"I remember when you used to…" Any time I hear my wife say these words, I know that they will be followed by something that I once did but don't do anymore — things like opening the door for her when she's getting in the car or …( read more )

I had reached the magic number; I knew what the doctor would say. Fifty is the age when physical tests of various sorts begin to take place — one of which I dreaded. When I visited the doctor for a regular checkup, he said, "We need to …( read more )

Conversations in a physician's waiting room can be interesting and run the gamut. As my wife and I sat in the waiting room, waiting for her to be called back for her colonoscopy, we listened to the various conversations. One was between …( read more )

I noticed the handicap van that they drove, and I knew that it was my time to serve. One Saturday morning when my wife and I were in the middle of packing for our move later in the month, we ran out of boxes. She suggested that I stop by …( read more )

The note was attached to the door; the decision had been made. At nine years of age, he was doing what most boys his age did in the summer: romping and playing — until his sister noticed how yellow his eyes were. She ran inside to tell …( read more )

Of all the stores to which my grandfather delivered ice cream, the one where the dog sat on my foot was my favourite. Aside from a few chain pharmacies and gas stations, mom-and-pop stores ran the retail world. Small stores owned by …( read more )

One chose to stay on the farm; the other chose city life. When my mom was a junior in high school, she chose to leave her family farm and marry my dad. Her new life would take her away from her country upbringing and plant her in cities …( read more )

The stories flooded in, and I couldn't help but wonder what God's purpose was. A young man who struggled with epilepsy and other physical issues for his entire life dies in his sleep while having an epileptic episode. His mother finds …( read more )

"Fingerprints all over the place." My oldest grandson called the dirty storm door window to my attention as he and his younger brother stood looking out over the backyard. Of course, he failed to mention that both of them were the reason …( read more )

Pulling cuckaburrows was a new experience for me in farm life. Visiting my maternal grandparents on the farm was always enjoyable. Every day was a new adventure, doing things that I had never experienced in the city. Along with my …( read more )

The peeping alerted me that something was amiss. A mother bluebird had hatched several nestlings in a birdhouse outside my office window. As I worked, I enjoyed hearing their peeps as the mother and father bird made numerous trips to …( read more )

Everybody has a father story, and they run the gamut. I grew up in a traditional family. My father was present, supportive, and loving. Many families aren't as fortunate. Some fathers drink to excess, abuse or run around on their wives, …( read more )

They popped over the tree tops and whizzed along the top of the field. When I was a young lad, crop dusters were common where there was flat farmland. Fields were planted with cotton, corn, and soybeans. Laws preventing certain chemicals …( read more )

Just trust God, and everything will work out for the good. The Porters were college friends with whom we had a common bond: we were both from South Carolina; they also had two small children who were close in age to our two, one of which …( read more )

Forgetting what one needs or wants terribly to remember is a horrible thing. I once chaperoned an eighth-grade trip to Washington DC, USA. Memorials are always high on the list of things to visit because they are constructed to help …( read more )

We hadn't planned on moving again until I retired … but things changed. The landlady was coming to pick up the rent cheque. Finding an affordable place to stay in a safe section of town had been a chore four years previously. We …( read more )

For Hester Prynne in Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, it was an A; for many others, it is a D. In a puritanical time period, Hester Prynne made the mistake of having a sexual relationship outside of marriage and getting …( read more )

When I heard the chirping, I knew that their mouths were full. After settling into my new position as pastor of a small rural church, I placed a few things on the front porch of the office building, among them a birdhouse. Within a few …( read more )

Walking in the garden was a Sunday afternoon tradition. Edisto Gardens is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, USA — the only town that the 250-mile-long Edisto River passes through. The river is one of only a few blackwater rivers — …( read more )

I'm not blind, but I fear being that way one day. As a young, elementary-age student, I received the news that my eyesight was poor. I needed glasses. Since then, my eyes have progressively deteriorated. Every four years, the optometrist …( read more )

Death. Funerals. They're both a part of what I experience as a full-time vocational minister. I don't enjoy either of them, but they come with the territory. Death comes to the young, the old, and all ages in between. Comforting those who …( read more )

With a sigh, my wife called to tell me that the garbage disposal unit under our kitchen sink had broken. This was just the beginning. For four years, we've rented our patio townhouse. Not long after moving here, we noticed various types …( read more )

I walked over, shook his hand, and said, "Good to see you." Almost four years had passed since my family had seen my youngest brother. It wasn't because he had no way to get here, or because he was mad at anyone, or because he was too …( read more )

According to my wife, I eat some strange things. My wife and I come from different regions of South Carolina, and we have different eating habits. On one of our earlier dates, she was fixing my dinner plate. Out of habit, I said, "Make …( read more )

"God won't put more on you than you can handle." Many a well-meaning Christian has made this statement — or some form of it — to someone who's going through a tough time. To a woman who has miscarried. To a man who has watched his …( read more )

Sin had ensnared another victim. I listened as the newscaster gave a piecemeal report. The leaders of a noted megachurch were meeting behind closed doors. The pastor had planted the church sixteen years previously on a college campus. …( read more )

"Money is the root of all evil." Though my standard of living would be considered rich by third-world standards, by American standards, I've rarely lived a comfortable lifestyle. Making the monthly bills match the monthly income has …( read more )

God sometimes shows up in the strangest ways to provide for us. One Christmas week in 1980, He did just that, and it was a Christmas that my family has never forgotten. For a number of years, dad struggled with God's call to be a …( read more )

The week had been slow, but I'd been in full-time ministry long enough to know that things can change in a second — and they did. Besides my normal schedule, all I had planned for the next day was to pray with our church mission team at …( read more )

If you still remember, you haven't forgiven. After 17 years — 19 if you count the dating part, Sarah called it quits. She walked out and left her husband and two kids. She couldn't explain why she did it, but she did. Maybe it was …( read more )

I prayed numerous times daily, but nothing changed. Due to circumstances beyond my control, a life-changing situation had turned my world upside down. Because of the nature of the situation — and the prevailing belief within the …( read more )

Hearing about ugly episodes is a normal part of any day. The early settlers in the Virginia Colony along the James River — in what would become the United States of America — had some ugly in them, even though they were responsible for …( read more )

She'd been in the closet for five years. Now she was coming out. Collecting old picture frames with photos of unknown dead people is a hobby that my wife doesn't particularly appreciate. She does love the old frames with the ornate …( read more )