Category Archives: Musings

Am I really listening, LORDTaking time to sit with You Inquiring of Your thoughts for meLest I run on blissfully? I can throw out prayerful wordsFlung while rushing out the door But have I listened, really heardWords that You have spoken, LORD? No surprise I wonder why Prayers seem unanswered as I try Asking YouContinue reading “My Will or Thine?”

Yes, it seems weird. The first in forty-three years that we have not spent Thanksgiving with at least one, if not more, of our children. Usually extended family would be part of the gathering, as well. And actually that extended part did occur this year. Not with those in the town where we live… thisContinue reading “A New Thanksgiving”

Contemplating my life’s path, I often wonder at the choices I’ve made. When I turned left instead of right, only to find provision for the road to the right came shortly after. When I’ve changed my mind and struck out in a new direction that over the years has challenged me to the depths. WhenContinue reading “Revisiting Redemption”

It has to start somewhere, those rushing torrents that carve our lands, bring a drink to growing crops, slack the thirst of drying throats. Zillions of collected drops flow as one seeking where to go, meandering, rushing, or cascading o’er. Perhaps a dewdrop starts it all… yet from where has the dewdrop come to softlyContinue reading “The Way The River Runs – Thanksgiving 2021”

“Not good enough” is a lie indeed It’s fodder spreading farther outThan just the shame it breeds within Casting thoughts full of doubt So if I’m finally “good enough”What does that portray of my worth?That I’ll do as the last resort? That I’m ok though far from “first”?Like a worn out fishing net“Good enough” usedContinue reading “Towards Wholeness”

Isaiah 41:10 hit me right between the eyes. Exactly the “verse of the day” I needed. It wasn’t that anything huge or horrible was about to happen, yet I was feeling stress anticipating all the “what-ifs” that could transpire. Mind spinning at warp speed, a migraine still lingered from the day before, as did physicalContinue reading “Fear Not”

Years ago I read a book No Little People written by the well known Christian leader Francis A. Schaeffer. Now decades later the truth of the fact that there are “no little people,” no matter one’s stature, has come to shine its light deeply in me. It has been a long fought journey learning toContinue reading “No Little People”

Perusing Jacquie Lawson animated greeting cards last Christmas season, I came upon one entitled An Unexpected Nativity. In it a cat creates havoc in a barn as a dog chases it about. The cat runs over and under, on top of and amongst shelves of tools, knocking over equipment and a dangling lift rope thatContinue reading “Grace In The Chaos”

Fear tries its best to spin about Wind me up, throw me out Of balance or off kilter To keep me running lest I find Not in control I unwind Into a restless fodder Fodder to be spun again Anxiety reeking stress within To look wherever I can sense Relief in desperation Peace quietly andContinue reading “Of Fear and Peace”

Recently I opened a long held treasure, a companion devotional to that excellent one “God Calling,” messages to Two Listeners that were edited for publication in 1935 by A.J. Russell. This companion devotional, “God At Eventide” was written fifteen years later, messages again received by the Two Listeners. I was overcome with the relevance andContinue reading “My Mandate”

Myles Munroe, in his excellent book Understanding Your Place in God’s Kingdom: Your Original Purpose for Existence, states, “God’s number-one priority for mankind is that we discover, understand, and enter the Kingdom of God”(e-page 3272 of 4563 – Day 2 of Devotion section). This would sound like a simplistic statement at first glance, and yetContinue reading “Becoming Real”

When contemplating grace that’s given To those who’ve many decades lived Who growing older taste infirm Whose hair turns gray, whose vision blurs How interesting I am one of them Not captured up when youngerRemember when in days of youth We yearned to be but older still Dreaming of the days to come Pushing timeContinue reading “Children After All”

Stashed under the bed for several years, the large octagon board with seven curved sectional pieces, and a bundle of eight straight short boards, was pulled into the light of day for repair. Inherited from my dear husband’s grandfather, the board holds stories of being carried from family to family through his grandfather’s beloved uncle’sContinue reading “The Crokinole Board”

