I attended a lovely baby shower the other day. We gathered around picnic tables beneath the valley oaks, talked and played games, laughed, and shared the celebration of a miracle – a baby soon to be born. The miracle started with conception. According to scientists, all the DNA necessary to set the course of a …
One would never guess it’s the end of summer when we are facing triple digit heat out here in California. We still have our Sonoma County cool heavy mist in the morning that drenches our deck and gives the redwood trees a pre-dawn drink before the sun burns through around noontime. Lovely summer coastal weather. …
While visiting southern Nevada, I noticed the profusion of green, feathery bushes and trees. There didn’t seem to be much else growing, other than tumble weeds that rolled across roads and mounded against fences. What was all that green? Salt cedars. These trees don’t look anything like the cedars with which I’m familiar – ones …
Dreams propel us to step out in faith and strive toward a goal. At twenty-two, Baldassare Forestiere left Sicily and came to America with dreams of being a citrus grower. He earned money working as a digger in the Boston subway. But the east coast is cold, and he sought warmth in California, intending to …
What are the primary goals of advertising? To connect with us, gain our trust, spark curiosity, create a sense of urgency, all to invite us to buy whatever they’re selling. An advertising campaign is an organized course of action that promotes a product, service, or ideology, using a series of messages that share a single …
Have you ever wondered why God would create a cockroach? What was He thinking? They are nasty looking and reproduce at an alarming rate. How many millions of dollars are spent each year trying to eradicate these insects? They’re still here, there, and everywhere! They’d probably survive a nuclear disaster more readily than any other …
There was a time when the answer to this question was a matter of simple scientific biology. And I don’t have to go into details because everyone on the planet knew. Now there are a growing number of people who want to ignore facts and make up their own definitions of who they are or …
With the Supreme Court decision on Roe vs Wade looming, women have taken to the streets, many carrying signs proclaiming their autonomy. The political environment is toxic. Half the states in the union are pushing through new laws to protect abortion on demand, among them those willing to transport pregnant women, pay for abortions, and …
Anyone who wants to live in a land of milk and honey should be thankful for – and willing to protect — honeybees (apis mellifera). Without these industrious insects, there wouldn’t be fruit, nuts, and crops, let alone honey for us to enjoy. One-third of the food we eat needs these amazing little busy-buzzing pollinators. …
I’ve only had the privilege of experiencing a Passover Seder Feast a few times in my life. Wednesday evening was a time of gathering as a church family and savoring the meaning of this special feast that commemorates the night the Israelites followed Moses’ instructions, killed a lamb and painted its blood on their doorposts …