(ROCKWALL, TX – May 11, 2015) Leslie Wilson is a non-fiction writer with a bent toward humor. But the Rockwall wife and mother of three wasn’t laughing on the long, round-trip drive to attend the Dallas Christian Writers Guild each month. So she decided to establish a local group patterned after that one. The first […]
(ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX – May 8, 2015) I sat up late one evening thinking about my 90-year-old grandmother; she had just been placed on life-support. Hundreds of miles away from her, all I could do was pray. I’ve lived away from extended family for all my married life. I relied on church friends and neighbors to […]
(ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX – March 29, 2015) Louie Zamperini tasted a heavenly peace as death approached. But he’d made a promise to God during his weeks of floating in a deteriorating raft, gazing at the vast ocean and starry skies. If the Creator of all this could save him from the dangers he faced—hunger, thirst, heat […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (Jan. 26, 2015) We hover over our children as they start school, and we might do it all over again—with more restraint—as they move up to middle and high school. Then again, we get anxious as they go off to college, career or marriage. And just when we begin to relax about their well-being, […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (Jan. 26, 2015) A friend of mine has experienced God’s very present help in trouble. But after seeing so many signs, she might have a problem getting people to believe her. The past few years have been filled with sorrow for Ann’s family. Her husband faced a business calamity that hung over their […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (Dec. 21, 2014) The Christmas tree of my childhood held 1960’s ornaments—silver orbs with spikes and color-filled depressions. We threw on strips of foil “icicles” and pronounced it good. Maybe that’s why our late-December visits to the grandparents’ house felt like arriving at Disneyland. Grandma loved to decorate at Christmastime. She adorned the […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (Nov. 24, 2014) It’s time to dust off the turkey platter and polish the silver. But wait…we can use the casual dinnerware. No need for silver spoons. I’m good with laid-back gatherings on Thanksgiving Day. My growing-up years featured holiday dinners laid out in the garage, with tables lined up cafeteria-style to hold […]
ROCKWALL, TX (November 13, 2014) Todd Phillips spent the last day of July watching a country shut down. Government offices and schools closed; stores and marketplaces emptied. The Ebola outbreak had turned parts ofLiberiainto ghost towns—practically overnight. Dr. Phillips, of Rockwall County, is Executive Director of The Last Well, a ministry that provides clean water […]
By faith writer Patti Richter ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (October 9, 2014) Some magicians observe a strange tradition on Halloween; they hold a séance for Harry Houdini. But the late great magician won’t hear of it, and he would have told them so. Houdini found fame in the days of Vaudeville—the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. But […]
ROCKWALL/HEATH, TX (October 5, 2014) Reading the book of Jonah for the first time troubled me. Not the miraculous aspect; I easily digested the man-gets-swallowed-by-fish part. But Jonah’s stubborn response to God bothered me. I couldn’t relate to the prophet’s attitude. Until the time I found myself following his example. Our church on the edge […]