Where was it coming from? Lovely instrumental music playing on the wind at 1:30 in the morning as I sat quietly in my office recliner, pausing at the end of day. It was pleasant and winsome, soothing and melodious, and altogether unusual to hear this time of night. Peeking out the window revealed mist andContinue reading “Music In The Night”

Listening to Robert Childs’ story of his love for violin making, his “listening to the wood” as he crafts instruments that sing, reminded me how quickly toe-tapping fiddle playing can lift one’s spirit. Hours of tireless workmanship go into the honing of each specific violin crafted especially for its designated player. Resulting harmony created throughContinue reading “Just Fiddling Around”

It cut. Deep. The hurt more than she had met before. Slicing, ragged, the dissection impersonal and careless. Inflicted without remorse. Not even a shred. It was as though she did not exist, was of no value, just a useless toy to be played with, abused, and tossed away. The wounds would not be forgotten.Continue reading “Beneath The Plow”

Yes, I confess. The call of the night owl frequently captures me. The quiet when much of the world supposedly sleeps is a calm and restful time. There is something soothing about the silence, when busyness slows, the day rests. Occasionally surprises occur. For years parental high alert kept dear hubby and me anticipating theContinue reading “The Midnight Text”

Recently a loved one received results of a neuropsychological report that revealed three separate mental health diagnoses. Not surprising, for her dad sports one, her mother the other two. Endeavoring to encourage her I mused, “the stained glass of your life has just become more colorful.” For, after all, we all have a diagnosis, atContinue reading “Stained Glass Lives”

In my growing up days our mother collected Blue Bubble dish-ware, depression glass made by Anchor Hocking, between the 1940’s into the 1960’s. They were our every day dishes, bowls, and glasses, and when newer dishes crowded the cupboard, Mother donated the beloved bubble set, keeping a few special pieces. One piece lasted all theseContinue reading “The Broken Bowl”

Slowly she opened her eyes. The dark, dank space was familiar, a place of isolation, a place she had sunk into before, a place to flee from those who tortured her. A hiding place all her own. She ran to this place in desperation. She had nowhere else to go. She needed this place toContinue reading “Walls”

Is there a thing about objectivity that ends up being a way to disengage one’s true self from the depths of things? That keeps one’s surface content firm, or hardened like burnt sugar atop creme brûlée, when the authentic good stuff lies beneath? Or solid like the ground we trod upon through the glorious YellowstoneContinue reading “Mountain Contemplation”

Fuzzy hotdogs set to roast Grow alongside mountain’s ditchCattail flowers skewered onSturdy tall straight narrow sticks They sway in wind and pouring rainTurn fluffy when the summer’s doneRipened seed heads set to fly Autumn currents bidding come Spiky leaves persist their spread Ever homey in their graceMarking marshy wetted lands As cattails beckon stay andContinue reading “Hotdog Surprise”

God, where are You now? I’m sitting here straining to hear Your voice, a word, a whisper in my ear, an answer to my prayer. I know You, LORD, and yet at times I think I must be deaf inside; or expecting You to answer cries or questions perhaps I should already know the answersContinue reading “When God Seems Silent”

“Whirr” go our electric toothbrushes as we start our day, or ready ourselves to retire. A normal part of the daily flow, for some reason the differences in our toothbrushing experiences caught my attention, ushering in the whim of toothbrushes reflecting one’s personality. It’s really not that big of a stretch. After all, children’s brushesContinue reading “The Toothbrush Personality Test”

Closed to keep our privacy in Louvered blinds try they mightCannot hold back morning’s hailSunlight shimmering through Shimmering not just southern light Reflection too from gleaming lakeLying eastward down the hillGlistens on the wind How else could it float insideTo greet me through shuttered blinds I watch it dance in front of me Waving andContinue reading “Bright Silence”