Preparing for unexpected events, even when expected
This morning, we woke to unexpected overcast skies, muting the expected change of leaves. Red maples, pink oak-leaf hydrangeas, yellow sassafras leaves shaped like mittens and gloves. Sheer delight, but this year, an unexpected trial: it’s dry, bone dry. Unexpected...
Don’t use dishonest standards to measure length, weight or quantity
“Oh dear, Carole, just pile on the weight,” I muttered while helping myself to a small thin slice of cheese pizza. Which led to a small thin slice of veggie pizza, which led to small thin slice of pepperoni pizza. Last Saturday was the last outdoor Farmers...
How I hate my undecided, double-minded, whiny ambivalence!
I had made the decision to serve as secretary-treasurer of our neighborhood association for one more year, but in truth I was undecided. I thought I should shepherd the neighborhood through the difficult discussions we were facing, challenges to “the way we’ve...
Flee for your life, flee from idolatry, what we flee from today
“Flee for your life, Leisure Suit Larry, Flee!” I was at the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, seeing this beautiful spiderweb and remembering an incident that took place thirteen years ago. Larry, we called the small male spider, had ventured onto a large,...
Just the Two of Us, we can make it if we try, you and I
Keith and I marvel at how the two of us came together—and how far the two of us have come. Not so much in earthly terms, though we certainly have been blessed, but in our relationship. This morning, when I thought about the two us twenty years ago and...
Advantage as Blessing and Warning about Taking Advantage
As I read about the devastation from Hurricane Helene, I thought about how people of faith have an advantage in dealing with terrible trials such as this. We know we are not alone. We know who to call upon for help. Those who missed the brunt of Helene know that it...