An Open Letter to the House Finch
To Whom It May Concern: Why? Why, I ask, do you continue, year after year, to build nests in all four of my front porch ferns? I earnestly beseech thee. Truth is, I have trouble with this; thus, I’m writing to you today to address…
Sewn in Sorrow, Bound with Joy
Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy (Psalm 126:5). Holding fabric in hand, feeling it slip through fingers as foot pushed the pedal, the sewing machine did its magic. The quiet whir of its motor gentle, like the man whose clothing I…
Another Season Of Isolation–Tracing the Moon’s Path (Part 3)
You are the light of the world… (Matthew 5:13a). I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 3:14). We’d come out of quarantine, though just for the weekend–a family friend having offered us their unoccupied North Carolina beach house. Honestly, we nearly…
Another Season of Isolation–SISU Sewn by Sister Love (Part 2)
Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other. ~~ “The Serenity Prayer” by Reinhold Niebuhr In the upstairs landing of our family farm–the Heikkinen Estate–there’s a…
Another Season of Isolation–For Such a Time as This (Part 1)
And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this (Esther 4:14b–NIV)? She was far from royalty, though Esther was her name. Born on April 2, 1919 to Finnish immigrants in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Esther Karolina…
The Beginning
Once upon a time… And so begin many good stories. From those words until ‘The End,’ there’s character development, setting, plot–including foreshadowing, tension, climax and resolution–among other good story elements. From the day our daughter Allie joined our family in 2012 at the age of…
When We Don’t Know
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have…
He Holds Your Breath
“…the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7–NIV). ~~~~~~~~ “Just hold your breath and jump!” The daddy lovingly cheered on his frightened daughter….
Now I Lay My…
Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you (I Peter 5:7–NIV). No–the title isn’t a typo, though I know what many might be thinking. Shouldn’t it be ‘Now I lay ME…’–as in the opening line of Joseph Addison’s famous prayer written in 1711? Now…
Just to Be Sure of You
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (Psalms 90:1, 2–NIV). Stirring in the night, I searched the bed with my…