A few weeks ago Jake spoke at the Sabbath School at Ozark Academy. He spoke once before and did a fantastic job (if I do say so myself), and he was asked to speak again. The first was about the Armor of God. You can imagine great lessons and thoughts from that. But this last time, when I asked him what…
Month: May 2015
Savior of the Muck and Mire
Picture yourself walking in the woods. As you stumble over dead limbs, get pricked by thorns, and enjoy God’s nature, you begin to smell something horrific. (And no, it’s not just the everyday smell of Arkansas!) The smell gets stronger and at last you see the source — a dead armadillo. When you go look at it, you see the…
My Granny’s Kindness
I learned powerful lessons in kindness from my maternal Granny. She lived with her daughter in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. My family lived twenty miles east. We visited once a month. Granny stayed with us during the summer. As a kid I soaked up all Granny’s lessons like a sponge. Her favorite hangout was a convenience store at the end of her…
A Limitless God
Over my senior class trip we had the opportunity to volunteer at a food bank in Denver. While I was filling boxes with food items, the Bible story of “Feeding the 5,000” came to my mind. What Jesus did that day was a miracle! God used 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish to satisfy the hungry crowd. God also…
Who Do You Imitate?
As a child, my heroes wore black and gold. With names like Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, my Boston Bruins spurred me on to greatness on the ice. Kind of . . . There were a few problems that deterred my career with the Bruins. First of all, Bobby Orr never wore figure skates like me. I do remember an…
My Father’s Kindness II
Late October our family was awakened by a passing motorist. Our barn was ablaze. My father released our 30 cows from their stalls just moments before the blazing upper barn collapsed into the stables. By morning nothing remained but hot ashes. Hay, straw, grain, and a new grain drill were destroyed. Fortunately the rest of the implements were stored in…
Caps, Tassels and Anxiety
Awww. It’s that time of year! Crazy caps and tassels. Long gowns. Longer speeches. Pictures of smiling kids. From Pre-K and K to 8th grade and on to the BIG one…High School graduation! (My world can’t even fathom college graduation! Eke!!) Our kids are growing up! Jack Krein was a pre-K graduate. No big deal? Hey! That boy weighed 2…
Disabled or Enabled?
Do you know Nick Vujicic? He is a cool, Australian guy! He’s a great motivational speaker for kids and adults. He has a beautiful wife, a cute son, and another baby on the way. But what makes him so special is he doesn’t have any arms or legs! Just a little “chicken drumstick” as he calls it- a small, misshaped…
Emmaline’s Doorpost
I loved visiting my grandparents. Some things never changed in their homes. My mom’s parents lived near Washington, D.C. with its museums and historical sites. Funny, though, I really got charged up by the endless supply of sweet cereal and cartoons on a TV that, unlike ours, worked all the time! Who could forget Grandpa Brackett’s repeated efforts to teach…
Hang in There Lois and Eunice
“Motherhood and nursing. Two of the most thankless careers in the world and I chose them both.” I’m not going to lie. Sometimes this is how I feel! Two jobs of giving all day and cleaning up after people. In nursing today, the trend is to make people happy and healthy. Which often times is impossible. It’s like the story…