We Always Have Spring

Literature should please even as it instructs, instruct even as it entertains. Roman Poet Horace Book Giveaway–Win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Wives found in bookstores September 10, 2013. Even if you’re not a wife, it will make a great gift. My devotional “We Always Have Spring” is included…

Christianese and Other Languages

“Tricycle me, Pop! Tricycle me!” three-year old Elizabeth hollered while sitting on her red trike in the driveway. E’s little legs didn’t have the strength to push the pedals.  But Pop had plenty of strength, guiding her with the gentle push she needed to keep her rolling. Bill (Pop) mentioned later, “Children amaze me how…

Pavlov Pegged Us

When my daughter Ari sent a text-photo of an Easter basket filled with Reese’s chocolate covered peanut butter eggs, I almost salivated in public. Now consumed with thoughts of those chocolate-peanut butter morsels, I automatically added them to my grocery list and couldn’t get to Wal-mart fast enough. I soon figured if I was going…

Are You Living a Scripted Life? Is it in 2D or 3D?

“He’s just a suit,” I said, attempting to pigeonhole an acquaintance. It seemed original at the time. Of course, that was twenty years ago.  Now it’s a common expression, used so often there’s a TV series called “Suits” now successfully ending its second season. At one time, being called a “suit” was not meant to…

When Bad and Ugly Turn Good, No, Brilliant!

“She’s allergic to what?” I stared down at my two-year-old daughter. The swelling red bumps in corn rows spotted down her tiny back. “So what can she eat?” Dr. Gordon was a staunch and strict allergist, who in her mid-seventies presided with totalitarian rule. However, she was the best, and I needed the best for…

You Won’t be Disappointed

I attended a pop concert this week and realized firsthand the great influence an eighteen-year-old boy has over hundreds of thousands (possibly even millions) of young girls and teenagers. Once back home, my husband Bill and I learned about Ken Neller’s death, a friend, minister and Bible professor. As with the rest of our community,…

Choose to Learn a New Song

Ever step outside and listen to a songbird sing? Did it remind you there is beauty in your world? Did you know that within that tiny birdbrain new songs are created each year? Or were you like me and just assumed they sang the same ones over and over, hardwired according to their species? They…