I think the Lord was trying to tell me something. It started a couple of weeks ago when I read a blog post written by my friend Margaret Kemp (you can read it here). In her article, Quarreling with God, Margaret gently reminds us how easily we can turn to grumbling and complaining, and even…
Gasping, I looked down at my left hand. No wonder the ring felt so light. The diamond was missing! Forcing my eyes open, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It had just been a bad dream. Still, I couldn’t resist checking the ring in my drawer to be sure. The diamond, intact, twinkled at…
The thundering boom shook the house and broke my concentration. That sounded really close. A quick look out our window showed me just how close. During the thunderstorm, the wind snapped the trunk of a huge white oak tree and knocked it across our road. While electric storms frequently visit Southwest Virginia during these summer…
“I don’t understand. Why is God so mad at me? What did I do wrong?” Filled with compassion, I searched for the right words to answer her. For the last several months my friend had suffered through a seemingly never-ending stream of disappointments and hard times. She tried to stay positive and hopeful, but she…
Is it just me, or has this Spring hatched an unusually high population of ticks? Before moving to Southwest Virginia I rarely made contact with these critters. But now I often see them up close and personal. So far, I’ve extracted two ticks from my hair, and one from my back. I’ve found two others…
Recently I suffered a loss. As I look around at my circle of friends, I’m not alone. Some losses happened long ago, while others are very recent. And although our losses vary in intensity, they always carry heartache and pain. Because of this, anyone who has lost something, or someone, grieves. I used to think…
“Ugg! Why does everything have to be so hard?” With an exasperated sigh, I pounded the steering wheel. Both of my Map Apps insisted I had reached my destination. But the clump of trees and bushes on the side of the road bore no resemblance to a dog-grooming business. Calling and texting the groomer proved…
Recently my husband and I booked a cruise to celebrate our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Can there be anything more fun than planning a vacation? In fact, some scientists claim anticipating a trip is more fun than actually taking it. We haven’t taken our cruise yet, but I can attest to the fun of planning it….
As I turned on the TV, I hoped for better news. But sadly the situation in the Ukraine continues to escalate. Throughout the day, even as I prayed for peace and reconciliation, fear gripped my already heavy heart. In search of comfort, I turned to one of my favorite passages, Psalm 46. In light of…
