Hearts, Flowers, and Daily Valentines
Ah, February—the month of Valentine’s Day. When I was a child, my classmates and I taped up empty lunch bags in the classroom, hoping they would fill up with cards, and maybe a special one from a secret crush. It was a day of excruciating anticipation, ending sometimes in delight or crushing disappointment. I remember …
Season of Dreams
The hard thing about January is that it can feel like a letdown. The wonder and miracle of Christmas is over. Other than the Rose Bowl Parade (for me) and the Rose Bowl Football game (for Rick), everything quiets down. It’s time to take the ornaments off the Christmas tree and store them away, take …
New Year Reflections
It’s that time of year when I do my “Possibilities” list. I’ve shared this before, but I break it down into categories: Spiritual, Family, Work, Home Improvements, Financial and Personal. At the end is a page where I list the books I read during the year, along with what kind – fiction, non-fiction, devotionals, etc. …
Open Mind, Open Heart Reading
My first attempt to read the Bible started at Genesis 1. I gave up mid-Leviticus. Over my B.C. years, I made other attempts. All those genealogies and strange names, all those wars were confusing. I gave up. When I was finally hungry and thirsty for truth and answers, a friend gave me the One Year …
Why I Read the Bible
Many people read for entertainment. I do, too. As a writer, I think it’s important to read all kinds of books; fiction, non-fiction, various genres, young adult (just discovered Nova McBee’s series), children’s books, secular and Christian. I am venturing into another human life and hearing their “voice”. Every person on the planet is unique, …
Squirrel Memory
Have you ever gone from one room to another to get something, and then you get there and can’t remember what you were going for? Happens to me all the time. Sometimes I’m writing a note, get distracted for a minute, and then can’t remember what I wanted to write down. The same thing happens …
Need for a Jonah
All the books about prophets in the Bible are written about their message – except Jonah. The book of Jonah is about his defiant heart and the merciful heart of God. Jonah lived when Judah was a vassal of Assyria. Strategically located on the Via Maris, the major trade highway, Judah also served as a …
Plug In, Turn On
Well, I did it again. Set the temperature on the oven, slide the roast in, and went off to do other chores for the next hour, only to come back and see a raw roast. What now? After dealing with a brand new, defective washing machine (and doing wash at the laundromat for a month), …
Mouse Lessons
Rick and I started reading to our children when they were in utero. We would sit on the couch, me rubbing my growing belly, while Rick read stories. We called each child “Little R”. No gender reveal for us. We wanted the surprise at the end of nine months. Reading remained a special time with …