Friday Five Minute Word Grab (although this one went on very long.) The dog poses a conundrum. Old and gray, arthritic, deaf and blind. Stumbly, sleepy and sweet. But so, so beloved. He came to us at eight years old. We’d never had a dog like him. He waited for …
Honestly. Sometimes when I sit down to write my weekly column I feel guilty. Our shattered world needs infinitely more than I offer. But there I go, every week for more than twenty years now, flinging out my five-hundred words to a few gracious readers. That’s you, there. Unfolding your …
Was it the pandemic’s second or third wave? I can’t recall. But the doorbell rang at supper. I answered it and found a grandchild, standing alone, tears streaming like silver ribbons. Our daughter’s car waited at the end of the driveway. COVID protocol aside, what else is a grandmother to …
In 2004, my cousin Eldonna and I travelled to India. During part of our time in that country, we stayed with an Indian family I’d only known through correspondence. While there, we received news that Eldonna’s mother in Saskatchewan had died unexpectedly. With no cell phones, we hadn’t been in …
I don’t write this column to share family stories. I write to demonstrate how God meets us, whoever we are; where we are, every day, any place, all the time. How Jesus walks beside us, no matter our chosen paths. How he connects our horizontal with his vertical, and layer …
After years of teaching journaling workshops, the regular habit has slipped away from me. Life is moving faster. I’m moving slower. Taking an hour at the end of each day to jot my thoughts and prayers simply rarely happens anymore. I’m poorer for that. Quiet reflection, pondering both simple and …
I wander into the kitchen, pour a half cup of popcorn kernels into the air popper, plug the thing in and wander out again. I’m distracted. I’m feeling sad. I’m hurting a bit. Just a bit, on my left forearm. Mostly, I’m wondering what I could have done differently in …
