Subscription Lists

Dear Faithful Readers: I know you've had a couple of weeks of "old favorites", but please enjoy just one more. As I thought about love and Valentine's Day, I knew I could not express it any better than Paul had in 1 Corinthians 13.

Hearts and roses are everywhere. Chocolate is prominently displayed at Wal-Mart. Most of the men you encounter are trying to ignore the signs or pretend they don't know what month it is.

For some of us Valentine's Day means romance and roses. For others, disappointment or disgust as the day is ignored by a spouse. For moms of grade…  ( Click for more )

When my brothers and I were young we loved to take long baths, bring in all the toys and run the tub full of water. But once in awhile, like after a long day or on a Saturday night when Mom was preparing stuff for Sunday dinner and Dad needed to prepare his Sunday school lesson we were ordered to take a "business bath."

I thought this was a punishment listed in the parent handbook, but apparently my parents made it up. I know this because when my oldest son was about three I told him he was going to have a business bath and explained what that meant -- take care of the business…  ( Click for more )

In "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (movie version, not the book) when the wizard Gandalf arrives in the Shire, he is greeted by his friend Frodo Baggins, who simply says, "You're late."

Gandalf looks at him with a bit of a scowl and says, "Wizards are neither late, nor are they early -- they arrive precisely when they mean to!"

It reminds me of Christ's arrival. The Jews, who as God's chosen people had been anticipating the Messiah for hundreds of years, may have felt he was a little late. Perhaps that's why so many chose not to accept Him.

Mary,…  ( Click for more )

I love fruit, not just because I am a fruit, but I've never been a big fan of fruit baskets. I guess I think of the stereotypical cellophane-wrapped plate with a couple of sad looking oranges and bananas topped by a lopsided shiny bow. Recently, though, I've seen some fruit baskets that I would love to receive, complete with exotic fruits and teas and CHOCOLATE!

But that's not the type of fruit I'm talking about. The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) is what I'm seeking. Sure a banana is an important part of my on-the-go breakfast and I order a box of oranges and grapefruits…  ( Click for more )

I don't know about you but if I reflect on my favorite Christmas gift ever it's not what I expected. I sifted back through memories and brushed aside cobwebs searching for the most expensive or spectacular gift I'd ever received. I tried to remember a year when I had wanted something so much I would just die if I didn't get it. I came up empty. But tucked away quietly in one of those memory pockets was a doll house I received in fourth or fifth grade.

It seems strange now to think I was that old. Today girls barely play with Barbies past Kindergarten. (Not that that's a good thing…  ( Click for more )

I don't know about you but if I reflect on my favorite Christmas gift ever it's not what I expected. I sifted back through memories and brushed aside cobwebs searching for the most expensive or spectacular gift I'd ever received. I tried to remember a year when I had wanted something so much I would just die if I didn't get it. I came up empty. But tucked away quietly in one of those memory pockets was a doll house I received in fourth or fifth grade.

It seems strange now to think I was that old. Today girls barely play with Barbies past Kindergarten. (Not that that's a good thing…  ( Click for more )

This time of year many of us hear the Christmas story over and over, and often the highlights are the shepherds and the wise men. Now, I would not argue that most people would be more impressed with the wise men. They were important and wealthy, perhaps even famous in their homeland. They dedicated themselves to finding the Christ child, being familiar with prophecies that he would be born. They may have been astronomers, or minor kings who took their court astronomers along as guides. The bible says little about them. Tradition gives them names and backgrounds. We do know that they…  ( Click for more )

The sugar cookies I helped my mom bake as a child were always as much fun to make as they were to eat. In fact, I liked the dough better than the baked cookies - and still do. We had a great collection of tin cookie cutters including Christmas trees, angels, stars, Santas, candy canes, gingerbread men and just simple shapes like circles and diamonds. Mostly we would top them with green or red sugar sprinkles, but sometimes they would be iced. I loved making the Christmas trees the most because they always got one little silver ball at the top. It looked like a BB but tasted better. …  ( Click for more )

The craziness and stress began for some well before Thanksgiving. For others it will not culminate until a frenzied shopping spree has been completed the Saturday before Christmas, which, by the way, this year is on the 23rd!) Many Christians are sucked into this holiday whirlwind with the rest of the world. Throw in a freak ice storm which cuts off the power to thousands (as I am working around this weekend) and instead of a peaceful, joyous celebration of our Savior, the Christmas season has been relegated by many as a time to be dreaded and survived.

We see it portrayed in…  ( Click for more )

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down . . ." - we all know this children's song.

Could that fall have been prevented? Perhaps. Could the bridge be put back up? No. It had to be rebuilt. This probably elicited many moans and cries from the people as the King or Queen of the day (yes, it was rebuild several times) taxed the people to pay for it. The original London Bridge was not called by that name, as the city was under Roman rule and called Londinium. The first bridge was wooden and constructed in 46 A.D. It was repaired and replaced through the…  ( Click for more )

Sometimes when it comes to spiritual growth I feel like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. I honestly desire to deepen my relationship with the Lord but I am afraid of what that next challenge will be.

I may hide behind the excuse of not having time for a strong daily prayer life. I may cover my eyes with the good deeds I have performed, peering out timidly to see whether I have done them as God's will or for my own accolades. I may even back off from my involvement with people and programs as I curl up into a ball, not wanting to alienate anyone in order to assert…  ( Click for more )

We all know one - those people who come into a room on a breeze and hug everyone within reach. They have smiles and kind words for everyone and mean it, they cry at the drop of a hat and are drawn like a magnet to loners and outcasts.

