Moving Forward

I was in a dither.  I was running an important errand, had a very tight schedule, and I had made a stupid mistake that made my errand way longer than it needed to be.  Our son was coming with our two granddaughters for a visit and I needed to get home because Husband had a…

Empowered

Remember when you were a kid and you thought you knew what you wanted to be when you grew up?  I went through a stage when I wanted to be a chemist.  I liked science and was given a book of simple experiments.  I had a tiny cabinet with my supplies, beakers and test tubes…

Good News for the New Year

Have you ever considered the journeys of Mary and Joseph and how they resemble many of our journeys in life?  We all have unplanned, inconvenient journeys in our lives that we’d rather not take.   I’m sure you can think of times in your life that were hard and perhaps unexpected.  I can think of some…

A Christmas Gift

On Friday, we had a fun dinner party at our house.  (That sounds fancier than it really was.  Make that a fun each-couple-bring-a-dish meal.)  After dessert, we each answered the question, “What gift do you remember from a Christmas past?”  Even though some of the stories were sad, I learned some important things by listening to…

Stumbling Behind in Mary’s Footsteps

I’m embarrassed to admit that I got sideways over several small Christmas preparations.  What’s worse is that these were first-world issues that I’m lucky to deal with while many in the world don’t have enough to eat.  But that didn’t prevent me from getting upset.  Because I didn’t plan ahead, our Christmas family get-together totally fell…

Love, Joy, Peace

There were no Christmas trees, pretty lights, Christmas movies, catchy holiday tunes, cozy fires, or soft blankets.  We didn’t have phones, computers, or a TV.  The closest family member was an ocean away.  We didn’t have holiday food.  We had electricity only a few hours a day.  It had been a year and a half…