Bloom Where You’re Planted!
(This post has been modified slightly, having first been published in our local newspaper, The Mountaineer, on August 12, 2020.) As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and…
The Little Boy and the Kaleidoscope
“… We can be sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Romans 8:28–The Message). The little Boy held the wooden object in his hand, clutching it tightly. “What is it?” he asked his Momma, eyes wide…
Grandpa’s Blessing
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, “This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be…
Fear Not, For He Knows Every Hair on My Head
When I am afraid, I will trust in You (Psalm 56:3). Though voted “Best Hair” his senior year of high school, Bill began losing his the moment he started college. Thus, he resorted to shaving his head some years later, a look that is quite…
Thank You for ‘This Life We Share’!
Our lives on this planet are beautifully and intricately interconnected. God never intended his children to navigate the journey alone. May others experience his love through us.~~From Maggie Wallem Rowe’s This Life We Share. How could I have known that, by attending a small group session on creative writing,…
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…
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…
Lunge for Him
And a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years and had spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His garment, and immediately her flow of…
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…