Gardening is a passion for countless people, but it was a dormant love for me.  I stumbled on it quite by accident and discovered a natural ability that brought unexpected results. Digging up earth to set a few plants in the soil gave way to sketching garden designs and, eventually my yard was framed with […]

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I’m not sure why it captured my attention so completely. Sitting in my prayer garden, I had just closed the Bible and glanced downward toward some stepping stones that led to the bench.  An abundance of creatures share life in this setting and, among them are the ants that build dirt mounds and traverse the […]

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Sobering thoughts are never comfortable.  But then, they aren’t meant to be.  Try as we might to avoid facing life’s deeper issues, they have a way of inching to the forefront time and again. One of the most sobering thoughts ever presented was by Jesus.  It is recorded in Matthew 7:21-23.  “Not everyone who says […]

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I needed solitude.  Some pretty big questions were weighing on my heart and I couldn’t put them to words with anyone … except God. Though the Lord has promised to be with us always, there is comfort in meeting Him in quiet, reserved places that have become altars of prayer.  I have a few. Maybe […]

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I was in my late teens when I watched my aunt and grandfather simultaneously battle cancer. Few advances had been made in treating the disease at that time, yet they persevered courageously.  It was my first real encounter with great suffering, which unexpectedly introduced me to a fear I had not known before then. Though […]

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The Library of Congress made an announcement in 2010 that there was a cross-out in the rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. While processing data, Dr. Fenella France noticed that the word citizen was blurred.  Using a process called hyper spectral imaging, she uncovered something truly significant about this document. The process takes digital […]

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The good old days … sometimes we wish they could still be lived out the way they were.  Different memories fill the thoughts of different generations, but there is usually common ground in recalling days of deeper values, stronger families, stable communities and reverence for God.  While there has never been a perfect time in […]

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When I was a little girl, my dad announced one day that we were getting a boat.  He had spotted one with a “for sale” sign in the yard of a neighbor and, after some discussion with mom, the decision was made.  So began our summertime family adventures. Dad would pack us up and we’d […]

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The voices carried across the yard; a mixture of children by age and children by choice.  As I washed windows to the sound of their laughter, the game they were playing resonated with a familiar note, but I couldn’t quite recall it.  That’s when the distress call went out:  “Help, I’m frozen!”   Ah, Freeze […]

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While going through archives of family pictures and memorabilia, I came across a program from my husband’s high school graduation. Pictured on the front was a white cap and diploma, alongside red roses that had been arranged on blue satin cloth.  Not only did it represent the blue and white colors of his school, it […]

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