Rejoice In This (1 minute, 26 seconds) Today, my heart hurts over the collective suffering of several people for whom I care deeply. Unfortunately, my suffering friends have this in common: their afflictions are not the run-of-the-mill daily bummers that we all experience. Instead, they are…

Sweeter After Difficulties – Dulcius Ex Asperis(2 minutes, 58 seconds -A personal testimony) I used to love running. On peaceful country roads all over the mid-west, I de-stressed as I prayed, sang, and solved oh-so-many problems. Then suddenly,  I couldn’t run. Snatched from me ten…

(2 minutes, 1 seconds) I heard a story about a woman who had stopped her car at a red light when a man with a gun suddenly opened the passenger side door and jumped into the seat next to her. As the story goes, this…

(2 minutes, 15 seconds) In a self-entertaining effort to expand my vocabulary, I signed up for a daily email called “Word Daily.” The word of the day is usually somewhat eccentric and strange. I often have no clue how to pronounce the new-to-me word, and…

(2 minutes, 14 seconds) Many things are different for my husband and me now that our nest is empty. Take, for instance, the whole realm of food and eating. With our birdies gone, we sometimes eat out spontaneously. There is no longer a filled cookie…

(2 min, 34 seconds) I clearly remember the conversation where I was misled about the importance of women’s friendships. This wrong information was presented to me in the direst of tones and with the most earnest of facial expressions. I was told pointedly that to…

2 minutes, 1 second I have been joyfully turning the soil in my fruit and vegetable garden this summer. Among other things, I have transplanted into tidy rows of rich earth, previously stray, non-thriving strawberry plants which I discovered scattered about from the efforts of…

(1 minute, 8 seconds) My beloved Pastor Tom, who baptized me at 23 years old and performed our wedding ceremony when I was 24, is a Texan Baptist Preacher. From the pulpit one Sunday morning, towering in his cowboy boots, I clearly remember the booming…

I watched from across the hospital room as one of my dearest friends briefly yet graciously greeted each of her visitors. No doubt, her brave and calm demeanor was the result of putting all into the hands of her faithful Savior. Only that morning, my…

​(4 minutes, 14 seconds – Happy Mother’s Day!) Hesitant, I approached the registration table in the church foyer. Mingling among very young moms, I felt conspicuous. As a woman with grown children cruising in on the half-century mark, I sheepishly stepped forward to sign up…