Dallas yards featured wide cracks in the summer of 2011. This summer, they’re more likely to display roofing company signs—hundreds dot some neighborhoods. There’s been relief from extreme drought in parts of Texas, though the extreme remains. As in too many places across the U.S. in recent months, rains come by way of dangerous storms […]
United Kingdom, British Commonwealth commemorate Queen’s long reign A thousand vessels paraded up the River Thames under dark and rainy skies on the first Sunday of June. The spectacular flotilla included the Queen of England on a royally decorated barge, surrounded by family members and a thousand flowers from her own garden. Throngs of celebrants […]
On Thursday, May 3rd, I drove over to Rockwall City Hall. I’d read about a noon-time gathering planned for the National Day of Prayer (NDP). Sure enough, I saw red, white and blue balloons and people in non-business attire making their way toward the front of the tall building. Attending a NDP gathering seems a […]
It poured rain on the spring Saturday that I drove across town on a mission of motherhood. But I was less than half-hearted to fulfill it. My more enthusiastic, 13-year-old son sat in the middle seat of our minivan as we plowed down a waterlogged road, looking for street signs. The small plastic bin next […]
My friend has experienced God’s very present help in trouble. But Ann has a problem. After seeing so many signs and wonders, she worries that people might not believe her testimony. Last year proved the most difficult one of Ann’s life. A corporate calamity loomed overhead for months on end. Meanwhile, both her parents’ health […]
It seems I picked the right year to nix the idea of making my annual list of resolutions. Fortunate too that I stocked up on boxes of tissue, antihistamines and expectorant. My first week of 2012 was spent depleting those supplies, not thinking a whit about any personal goals beyond getting well and back to […]
Some people trim their Christmas tree after Thanksgiving dinner. They head out early on Black Friday and do all their Christmas shopping by day’s end. They have their family-photo-Christmas-cards in the mail by Dec. 1. Then there are the rest of us. We pull out our Christmas boxes and let them incubate for days, as […]
A depressed soul and a holiday make a poor pair. I sat down to pray about my unhappy condition on a mid-November morning. I had my health, my family, and a new home. I could have written a turkey-size list of things to be thankful for. But instead, complaints ran through my mind like newsfeed […]
Our Texas porches want pumpkins in autumn, temperatures notwithstanding. There might not be color in the trees yet, so we depend on pumpkins and chrysanthemums. I’ll set my favorite yellow and deep orange mums atop a weathered bench on the front porch and add a few pumpkins to accentuate their glory. I’m only a fair-weather […]
On the ten-year anniversary of 9-11, who should we fear? By Patti Richter (This article is a shorter version of a feature story published recently by The Beacon in San Antonio) We had reason to be afraid; enemies were among us. They hated our freedom and our influence in the world. And they hated us […]