While on a road trip many years ago, before AAA travel guidance, smartphones, and auto-court directories, my parents had not planned ahead of time to reserve rooms. As darkness set in, neon signs glared, "No Vacancy", so dad drove on … Read more
Author Archive
Just Thinking About Jesus
To me, Jesus is the loveliest being. When I was very young, I thought that He lived in the sky, so even when I lay on my back on the grass, watching the clouds go by, I thought about how much He loved me. In any circumstance, He can bring … Read more
Open Your Umbrella
We read stories about people who prayed for rain, but who forgot to bring their umbrellas in anticipation of the blessing. When we abide in Christ, we pray and symbolically carry our umbrellas to prepare for the overwhelming gifts that … Read more
Come Sit By Me
Out of the mouths of babes! At the park, while watching Bubble Man move his apparatus so that the wind would blow hundreds of iridescent bubbles at a time, my great-granddaughter patted the grass, and said, "Come sit by me, Grammy." She … Read more
He My Daddy
I had been teaching my bright-eyed granddaughter about Jesus. She looked at a poster of Him and the children gathered about Him, and she pointed out representations of her and her brother in the picture. During a recent visit, she pointed … Read more
Critters Along The Creek
My dad showed me his favourite place along the coastal logging road. Tiger lilies banked the roadway, waving their brilliant orange petals with contrasting black spots. Stands of redwood and fir trees canopied everything else. He pointed … Read more
Come To The River
Ten Mile Creek ran below our humble shack at the lumber mill camp when I was a child. Until water was piped into the house, the creek served our every human need for water. In the beginning, we hauled drinking water and wash water, and … Read more
Book Shelf Characters
My grandfather made a shelf to go above my bed to hold my tiny collection of Golden Books and four Storybook dolls. In the fourth grade, I earned a little money here and there. With it, I bought my first Bible. I was so proud of it, and I … Read more
Spiritual Glasses
I love to look at racks of sunglasses and reading glasses in store displays because there are so many styles and colours. But I've learned that there is a very special pair of glasses to interpret the Word of God that I can't buy. It is … Read more
The Day The Sun Broke Through
Cooped up in the muggy, germy elementary school classroom for almost a week, we finally got an outside recess. Although the rain had stopped, dark and ominous clouds billowed in the sky. As we went outside, there was an eerie, crackly … Read more
Lost And Found
God is always faithful in both the largest and the smallest things of my life. During my second pregnancy, my fingers swelled so much that I needed to remove my wedding rings before they cut into my finger. At the time, I placed them … Read more
Blessings Poured Down
When we do the Lord's service from the heart, no matter how great or small a deed, it all counts. In the Old Testament, under the law, the Israelites had to tithe in a certain way and amount to receive God's blessings. Today, when we … Read more
Mud Batter
My mother expected her children to stay clean at all times because conditions in a dusty and dirty lumber mill camp environment tried both her patience and her effort. She spent two days washing the week's laundry by hand and hanging it … Read more
A Rose Blooms Again In Old Age
Suffering through many storms, accidents, and illnesses of life, my friend's twenty-year-old Joseph's Coat rose bush presented itself beaten down by life. It no longer bore the fruit of its purpose. With precision, my friend's husband … Read more
Cloistered
I had just read the book, The Nun Story. As a teenager, I was so enamoured with the concept of being hidden away from the chaos of adolescence, a boyfriend, and trying to figure out my place in life, that I announced to my parents that … Read more
And The Birdies Sing
My friend's husband, recently fitted with hearing aids, came through the storage house door, calling with urgency, "Honey, there are birds chirping in my ears. We best call the doctor." Taken aback, his wife said, "Let's go outside and … Read more
Shoe Buttons
Inside her roughly built pioneer cabin were treasures. Carefully folded deep inside an old trunk, my great-grandmother's homemade blue Victorian wedding dress rested. Beside it sat her high button black leather shoes and her Bible. I … Read more
Jesus Held My Hand
The following is my friend Joyce Augustson's story. I felt hopeless and alone in 1940s Arkansas, and I wasn't close to my mother. We weren't the poorest of poor, but many of the children I knew didn't have shoes and wore rags for … Read more
Always Protected
Summertime presented great fun in the timberland. Sleeping outside was one of those activities. A day spent gathering twigs, branches, and boughs of broken fir and redwood trees produced our finished rounded, mounded shelter. Weary but … Read more
Rainbows Of Colour And Flavour
Nostalgic 1940s twelve-pack gift books of Life Savers® and tins of hard Christmas candy in every colour of the rainbow were available at the corner pharmacy. There was candy wrapped in personalized Scripture, boldly printed for us to … Read more
The Peacock Strut
Grandma's peacock displayed its fan of majestic colours in the sunshine. Light danced off the crystal-shaped feather fibres and shimmered with iridescent greens and blues. Head held high, strutting around the ranch, he appeared to be … Read more
Brass Knuckles And Velvet
My grandfather served as a US Army foot soldier during World War I in France in 1917. During that time, he used a weapon called brass knuckles. He used them in hand-to-hand combat, to defend himself while in foxholes and trenches. When he … Read more
Sweet Fragrance
Life in a mill camp taught me as a child that the earth is filled with many odours. They ranged from mildly pleasant to putridly awful. For example, the fresh sap of freshly cut lumber appealed to me, while the smell of dust and the stale … Read more
Clay Babies
As a child, I loved to make mud pies. In fact, during the summer, I was up to my elbows making miniature bowls, dishes, and furniture. Then, I discovered that I could make clay babies. After spending my day creating, I would place the … Read more