I'm blessed to live in a part of the world where Spring charges in like a green tsunami, a sudden wave washing over winter’s barrenness with life bursting from every twig and field. So overwhelming is the change, that within a week we’re outside in the still-cool air, mowing and trimming and cutting the growth … Continue reading The Astounding Persistence of Life
Faith
The Secret Things
I was a young teen, bursting with questions about the God I was just discovering. George was a fireman and a man of faith attempting to explain the infinite to the few youth of our tiny church. The others accepted the beautiful truths they had been brought up in, but I, a new believer, had … Continue reading The Secret Things
A Gift Continually Unfolding
Every mother has been entrusted with a wonder. A mystery. A gift continually unfolding. Who will she be? you wonder, as she squirms and kicks inside you. Then you meet, and fall in love. Who will he be? you wonder, as his little personality begins to show itself, meek and easily contented, or fiery and … Continue reading A Gift Continually Unfolding
Return to Light
On May 4, 1945, the people of Denmark heard the joyous news that their long night of Nazi occupation had ended. For five terrible years, the occupiers had forbidden outside lights, and required Danes to hang blackout curtains in their homes. Those long, dark nights became synonymous with the cruel Nazi occupation of their homeland. … Continue reading Return to Light
For the Joy
“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of … Continue reading For the Joy
My Grandfather’s Slate
My grandfather was born in 1866, a mere three months after the end of the Civil War; long before the first light bulb or automobile. The telephone wouldn't make its appearance for ten more years. And he carried a simple slate to school in the one-room schoolhouse in rural Maine. That slate sits in my … Continue reading My Grandfather’s Slate
Resurrection People
Lent is a tradition in some churches where worshippers conduct some sort of fast, or abstinence, during the 40 days leading up to Easter. It begins with a ceremony where the worshipper has ashes smudged on their forehead, signifying death. It’s meant to focus the heart on repentance and sorrow for sin. But when I … Continue reading Resurrection People
Why Did the Angels Leave?
Sometimes I wonder why angels left the love and beauty of heaven. How could they abandon such goodness? They were created into wholeness and perfection, surrounded by glory, given power and purpose. And yet, the Bible tells us that a third of them gave it all up to follow Satan and his cruel ways. Adam … Continue reading Why Did the Angels Leave?
A Box of Our Own
“It must be him.” His eyes shifted to the messenger standing uncertainly in the doorway, his mind spinning frantically at the memories. Of the party, the dancing. His foolish oath. “It must be John the Baptist, risen from the dead!” The messenger bowed and backed away as Herod clenched his fist. Herod, who had killed … Continue reading A Box of Our Own
The Middle of Somewhere
I live in the Middle of Nowhere. Well, kind of—depending on where you're from, I guess. I live in the land of lakes and forests on the far northern edge of America, far from everything that makes the nightly news. Our newspaper is filled with high school sports and fishing reports rather than shootings and … Continue reading The Middle of Somewhere
A View of the Lake 