There is a woman in my church named Carolyn who is one of these warm, fuzzy people. You know you won't get past her without getting a hug! Some people, like my ten-year-old son and my brother-in-law, will go out of their way to avoid that hug. I embrace it! (No pun intended.) When Carolyn walks into a room and I know I'm going to get a…  ( Click for more )

This weekend I was scheduled to take my son's Cub Scout den on a campout. We had the menu planned, the groceries purchased, activities set to help us earn badges, the only thing missing was good weather. It rained over two inches and the campsite was underwater.

The boys had been told to pack extra shoes and clothes to change into. I knew they would get wet - they're ten-year-olds! But short of breaking out the canoes and building stilts and platforms for out tents, there was no way this camp-out was happening.

I guess I understand a little bit how the people…  ( Click for more )

When I worked at McDonald's a couple of decades ago the menu offered Quarter Pounders and Quarter Pounders with cheese. You'd be surprised how many people wanted them without the cheese - at least I was. I mean, it's not like they weren't still 700 calories and no one even calculated fat grams back then.

After I had worked there a few months the company apparently decided that not enough people were ordering Quarter Pounders, sans cheese, to warrant taking up extra space on the menu. So they decreed that all Quarter Pounders should have cheese. Well that was…  ( Click for more )

Just that title makes my mouth water. It sounds like a place I would love to go, being the incurable chocoholic that I am. Believe it or not I didn't even come up with it and I don't think it has anything to do with chocolate. I think it's a metaphor for heaven.

My four-year-old one day just popped up with this idea out of the blue (as he comes up with most ideas): "Why can't we go to Chocolateland? There would be hotdogs, spaghetti (or as he says pasketti) and hamburgers with cheese." He may even have mentioned chocolate, but I was trying not to giggle over…  ( Click for more )

I have several good friends whom I don't see often, one whom I have never even met in person. Three live in other states, one another country. Some I have know since my first day of school, one I met in college and one I met just recently through online classes.

Sometimes it seems we live in completely different worlds as I listen to the details of their lives: world travel; teaching in an economically-depressed school in the south; going through a divorce with two young children; taking Paul's advice to remain single and serve the Lord - these…  ( Click for more )

When my husband and I were first married we were broke. We bought basic groceries but not many favorite snacks or treats. One day my mom called and said she had a platter of one of my favorite snacks leftover from a get-together at her house. I was taco dip - the layered kind with refried beans, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, cheese, tomato - yum!

She brought "the platter of ambrosia" over with a couple of bags of tortilla chips and I couldn't wait to savor it. I was even considering eating the entire thing and not sharing any with my husband. The only drawback was that I had…  ( Click for more )

            Popcorn is a happy food - that thumping sound it makes as it strains against the bag in the microwave or the pinging sound as it high-jumps into the lid of the pan on the stove are distinctive and everyone knows immediately what will follow. If the sound doesn't get you, the aroma will. Whether topped with salt, butter or, my favorite, Parmesan cheese, popcorn makes your…  ( Click for more )

I love the scent of my small town's public library: a combination of old books and secrets, floor polish and copies. Not the old musty, makes-you-want-to-sneeze-and-get-out-of-there-fast smell of the big university library where I spent many hours as an undergraduate. This scent evokes the feeling of opening the door to a home-cooked meal or visiting a friend's house. It welcomes me, enfolding me in a world of knowledge and fantasy, beckoning me to come and explore, to learn about far-away places and possibilities.

From the time I was in grade school I loved to visit…  ( Click for more )

            My kids love popcorn. (So do I, but I try to distance myself from the food illustrations - I'm afraid the calories will rub off!)

            Popcorn is a happy food - that thumping sound it makes as it strains against the bag in the microwave or the pinging sound as it high-jumps into the lid of the pan on the stove are distinctive and everyone knows immediately what will follow. If the sound doesn't get you, the aroma will. Whether topped with…  ( Click for more )

I am not the cheeriest person you will ever meet. I don’t smile as much as I should and I don’t greet everyone with a perky "Good morning!"

One of my sons has, sadly, picked up on my doom and gloom morning philosophy and is either grumpy or anxious in the morning. Quite the opposite, my younger son has the disposition of Mary Poppins and is singing and prattling happily about nothing from the moment he awakens.

I’m sure I have been responsible for lowering the mood of more than one person who has encountered me in the morning, not by being intentionally…  ( Click for more )

The advertising world seems to be overly concerned about what we carry around with us. The famous American Express credit card commercial has featured many celebrities who say they "don't leave home without it!" A newer credit card ad campaign asks, "What's in your wallet?"

We do worry a lot about how much money we carry around, or whether we have packed everything in the diaper bag or our favorite shade of lip gloss in the make-up case. But how often do we think about what we're carrying on the inside? And how much of it shows through to the outside?

A wonderful…  ( Click for more )

As I worked this summer to fill all the teaching positions for our Wednesday night bible study program, I asked a woman with children in the program if she could help.

She said she would love to teach, but that with her current job she sometimes didn't get back into town until late in the evening.

She let me know that she was searching for a job locally and I told her I would pray about it. I also kept an eye on the classified section and mentioned it to my husband.

A couple of weeks later he noticed an ad for a receptionist at a company where he used to work.

The…  ( Click for more )

The other day I was the recipient of a random act of kindness. (Remember a few years ago when that was the big thing -- try to do something anonymously for someone, especially a stranger. The hope was that they would, in turn, perform a kind act for someone else, and so on until the whole world was smiling.)

Anyway, I was in the drive-thru and McDonald's buying my kids a nutritious lunch and when I went to pay the cashier said, "She took care of it for you," and pointed to the car ahead of me.

I was a bit stunned, since I don't get my lunch paid for very often (unless…  ( Click for more )