The moon, it just sat there tonight,mostly eaten by the old yearand its shadows,the year to come like its bright skinshining, burning away the rest.They say it's God's fingernail,but that's only what we can see of it.In reality, the whole underbelly is bulgingwith lighton the other side of our atmosphere.Anyway, it couldn't be that only … Continue reading New Year
"Running to the window, Scrooge opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, jovial, stirring, cold; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious! Glorious!" ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol The first snow---long, quiet, and cold Tramping down the … Continue reading Feasting, Fiddling, & the First Snow
When I was six years old, my dad took me to visit a man in the hospital whose name was Kirk. Kirk was one of Dad’s closest friends. They had a Paul and Timothy kind of brotherhood, where Kirk had broken free from a stormy past and become one of Dad's greatest mentors in the … Continue reading Visiting Kirk
Last night, my niece, Elsie, showed me a picture of what her new baby brother or sister might look like in the womb. It is just nine weeks tiny, with black eyes and hands and feet poking their way outward. “The baby is the size of an olive,” Elsie said. I tried to imagine holding … Continue reading The Size of an Olive
In the home where Jared and I are going to live after we’re married, there is a step ladder in the middle of the living room. There’s a thick layer of dust on the floors, tools on the kitchen counters, missing toilet seats, and old bedsheets in the bathtub because that seemed like the cleanest … Continue reading What Will Be
“Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness.” ~ Jane Austen A cool, dark Sunday afternoon to bake an apple pie for the first time and weave a lattice crust Barrett and I carrying our rakes around the pond to help Papa with leaves Flag football Wedding dress resale shopping with sisters … Continue reading Rain, Rain, & More November Rain
I was down in Arkansas one evening last summer when the storm hit—a great clash in the heavens of solar wind sweeping off the sun’s surface and crashing into our atmosphere. The aurora borealis–a geomagnetic storm–was raging somewhere over the Canadian Rockies, but on a hot evening in Arkansas, things were quiet. We had a … Continue reading When the Northern Lights Came South
Not many people know about Mill Creek Mountain (at least, we didn't think they did, but I’ll get to that). I wouldn’t know it myself were it not for Don and Bo Sosebee, for Vesta Baptist Church in the valley below it, and for Jared, who took me there. Jared and I took a drive … Continue reading On Behalf of Mill Creek Mountain
"Blessed is the man who can enjoy the small things, the common beauties: the little day-by-day events, sunshine on the fields, birds on the bough, breakfast, dinner, supper: the daily paper on the porch, a friend passing by. So many people who go afield for enjoyment leave it behind them at home." ~ David Grayson, … Continue reading Campfire Smoke & Lake Trout
On the week we were engaged, Jared and I were grocery shopping together when he got a text that nearly took the wind out of him. It was from a fellow pastor, asking if he'd heard the news: a preacher they both greatly respected, a stalwart leader and renowned expositor, had fallen to immorality. Overnight, … Continue reading Upon the Fall of a Pastor
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