Beyond 20 Gallons of Milk

Fifty-five years after high school graduation, I went to my first class reunion for a high school I never attended. My parents moved so often that I attended three elementary schools, two junior highs and five high schools. I went to the reunion of the Jasper Central High School class of 1970 in New York…

We visited Fallingwater, a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Pennsylvania, during our recent trip to see family and friends in the East. In the 1930s the owners of the largest department store in Pittsburgh, Edgar and Lillian Kaufman, contracted Wright to build a country home. Kaufman wanted his home built with a view of the…

Leadership brings honor, problems and, often, overweening pride. Take the Biblical character Moses. He pretty much knew from childhood that he would do something great for his people. After 80 years he led the Israelites out of Egypt. Such a victory, followed by complaints about everything. After one more whine for water, God told Moses…

Nag, nag, nag. The excess stuff hidden around the house nagged for my attention. I vowed to do something when I had time. I never had time until the day a long distance friend called. “Joan, I had the funniest dream about you last night. You had all this stuff. I had to tell you,…

The dimpled smile of our granddaughter Courtney disappeared this week with her violent death. In the midst of processing that horror, I recalled her triumphs through the years. When she was seven, she and her sisters visited and raised the noise level in our empty nest. Some noise we enjoyed; some we dreaded. I offered…

We traveled over 2,000 miles in our totaled van. It worked as a great conversation starter. It worked to haul half a ton of books plus all our luggage and gifts. It worked to carry the family.Just before we left on our trip, the insurance adjuster said, “To repair the hail damage would cost more…

Indiana’s road system ruined Hubby for driving in any other state. The Indiana state forefathers placed a graph paper over the state to draw the roads on its plains. Take enough right and left turns and you find a major highway.It never works that way in my home state of upstate New York. There the…

Everyone, young or old feels a bit of pride when they fix up, clean up or gain a place of their own. My friends burst with pride in their new place. They had spent years living in a humble, older home until their finances made it possible for them to afford a brand new home…

I know I have lived my three-score and ten. Still, I’m not sure I warranted the pre-schooler’s conclusion during junior church.I had just started to tell the weekly story.A little girl interrupted to say, “How do you know all these stories?”“I am 73. I have heard and told them all my life,” I shrugged.Her eyes…

Pushing the grocery cart alongside my granddaughter, I saw a friend approaching with a knowing smile, “you just want to buy everything the grandchildren want, don’t you?” “No, not really. We have too many grandkids to do that,” I said, startling the grandmother of just one. With our 18 grandchildren and 18 great-grands, let alone…

At 20, I stuffed all my worldly goods into the trunk of the car and moved. At 70, I will spend days stuffing a box or two of my worldly goods into the trunk of the car and moving it to sell, trash or donate How did it become so much? Maybe it began the…

Hubby handed me a folded road map, “where do I turn?” I looked at him askance. We had just traveled a couple hundred miles to an unfamiliar city. Assuming he knew where he intended to go, I had not paid attention to any road signs. “I need you to tell me where to turn,” he…

Been there, Done that in the dining halls of America. I have tasted: jellyfish – tasteless rubber; turtle soup and alligator each rated a shrug. We have eaten outside on brightly lit patios and inside cozy rooms so dark we needed a flashlight to see the menu. One highly praised meal required a drive deep…

When it comes to the most heinous criminals, many say. “Lock’em up and throw away the key.” Few talk about God’s judgment of such actions. In Matthew 25:34-40 Jesus said those who followed Him will be blessed because they gave Him food, water, clothes and help and visited Him in prison.The blessed wondered, “When did…

The first grade Sunday School teacher obviously had not prepared to teach. She flipped through the Bible story book looking for a story. With a lackadaisical shrug, she began a four sentence lesson about Jesus walking on the water. Then she transitioned so quickly to the conclusion that I have no idea how she reached…