Sept. 23, 2018 ~ He Restores My Soul
Suffering. It comes to all of us. Unbidden, unwanted and intrusive. And yet, it comes. Why do we suffer? Where is God in our suffering? How and where do we find comfort and peace? These questions often swirl around us as we attempt to make sense of suffering in a broken world. This book, He […]
Sept. 9, 2018 ~ The Gift Received
“We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them, but by waiting for them.” Simone Weil. A shadow, a glimpse—some moments are fleeting, never to be thought of again. Others stay with us and imbed themselves into our very being. The summer of 2017, while sitting in a café in […]
Aug. 28, 2018 ~ Saving Lives–One Filter at a Time
We hike up the steep cobblestone path leading to even steeper steps and eventually find our way on dirt paths that wind through the various homes tucked in the foliage of the hills above Colonia Hermano Pedro, Guatemala Far below us is the quaint city of Antigua her streets flooded with tourists, language students and […]
May 26, 2018 ~ Mother’s Day 2018 (a little late)
Small Things (by Anna Kamienska) It usually starts taking shape from one word reveals itself in one smile… It’s not from the grand But from every tiny thing that grows enormous As if Someone was building Eternity As a swallow its nest Out of clumps of moments. A mother’s love often reveals itself in the […]
Feb 4, 2018 ~ The Girl in the Yellow Dress
It is difficult, near impossible, to write about poverty witnessed in another country. I haven’t lived it, only witnessed the surface of it. And try as I might, I cannot fully understand it. From my eleven years of traveling to Africa and other developing countries, I’ve come to see my own helplessness in these situations. […]
Jan. 14, 2018 ~ Memory Box
A couple of months ago, when visiting my mama and step-father, I loaded a rectangular, wooden box into my trunk. This tiny trunk contained treasures I planned to use to create a memory book for my mama. I’d read an article written by a daughter who did this for her mother who had Alzheimer’s and […]
Dec. 16, 2017 ~ The Places In Between
In this picture, we are sitting together as deaconess and pastor, laughing. It is October 2016, and I’ve made a surprise visit to Pastor Olak in his rural home in Kenya. He is the father of Lorna (Olak) Meeker, friend and fellow deaconess. I had spent some time in this lovely home on my previous […]
Dec. 3, 2017 ~ Poetic Time
My husband is man who spends his days teaching first graders how to read and write, and yet maintains a capacity for deep thinking and great ponderings. The other day he sent me this quote from one of his favorite authors, George MacDonald. But God sits in that chamber of our being in which the […]
Nov. 26, 2017 ~ The Ground of Our Being
The meaning of life is the mystery of Love. Just as the roots of the trees hold firm in the soil, so it is the roots of love that hold the ground of our being together.* It is that time of year. The trees are losing their leaves, creating a carpet of color over sidewalks, […]
Nov. 7, 2017 ~ A Never-ending Love
On an autumn afternoon, I meet a friend for tea. We sit outside, kitty- corner from one another, vying for the last rays of sunshine peeking over the roof of the café and warm our hands with cups of Earl Grey. It has been months since we’ve seen each other, and yet time and distance […]