Have you ever had one of those days? You know the ones I mean. The day begins with a snafu that you want to fix, but attempts to do so lead to more delays and roadblocks. Followed by more snafus, delays, and roadblocks. I had one of those this week. I pay the bills for […]
Faith Matters
2019–Friend or Foe
Like many of you, I can’t believe another year is upon us. Within a handful of days, 2019 will utter the first wails of existence. Like a newborn baby in its mother’s arms, the new year arrives with a clean slate full of promise. Whatever events await us will unfold like a toddler learning to […]
Mary Still Knows
I first heard the Christmas song, Mary, Did You Know?, when my infant son was six months old. I was moved by the words of the songwriter when he asked “When you kissed your little baby, you kissed the face of God?” Like all new mothers I remembered the overwhelming awe of staring into the face […]
A Blip on the Radar
Discouragement colored my husband’s face as he came through the door and dropped the car keys on the hall tree. “I just had a fender bender.” Shocked, I asked the obvious. “Are you all right?” Nothing like this had happened in our forty-three years of marriage. But he’d had a rough Thanksgiving week. His only […]
Don’t Rain on our Parade
The rain started falling last night, tapered off this morning, and returned to drizzle around noon. The community held its collective breath—would the annual Springfield Oregon Christmas parade be ruined? Dubbed the oldest and coldest parade in the nation, the event would celebrate is 66th year of issuing in the Christmas season. The show had […]
A Holiday Welcome
2018 Holiday Blog Tour Stop #18 “Welcome to Mountain Brook Ink’s 2018 Holiday Blog Tour! We’re so excited you’ve decided to join us on this journey of family, friends, traditions, and memories over the next month. You as our reader have done so much to pour into our lives, and this season we want to […]
Thank A Veteran
Veteran’s Day, a special day in which we honor those who have served in our country’s military, falls Sunday. I was reminded this week of how much I owe those individuals who have given themselves to preserve my freedoms. My elderly neighbor, now 96, served as a gunner on a B-17 during WWII. My brother-in-law spent […]
Autumn Declares God’s Glory
Has autumn’s magical wand swept through your yard yet this year? This past week seems to have brought out the seasonal changing-of-the-guard here where I live. Gold, orange, and red have replaced the green in many of the trees signaling the approach of winter and the intent of the flora around us to sleep. My […]
I Get Letters
One of the surprises I’ve experienced releasing three novels and writing a weekly blog for the past eight years has been the reactions of readers. Various individuals have blessed me with their appreciation of and their personal reactions to the messages I post. I never know how often the post gets read, but I believe […]
An Uncelebrated Birthday
This weekend my sister, the cute little girl in the front of the family photo above, would have turned another year older. I would have purchased a card and put money in it, then sent it as a surprise to her mailbox. I wrote about her untimely death in July, so I won’t repeat my words. Instead, […]