snow on the ground, and arctic freeze has kept much of the Northern Hemisphere poised for winter’s worst. Recently I stayed up late, anticipating the huge blizzard predicted for our area. Remembering picturesque winters from the past, I couldn’t wait to see beautiful, large snowflakes fluttering down. While putting awayContinue reading “A Snowflake Lesson”
Category Archives: Musings
Leaving Lo-debar
New Year’s Day 2024 dawned with the promises of new starts and resolutions. Yet, as I reflected on the state of the year left behind, I wondered at that growing, kicking child of strife and unrest silently waiting to emerge from the world’s contracting womb. A glance out the window revealed a fog of environmentalContinue reading “Leaving Lo-debar”
Christmas Repose 2023
Lights on a slim Christmas tree illumine the darkened room, a pyramid of white stars cascading from beneath shimmering angel wings. To the right of the tree, a small vintage cane-seat rocker cradles two new black-red buffalo plaid blankets. To the left, from the speaker beneath the television’s silent image of a Yule log’s dancingContinue reading “Christmas Repose 2023”
Holiday Book Gift Guide 2023
Hi, friends! An author friend recently compiled this Holiday Book Gift Guide 2023. Numerous Christian authors of Fiction, Nonfiction, Kids Books, Inspirational, and Journals are included. Check out the link below for book info and links to purchase. My two books are listed in the Kids Books section: Little Bit in the Great Wide ForestContinue reading “Holiday Book Gift Guide 2023”
Thanksgiving Week 2023
Don’t you love it when a plan comes together? Like thousands of pickup sticks falling into some sort of exquisite, balanced conglomeration? This fall and winter holiday season has blown in as suddenly as a gusty wind. How can it be less than forty-eight hours before Thanksgiving Day? I smiled at a friend’s Facebook post:Continue reading “Thanksgiving Week 2023”
A Frantic Chicken
After an intense two weeks of good things, hard things, challenging things, a weird sense of overwhelm descended and I tumbled unexpectedly into exhaustion. As my enthusiasm and energy drained away, the old adage of “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” came to mind. How often do we humans race intoContinue reading “A Frantic Chicken”
Opening A Door
Tears streamed down her face. How could a few chapters of a book pierce her to the core, open a door to a locked room she knew not existed? How could this be? And what would she, could she do about it? At this moment in time…nothing. Her life path was chosen, ruts worn deep.Continue reading “Opening A Door”
A Random Conversation
A meeting had been set for ten o’clock. No texts had come since last week to confirm the time. Still she went. “LORD, please guide me if there is anyone You plan for me to meet today,” she prayed, then quietly stepped into the coffee shop. Had her appointment arrived, come and gone, or wasContinue reading “A Random Conversation”
Fields of Roofs
In 1954 my hometown boasted a population of 12,500…or was it 25,000? My memory has blurred, yet the contrast with today’s 470,000 census is stark. Our wide agricultural valley is slowly turning into urbanville. Endless neighborhoods, sprawling subdivisions, and acres of multistoried apartments cover vast fields once known for prime pheasant hunting. The longest partContinue reading “Fields of Roofs”
Overcoming Guilt and Shame
Even in my elder years, remnants of guilt and shame bubble up from somewhere deep inside, life-long shadows of mistakes and hurts. Although Jesus Christ has saved me from the penalty of my sin, my facing, forgiving, and accepting myself has been an ongoing process. Recently, a friend shared definitions of guilt and shame: GuiltContinue reading “Overcoming Guilt and Shame”
The Refiner’s Fire
Gold born in crude earthen condition Impurities girdling, invading within Confining hardness needs to be broken Release contaminants’ hold Mere specks of glory hidden beneath Wait for refinement to be revealed Heated to melt, burn not awayThe gold, but all that is not Cast in the fire of sanctification Dross bubbling up into confession BarsContinue reading “The Refiner’s Fire”
Meeting Forgiveness
The wound had been healing for years. It was hard to keep track of time, the calendar flipping like frenzied numbers on an old clock radio. All the woman knew was the ongoing cry of her heart…her whole, easily bruised being physically hurt. “You really need a counselor,” she was told. That broadsided her. SheContinue reading “Meeting Forgiveness”
Church Hurt
