Category: Uncategorized

                Teaching Bible to children can be challenging. Recently, a kindergartener joined my early elementary Sunday School class. He reads, knows many Bible stories, especially the one he has told me twice: “the soldier was thrown in the cave with Elisha’s bones and the soldier came back alive.” I barely had time to acknowledge his knowledge…

An era ended last week when my Aunt Calysta passed; she was just shy of her ninetieth birthday. My sister and I visited her recently. Before I arrived, health concerns landed her in the hospital.  The doctor promised, “we’ll let you out of here when your blood pressure goes down.” “It will go down, if…

In 2020, we quarantined to avoid sickness and exposing others to a disease that passed asymptomatically. We wore masks and answered contact tracing questions to protect people we love. Covid changed how we think about disease as a society. Precautions have gradually loosened. Last year when we traveled, I overheard the following in a Choice…

                Pink hearts dot the green shutters of the white cottage at the Legacy House Imports in Madison, Wisconsin. Little girls in party dresses and shoes looked around with wide eyes inside the tearoom overlooking the garden.             Tea tables held teacups, linen napkins, perfectly aligned teaspoons, butter knives and jugs of water. “You are welcome to…

               True or false? Recently the first woman contestant won millions on Jeopardy? True – if name and clothes alone determine gender. False – if one considers the scientific information regarding DNA and the impact of the X and Y chromosomes on brain function and focus and physical strength.  For the purposes of this column, the…

                As Linda directed students to the stage at Michigan State, “This big ole guy came running straight for me. He ran up to me, picked me up and slung me around saying, ‘It works! That magic penny really works.’ The Magic Penny is the one penny investment I made every year for each of the…

        “Grandpa better not be out in the shop without me!” my 9-year-old grandson huffed as he looked around the kitchen, ignoring breakfast and looking for my husband. The two had spent days working on refurbishing a typing table. Like many little kids, he really enjoyed helping and supervising his grandfather through the project. They had…

The holiday detritus overwhelmed me last week. “I am going to clear out and donate to a church rummage sale,” I announced. This year we had a triple dose of gifting: Christmas with the usual greeting cards, gifts and treats; helping with an estate including bringing some home to sell later, all topped off with…

         I just did not have the energy to care about much of anything last week, so I crammed the cookie sheet on top of the muffin tins and slammed the cupboard door shut, declaring, “That’s good enough.”            “It is not,” my conscience said. “Remember the Cleaning Fairies?             Ahh yes, The Cleaning Fairies. I was just…

“Can you give me some money for food?” the grey-haired woman asked as we walked toward the restaurant doors. “No, but you may join us for lunch,” my husband said. She did and then asked if we would buy cereal and milk for her breakfast. Once the cart held breakfast foods, she asked for medicine.…

 At times life hits us right smack between the eyes, leaving us reeling. Some never recover as they look at the damage. Others pick themselves up, dust off and address the damage one bit at a time. I know plenty of folks with enough reasons to legitimately sit down in defeat or walk away from…

“How to be a good plant parent,” the headline equated plant care to child care. The article from Boston.com advised carefully choosing the plant.  Dark apartment? Choose plants that thrive in shadows. Busy schedule? Pick one that only needs a bit of water now and then. Exactly like parenting a child? Prospective parents can shop…

“Let’s not tell Grandma that we like the show. She might get cocky,” my granddaughter said after watching her first four episodes of Sue Thomas FBEye. I laughed when my daughter told me that. Me? get cocky about someone liking a show I recommended? Hardly, I am just glad someone actually tried my suggestion. The…

Several inches of snow on the ground outside their new house thrilled the grade schooler. She knew what that meant. She ran to tell her mother. “Look! It snowed! No school today.” “Nuh-uh, honey. We aren’t in Arkansas anymore. This is Pennsylvania. You will be going to school today,” her mother disillusioned her daughter just…

Respect for my elders went out the window that day. I usually listened respectfully to one particular woman who was old enough to be my mother. I admired her homemaking skills and Biblical knowledge gathered from years of sermons or Bible studies. She knew her Bible. She also knew and embraced the social mantra, “Responsible…