What I saw didn’t always match reality. I saw the Facebook post. The daughter of a friend I had known for more than thirty years informed her Facebook friends that her mom had contracted Covid
Read moreTag: trust
The Stripping
The bushes, once loaded, had been stripped. For the first time in a long time, I had a large garden plot that produced well. When the spring crops finished, I planted purple hull peas. I
Read moreWhen Christmas Mixes with Sorrow
“Can you think of anything we can sell?” I asked my wife. “The only thing I can think of,” she responded, is my…” Christmas 2013 was shaping up to be the leanest Christmas season my
Read moreGratefulness Through the Seasons
Only two remained. As I sat on my old antique porch glider, I watched as two hummingbirds fought over the lone feeder, hanging just outside my den window. Just a few days before, I had
Read moreGratitude with Grief
For many that I love and respect, it’s been a year of tragedy and loss. Some of my dearest friends or family find themselves in a deep season of grief as Thanksgiving rolls around. My
Read moreLeading for the Common Good
Leaders lead for the common good, but what exactly is that? Not long after I moved to a small town, an election year approached. One of the town councilmen chose not to run for re-election,
Read moreWaiting…Not Patiently
I placed the order…and then waited. What else could I do? What I did do was mark my calendar four weeks into the future. I wouldn’t get impatient until then. Since deliveries of most things
Read moreBroken Relationships and God’s Plans
Broken relationships hurt. The search for answers feels like grasping at fog. As years pass and circumstances fail to change, the hope of reconciliation fades. God alone can heal a family, but His methods are
Read moreWhen Life Changes
When the phone rang, we knew something had happened. My wife talks with her mom nightly, but when her mom called at 8:30 one Sunday morning, we knew something was amiss. My father-in-law had fallen
Read moreThe Essential root of thankfulness
Who doesn’t like the 23rd Psalm and the idyllic pastoral scene that passes through the mind as you hear the words? I think David might object to his psalm being a mainstay in funerals, but
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