I do some cross stitch embroidery every now and then. I stitch to remember, to give something of myself that my hands have made for those I love. It seems a straightforward task, but the small, precise stitches are challenging. One dropped thread can skew the outcome, marring the master pattern I’m trying so carefully … Continue reading Stitch by Stitch
Author: Andrea
My Church, My People
“Your gall bladder needs to come out right now,” the emergency room doctor said. “I’ll contact the surgical team.” I was in a city far from home, my husband recovering from spinal surgery nine floors above where I lay on the emergency room gurney. If I had been home, I would have acquiesced. But not … Continue reading My Church, My People
Nurture
They are in the nursery. In the classroom. While we work and worship, they care for our children in back rooms and church basements, sharing the love of Jesus with those in their care. We gather in our sanctuaries and our auditoriums, watching the people onstage as they lead and teach us, grateful for their … Continue reading Nurture
A Table Before Me
My mother attended boarding school at a time when girls were taught the importance of setting a proper table: salad fork on the left, then the dinner fork. Knife on the right, facing inward, then the teaspoon. There were also places for soup spoons and dessert forks. One did not use one's knife for the … Continue reading A Table Before Me
Far From Home
He counted the change carefully, brow furrowed at my question. “Sorry” he shrugged, “my English…not good”. “It’s okay”, I answered, “Welcome to America”. And then, turning back, I looked into his eyes. “I mean it. I’m glad you’re here.” I thought of my immigrant grandparents, struggling to learn English after long days of bricklaying and … Continue reading Far From Home
Hug Status
My son Ben strides through our church like he owns it, seeking out his favorite people to hug. As we have finally emerged from our year-long quarantine, no one is happier than he to have human contact again. Some people with Down Syndrome dish out hugs like candy at a parade. But not Ben. No, … Continue reading Hug Status
Sometimes I Think I Hear Singing
I wake in the night to the moon rising, hushed, over the lake. I sense it there, in the soft lapping of water, in the cattails whispering in the breeze. I drive to an ordinary errand, on an ordinary day, and quietly, tenderly, feel a weight lift in my spirit. Ben snuggles under the covers … Continue reading Sometimes I Think I Hear Singing
He Will Come
In the politics; the rage; the turmoil around and within us. In the fear; the conflict; the disasters in the news and in our neighborhoods. In the discouragement; the hopelessness; the loneliness that presses in on us in the night. Hush, now; peace. Like a child, run to the arms that welcome you. Rest in … Continue reading He Will Come
New Things
Kelsey Graduation season is upon us and my social media feed is filling with pictures of smiling young faces in their caps and gowns. I remember that feeling of hope and anticipation. Soon I would be leaving my small town in the mountains for a huge university on the edge of the ocean. I had … Continue reading New Things
Windows of the Soul
Windows are important to me. Having grown up in the mountains where I spent my leisure time largely outside, I need that visual connection to creation to feel at rest. My high school was a cold, gray, building with very few windows. It was thought that we would pay closer attention in class if we … Continue reading Windows of the Soul
A View of the Lake 