(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 […]
(May 12, 2013) There are things we never receive because we don’t pray believing. Jesus said that, and encouraged his followers to speak to “mountains,” those big things that appear immovable (Mark 11:22-24). Sickness and disease should qualify. Jesus spent much of his ministry healing the sick. Then he passed the baton to his disciples—not […]
(April 27, 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 […]
There is no Easter bunny. I lowered my head in disappointment and embarrassment. An older playmate had just informed five-year-old me that Santa, the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny were mere deceptions. I had to grow up. At least God remained safe. I held on to religious traditions: words, music, prayers and the atmosphere […]
The first month of 2013 marked a 40th anniversary that many observed but no one should have celebrated. Yet much of our national media didn’t do much to remind us of the January, 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. It’s been an ugly business for 40 years, with passionate arguments that […]