One December, a few weeks before Christmas, I went down to the square of my hometown to pass out flyers for a Christmas event at my church. I grew up several miles outside of town, so I didn’t frequent the block very often, except for the parade on Memorial Day every year. All the shops … Continue reading O Little Town
This piece was written for the December issue of our church's newsletter, Grace & Peace. One day a few years ago, I found myself sitting on the first floor of a doctor’s building, talking to a lady named Darlene. It was a few weeks before Christmas, and rain was blowing against the big windows, wet … Continue reading In the Waiting Room
"His well done is worth a shipful of good days and earthly hours." ~ Samuel Rutherford Good things in November: The goats in the pasture across from church Autumn gold high in the trees like their tops dipped in honey A love note on the back of my grocery list Turtlenecks and weather turned cold … Continue reading Hyacinth Bulbs & Smoked Ham
Sometimes, usually when I’m in the kitchen, I find myself thinking about my great-grandma Minerva, Papa Jay’s mom, who had a tight, little face, wore her black hair in a bun, and made him biscuits and gravy from scratch every morning. Papa is getting to an age when he can’t remember things well or often, … Continue reading A Long Line of Quiet Women
This piece was written for our church's November newsletter, Grace & Peace. When I was a little girl, I remember something Corrie ten Boom said that stayed with me: "When people come up and give me a compliment... I take each remark as if it were a flower. At the end of the day I … Continue reading A Bouquet of Thanks
“People would think of my ministry as being my missionary work, my writing, my speaking. But you know, I don’t spend most of my life standing at a podium. I spend most of my life sitting at a desk, standing at a sink, standing at an ironing board, going to the grocery store, sitting in … Continue reading Laundry, Loaves, & the Lord’s Day
Dear Maggie,* Once when I was a teenager, I went to a big concert by a Christian band-–the kind of concert where you feel the drums beat under your ribcage. The event was themed around one of the band’s new songs, which dealt with the worth of a young woman who doesn’t see herself as … Continue reading On Goldenrod & Body Image
This sample devotion is from my new series, Wisdom for Writers: Devotions from the Book of James. Key Scripture: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:Greetings.”James 1:1 How would you start a letter to someone you barely knew? What’s the first thing you’d say about … Continue reading How To Start a Letter
"The earliest autumn coloring along the country roads... except here and there a fiery maple bough. The cornflower is in bloom, the goldenrod is passing, the asters are at the height of their glory. In our garden the chrysanthemums are just coming out." - David Grayson, "September" in The Countryman's Year Good gifts in September: … Continue reading Acorns, Honey, & Chrysanthemums
I used to go to church with a lady who got teary-eyed on September 11th, remembering how her husband could have easily flown as a pilot for United that day in 2001. As the Lord would have it, her husband wasn't working that morning, but Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania was a plane … Continue reading Where Were You?
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