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God Winks 2-16-25
It was one of those not quite okay days for Shirley Heeg. As she said, “I fumbled around for days with an essay. I had one purpose in mind, but learned that was not an option. I revised it. Submitted it. Regretted that decision and withdrew it. I questioned myself and lacked direction. Inwardly I…
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Cash in the Trash
Finding the stray pennies, nickels and dimes our young hosts had dumped on counters, windowsills, end tables or any flat surface amused us one weekend many years ago. We scooped up the coins and dropped them into an unused fish bowl without comment. Obviously the young couple did not worry about their loose change. But…
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Standing firm
The idea of standing out of the crowd with firm convictions sounds scary to me. Yet, reading about those who stand firm always catches my attention.From the school library I read the biography of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician and scientist. He agonized over the high death rate of new mothers on the hospital…
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Clearance Sales! And OCC
I anticipate the day after any holiday: Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas. I like to shop and Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse provides the perfect excuse. At midnight the starter gun sounds for 50, 75 and hopefully, eventually, 90 percent off sales. I begin looking for multiple items to fill the OCC…
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Family Foodies
Family get-togethers can be interesting. We gather from central Michigan to southern Arkansas, from Missouri to Pennsylvania. They come from heavily populated industrial areas and little communities in the big forest. We gather with diverse differences, especially in the kitchen. Beforehand a joint text went out asking who wants to be in charge of which…
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New Years eve
Trees cover the steep hills around our dairy farm and surround the hamlet where we worshipped in a little white church with a tall steeple covering a bell. Initially that bell only rang for worship services. Outside of church times, its clanging signaled volunteers to dash to the fire station. By the time I reached…
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Need a camel to ride
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Rescue and Release
With his permission I am sharing the following event that Gordon Bell recorded recently. In the late 90s I had a contract in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. I drove there every Sunday evening and back to the Arkansas farm on Thursday evenings.Leaving my client late one Thursday, I stopped at a convenience store to nourish my starving…
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Giving thanks
With Thanksgiving drawing near, I count my many blessings. I begin with six children successfully launched. None look to us for housing, food or extra cash. All but one remains married after at least twenty years. Thankful that the grandchild we worried might not launch has kept the same job for five or six years,…
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Fussy Phyllis and friends
My sewing machine is such a Karen! That 54 year-old machine has definitely gotten my attention recently. It does have a special place in my heart. I received one like it as a high school graduation gift. At that point in my life I used it to make my dresses, pajamas and blouses. It also…
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WELL!Ladidah
The boys had been awfully quiet that day as I worked in the kitchen preparing food. I did not worry though. Playing upstairs in their bedroom kept them safely occupied. Still, why did I hear the giggles? I looked up the stairwell to see both preschoolers peeking over the edge without a stitch of clothing.Shocked?…
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Shelve It or Share It
Nothing like clearing out everything to discover items we once treasured, forgot or simply could not allow ourselves to throw out or give away. Two years ago, a preservation society began clearing out the house once owned by Samuel Johnston, governor of North Carolina from 1787-1789. In a long neglected junk room filled with old…
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Know when to accept the offer
The second grader plopped down in his Sunday School chair, looked around the room and confidently declared, “I know just about everything there is to know.” He exuded a confidence that he could do anything he wanted because he knew it all. I bit back a smile and looked at my co-teacher whose eyes also…
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aging poetically
Old age hits us like a truck just as we round the corner and cross the street in front of it, at least that’s how an old Far Side cartoon by Gary Larson illustrates how fast old age hits. All the sudden the joints and muscles that once moved fluidly now resist with painful twinges…
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Got gas?
Before self-checkout at the big box stores, we had self-serve gas pumps. Hubby and I have our preferences, although we each buy gas at either place. Last weekend. I could not find my favorite when the tank screamed “empty” so I swung into hubby’s favorite. On every single tank dangled a sheet of paper declaring,…
Got any book recommendations?