Like Flowers and Fledglings
My friend Wende Goode recently put to words much of what my heart has been pondering as I’ve watched flowers blossom on Selah Farm, as well as witnessed a nest–built atop our outdoor speaker–become a home for five swallow fledglings and their patient parents. At…
If These Walls… (Part 3)
My [children] will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places (Isaiah 32:18–ESV). If these old walls, If these old walls could speak Of things that they remember well, Stories and faces dearly held, A couple in love Livin’ week to week Rooms…
If These Walls… (Part 2)
Come, see the glorious works of the LORD… Be still and know that I am God (Psalms 46:8a; 10a — NLT). We sat on the old front porch, swinging like girls on the porch swing. The men were men–surveying the property, walking its boundary lines….
If These Walls… (Part 1)
Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches (Proverbs 24:3, 4–NKJV). If these old walls… If these old walls could speak Of things that they remember well– Stories and faced dearly held; A…
God In A Haiku
I must go begging For water… morning glories Have captured my well. (Chiyo) The first haiku I ever remember reading was in my poetry volume of Childcraft — The How and Why Library. When I read it, I had no idea that a haiku is…
In Her He Dwells and Shines His Light
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds… let us encourage one another… (Hebrews 10:24, 25b NIV). Her name is of Spanish origin and means “light,” and that’s no surprise because that’s exactly what I noticed when I…
Mother’s Day, May 12th and ‘Evan Almighty’ — Oh My!
Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3 — Holman Bible). Mother’s Day fell on May 12th in 1996, just as it did this year. I know this because that was the year…
Birthmother — Such a Beautiful Name
You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy… (Psalm 30:11). Tomorrow, many women will celebrate how — through the arrival of a child, that glorious gain that’s both beautifully life-changing and heart-enlarging (and yes, sometimes excruciatingly heart-wrenching) — a new…
Donnie Harrison — Another Sort of Hero
Our Father in heaven… (Matthew 6:9a — ESV). This morning, I tucked into Ian’s keepsake box several newspaper articles and the memorial bulletin from his heroic friend Riley Howell‘s funeral. As I closed the lid, I thought, The loss of a friend is no small thing. I…
Riley Howell–The Heart of a Hero
I saw a pair of Canada geese at the lake this morning—protectively walking with their seven downy goslings. They weren’t particularly fearful but rather, tentative, watchful. The couple had a job to do after all—to protect their young as they taught them to be aware…