I have received two huge body blows of life.

When I was seven, my thirty-nine year-old father died suddenly.  I was raised by my widowed mother. More recently my twenty- two-year-old grandson Griffin died from a rare heart issue.

God, why do loved... [more]

Query:  When has God helped you see someone differently (like a friend or a teacher or a family member)?

I have a new boy in my class this year and he sits next to me. At first I thought he... [more]

In 1999, doctors removed half my husband’s liver and gall bladder to eliminate a tumor.  Bill was expected home in ten days, but he survived 67 in ICU.  His nurse John was polite and thorough, but I found him very... [more]

These are the days of transformation

Days where wood smoke scents the air for the first time

Days where the light recedes and we grumble

about how the dinner, that filled the home with warmth and

the smell of cooked down onions, celery and... [more]

The third time I got pregnant out of wedlock, I was 24 years old.  This pattern developed because I didn’t know how to make good decisions.  My decisions were often based on doubts and fears.  I always wanted to be... [more]

We happily introduced ourselves to our new neighbors when they moved in several years ago.  But they purchased the home for their future retirement, which means we rarely see them and have not developed much of a relationship. This summer... [more]

“Moses climbed from the Plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, the peak of Pisgah facing Jericho. God showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, all Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh; all Judah reaching to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev... [more]

I suspect there are others of you who feel like I do.  Many times, when I’m in a large group of people, I feel very alone.  That may seem odd, but it’s true. I may be surrounded by people, often... [more]

My son Griffin dazzled me.

I couldn’t look away.

Each moment of his life was aglow,

white-hot from the forge of living.

When Griffin died,

the forge of his life went dark.

His life no longer burns through the present.

All the moments of his life

are of... [more]

“…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
 

I once attended church with a man who regularly joked about women, poor people, and those he felt were despised by God and hell-bent.  If I expressed my... [more]

When my grandmother was 90 years old, she moved in with my mother in Chicago, and she lived with her another 20 years.   Mom was miserable with her mother’s criticism, so I wrote to her from Portland every week for... [more]

Choosing a single instance when following the light revolutionized my life seems impossible. Each time I have stopped and listened to my own inner voice something magical has happened. As a child, I recall setting up dominos in rows and mazes just... [more]

After reading this query I tried to think of a sudden insight that had changed my perception immediately and irrevocably, forever transforming me.  I couldn’t think of one.  Instead I thought of the gradual change in my perception of my... [more]