FORGIVING GOD Once I met a woman who lived at a halfway house. She volunteered her story of addiction and then told me about her husband. He had a difficult childhood with an abusive mother, which put him on his own road of addiction, sadness...
I was an off-roader before it was cool because I'm the daughter of a farmer who missed his calling as a Hollywood stunt driver. We had some pretty wild rides. I have summertime memories of tearing through the pasture with Dad as we...
I have an electric knife sharpener. It works splendidly, and I regularly demonstrate its worth by accidentally slicing open my finger when cooking the first meal after sharpening. I consider it quality control: Is there blood? Yes. The knife has...
I've told this story before, but the daily bombardment of bad news from across the globe has reminded me of it. I grew up in the farmhouse my great-grandfather built. It featured a dirt basement, illuminated by one lonely, naked light bulb, and...
Lately, my five-year-old grandson has become fascinated with numbers in general, and with my age specifically. “How old are you, grandma?” begins most of our conversations. He knows the answer; he just thinks it's amusing to keep...
This will come as no surprise, but Christians disagree. Regularly and loudly. We're on the same team, but we have different ideas. What's the best way to do worship, to disciple young believers, to build community, to teach young children about...
My favorite funny television moment occurs in an episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Mr. Rogers and a young boy are sitting on the couch, having a neighborly chat, when Mr. Rogers decides to take off his sweater. Somehow in the...
I grew up in a little Baptist church in North Dakota, where we faithfully had Communion, or the Lord's Supper as we called it, once a month. Just like now. It must be a Baptist thing. On communion Sundays, when the service was over and the...
I'm often roped into playing Monopoly with my grandsons. In my opinion, a game of Monopoly is a good illustration of eternity, minus the benefits. But no matter how I feel about it, my love for my grandsons outweighs my objections, and so we...
It was an ordinary walk on the nature trail with my two grandsons, ages four and seven. Somehow the older one acquired a cut on his finger, which bled entirely out of proportion to the seriousness of the injury. Fortunately, I produced a bandaid...