ROCKWALL/HEATH (February 2, 2014) Valentine’s Day offers a mid-winter respite with its images of hearts and flowers. For me it also recalls my first argument with my then husband-to-be. We both fell short of the ideal on that day of love many years ago. I was rude; he was irritable. The Apostle Paul’s words about […]
(January 27, 2014) It usually happened every year around the end of January. I had to acknowledge my failure to keep New Year’s resolutions. I’ve done much better since I quit making them. Last year I decided to forgo resolutions after considering my track record: the rabbit-like start; the tortoise-like progression; the road-kill finish. I […]
ROCKWALL (December 16, 2013) Expectations greet us at every turn of the holiday season. But they don’t always say Merry Christmas. Some people trim the tree after Thanksgiving dinner. They might also finish their holiday shopping by end-of-day Black Friday. A few folks will excel them all by getting their family-photo Christmas cards mailed the first […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH (November 10, 2013) For several months I walked my dog along a farm road across a creek that borders my neighborhood. It felt like we owned the road that should have had trucks and SUV’s whizzing down it. But barricades kept the road closed while construction crews replaced an old bridge with a better […]
(October 22, 2013) Our Texas porches want pumpkins in autumn, despite the warm temperatures. Without much color in the trees, we depend on pumpkins and chrysanthemums to announce the season. I’ll set my favorite yellow and deep orange mums atop a weathered bench on our front porch, and add a few pumpkins to complement their […]
Book Review by Patti Richter I Believe In Heaven: Real Stories from the Bible, History and Today Written by Cecil Murphey & Twila Belk Heaven will be the ultimate healing. I think that’s why I enjoyed the new book, I Believe in Heaven, even more than its companion volume, I Believe […]
(Rockwall) September 8, 2013 – All of us have one appointment we try to delay as long as possible. But death will one day arrive at our doorstep—or come to us in some less hospitable place. Sujo John had no thoughts of dying as he travelled to work in Manhattan one beautiful morning, though he […]
(Rockwall) July 23, 2013 – My niece whimpered as she sat cross-legged atop my parent’s kitchen counter. She tried to give her grandfather a good view of the tick burrowed into the back of her skull. Tears fell from Alana’s face as she bent her head low, clenching divided bundles of her thick hair in […]
(June 27, 2013) For Sale signs sprout up in front of houses like lilies in early summer. For many, the end of a school year brings a season of transition—a move. Our house is currently cluttered with boxes as a son prepares to move across the country. The packing process gets complicated by souvenirs of […]
(May 19, 2013) The journey that began with a stack of diapers and swaddling blankets will reach a pinnacle at the toss of a tassel. Our youngest child will soon don a long robe and mortarboard to receive his college diploma. This, he thinks, is no big deal, just a necessary bit of pageantry. As a […]