Hurt caused by people within the Church comes close to home. An in-law’s deep disappointment when not supported during great family need; hypocrisy of church members souring another’s faith; a young one misunderstood, ridiculed, and ostracized for a different personality; others deeply wounded by non-biblical choices of leadership taking matters into their own hands, movingContinue reading “Church Hurt”
Under the Hosta
Axel scurried across the lawn, the early evening breeze a tail wind. Snakes and mice and squirrels, oh my! Such a long day of hunting and chasing. In need of a break, he crossed Swat’s well-worn path and ducked under a large hosta leaf. The size of the plant accommodated his full-grown length and girth,Continue reading “Under the Hosta”
The Sea of Hope
Piercing…how else could the jolts be described? The lights suddenly flipped, speech was silenced, understanding fled, and he was left adrift, a spirit afloat in a broken vessel at the mercy of forces beyond human control. Was this the crowning assault on his life? Was he near the end of his run only to beContinue reading “The Sea of Hope”
A Narrow Place
Minuscule seeds blown into a sidewalk crack quietly grew towards the sun. Tiny faces of Johnny Jump-ups bloomed purple, yellow and white on narrow stalks swaying in the now pounding rain. Did they bow their heads protectively, or did the force of the storm push them down? Either way, the well-named volunteer row of (somehowContinue reading “A Narrow Place”
For That Veteran
An unusual sense of foreboding hovered over the gloomy low-ceilinged parking garage. I drove cautiously to the second level before finding an empty spot, and was relieved it faced the outside light. An older grey sedan pulled in on my left moments later, and out popped an equally older, short, wiry man whose wrinkled, weatheredContinue reading “For That Veteran”
A Beautiful Meeting
There he was…dark haired, mustached, tall and lean…just as in their youth. She’d heard, then saw him looking for tools in the workroom, his mannerisms reminding her of Dad, purposeful and precise. Decades pulled them from each other, stretched like taffy. Previous grand gatherings dwindled with growing families, varying interests, different friends, the pandemic; allContinue reading “A Beautiful Meeting”
Overcoming Again
She lay flattened on the floor, the wind knocked out of her from the never ending battle. She awakened each day this way, a lingering shred of hopelessness refusing to let go. Was she a mother sorrowing for her adult children, their choices hurting them? A wife caring for her ailing husband? One enduring herContinue reading “Overcoming Again”
The Father’s Care
“Go! Into the house now!” her father thundered. His elder daughter’s defiant eyes flashed as she stood daring to glare at him. “Go now!” he growled, not with menace but authority. She spun on her heel and fled, slamming the door behind her as she stomped into the house. She, with her mother, had selfishlyContinue reading “The Father’s Care”
Fading
Wispy like clouds…that’s how she felt. Stretched for so long it seemed holes were holding her together. No wonder an emptiness invaded. Not depression really, just a void. It was a strange experience, more tolerable the older she grew. Watching changes in her loved ones and friends added to the taste of life distancing…becoming lessContinue reading “Fading”
Our Tombs
The door slammed shut blocking any trace of light entering the pitch black room. He might as well have been dead and buried; the crushing experience was the same. Isolated, abandoned, rejected, ridiculed, he could only cower in a tight ball thankful he could still breathe. He had been beaten and bloodied…again. The boy wasContinue reading “Our Tombs”
In Glowing Winter Moonlight
Three o’clock in the morning was a ridiculous time to be awake. Frosty thoughts tripped over Rachael’s sleepy mind as she closed the weather app and set her phone down. “Happy New Year,” she frowned shaking her head at the bedside clock flashing <10:00>. “Just great! Who knows when the power will come back on?”Continue reading “In Glowing Winter Moonlight”
The Strength of His Hand
She wasn’t completely sure who they were, this darling couple and others who came to visit time and again. They called her Momma or Auntie or Nona… who were these people? Her once short coifed hair had grown long and limp, the slow loss of curl and shine reflective of the persistent fading of herContinue reading “The Strength of His Hand”
Heart Song
As if from the LORD: Shhhh…can you hear the vibration? Beyond the noise of screeching, thumping, whirling? Beyond the voice of opinion, fear, confusion? Can you hear the music My sacrifice brings, conquering earth’s cacophony to touch your heart? Be still…listen. Quiet yourself that your soul might hear My still small voice whispering Love toContinue reading “Heart Song”
Dew Upon The Arbor 