Category: Uncategorized

In 2018 the ethnic restaurant pleased the palate. “That was so good. I am telling my daughter she needs to check it out when she comes here for business next week,” one said. In 2019, we left the same restaurant shaking our heads, “It all was so bland. It took a long time for the…

Children bring a fresh, untrained eye and ear to any experience. Each week Child Evangelism Fellowship teacher Donna Allen presents a short lessons on the Bible to pre-schoolers and older students. She delights in relating some experiences with her students. “They have really good questions. Their little minds are trying to grasp things.” Sometimes she…

Tree hugging never made it high in our household. At least it didn’t until the day my husband became an avid convert. It happened one afternoon as he watched yet another gripping (or is that disappointing?) Razorback game. With the sound on the TV turned to stadium loud, I retired to the back bedroom to…

 Serious business happens at the Federal Reserve building in St Louis. Guards stop visitors entering its free Economy Museum for x-ray and visitor tags. “You have a pair of scissors in your purse?” the guard asked. “Yes,” I had forgotten them. “We can’t hold for you. You have to get rid of them off the…

Pre-schoolers know what they want. Our three-year-old granddaughter Katie does. She recently implored her father, “Dad, I want a baby sister. Everyone has one. And I never got to have one.” “Who else has a baby sister?” Katie listed several friends. Dad agreed, a lot of her friends did have baby sisters and added, “Katie,…

I slumped at the kitchen table staring at cake. Grandma shook her head, “You have to eat your food to have cake.” I looked at the meat, potatoes and vegetables. My eight-year-old self protested. Grandma just looked. I would eat the food. Now, a grandmother myself, I know ‘why’ she insisted. ‘Real Food’ is good…

Carrying two small cases, my husband passed a group of teachers as he walked into the grade school. “What do you have in the cases?” one asked. “Typewriters.” “What is a typewriter? and why are you bringing them here?” “One of the teachers wants them.” Another teacher remembered, “Ms. Cupp is teaching a unit on…

As buses began rolling down the streets, Facebook pages lit up with links to a post from Haley Hassell who visited three stores searching for the specific pencil case her daughter wanted for first grade. As a single mom, meeting needs challenged her*** budget, so Hassell could rarely indulge her daughter’s wishes. She eagerly brought…

One of the granddaughters asked me to do a “grandmother’s story” journal. So this is one answer to the many questions in the book. How I met your father/grandfather The Sunday evening before Goshen College closed for the winter break my freshman year, I went to services at First Baptist in Goshen, as I had…

We used to have a dining room. Then I saw a pink sewing machine labeled, “Does not work, make an offer.” I definitely needed a pink machine. “I doubt you want what I have to offer,” I said pulling out a five. She took it. I lugged that heavy, all metal machine home. It really…

Frustrated as I searched for something, I grabbed my phone and texted a short message to my son, “Please pray that I will find this lost item.” He believes in the power of prayer. At least he does now. Years ago, he seemed skeptical. A couple months into the school year I realized he needed…

Bored after the night shift at the hotel desk, the night clerk “Mack” eagerly greeted us as the first guests arriving for breakfast. “I have three sons and three jobs,” he said. His list included three nights a week at the hotel desk and part time, light work on construction sites. “I can’t do heavy…

Our trip compass pointed north, so we added boxes of Christian literature and Bibles and planned a detour to Love Packages in Butler, Ill. I like to read and share books so I collect to give to Love Packages which provides literature for individuals, churches, schools and pastors in third world countries. At the warehouse,…