Were you one of us? On Monday September 19, an estimated two million mourners lined the streets of London to say goodbye to the late queen, Elizabeth II, reigning British monarch for seventy years. Another four billion people worldwide viewed the funeral on television. The celebration of this woman’s life impacted as many people in […]
tragedy
God Saved the Queen
This week the world received the unhappy news that Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning sovereign over Great Britain for the past seventy years, had died. I wasn’t sure how to process the information. The queen had been on her throne for as long as I could remember, but I had never met her. She […]
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This Day Finally Came
I remember writing letters to congressmen. I carried a sign and joined others along the main thoroughfares of my town protesting abortion. I drove to rallies in larger cities. I walked my neighborhood with a petition to put a bill on the ballot. But the force of the abortion movement remained a formidable foe. My […]
They thought themselves abandoned
Scattered. Alone. Abandoned. They’d seen their leader arrested. Watched him be tried. Saw him nailed to a cross. Heard his final cries. Witnessed his death. Now what? Disillusioned, they waited. He’d said he’d never leave them or forsake them. But they were left behind. Until Sunday morning, when Mary Magdalene, the other Mary and Joanna […]
When A Kitten Cries
I confess. When a kitten meows mournfully outside my window, or from a tree in the yard, I’m putty in its paws. My nurturing heart races to find the source of the wail. The kitten knows its spell over me, staring at me with those wide innocent eyes, that sweet little chin full of […]
Debut Author Emily Sara Smucker
This past week I had the privilege of reading a non-fiction book by debut author Emily Sara Smucker. The book, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea, is an account of Emily’s year traveling across the country visiting a different Mennonite community each month. At every stop she experienced something unique, seeking what […]
When Life Ends Too Soon
This week our family lost a gentle giant. Our nephew succumbed to pneumonia after surviving a bout of Covid. He will be missed. A big man with a bigger heart, he stood every inch of six feet four. He owned his own business and was well respected in his community. He and his wife had […]
Life After Trouble
When my daughter first graduated high school, she continued her art studies with a private tutor who was a student at the University of Oregon. Instead of going home to New Hampshire at the end of each spring term, the tutor opted to stay because she said Oregon summers were delightful. I wonder what she’d […]
A Saturday Waffle Tale
This morning I made waffles for Saturday breakfast. I choose this day because I have a little more time to prepare and waffles tend to be more complicated than a bowl of cereal. I’ve done it so often my family expects their weekend waffle as if it were a long standing tradition. I like […]
Compassion by the Slice
Tonight I’m ordering pizza for my family. It’s a big deal for my daughter. I never serve pizza except on the last day of the month, so for me to make dinner with her favorite food in the middle of the calendar month leaves her giddy. If only the reason for this change in menu […]