Now that my blood pressure is normal again, I’ll share my story. While I was minding my own business, participating in an online writing critique group, a predator snuck onto my deck. At the end of the meeting, my friend, Jean, mentioned she planned to create a blog post and a video about the serpent in Genesis three. As soon as we finished, and without my contacts, I headed toward the deck. The storm door hadn’t been closing properly, so when I saw something stretched across the horizontal metal piece in the middle of the door, I thought my husband…
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Sharing Hidden Treasures During the Pandemic
“Hey! Look what I found,” my husband said. In each hand he held a hidden treasure he’d discovered amid cleaning products under the kitchen sink. “That’s amazing,” I exclaimed, “Fantastic! I didn’t know we had any, but they were there all along.” An observer would have guessed we found gold nuggets. Hubby didn’t find gold, but maybe better than that, he scored, not one but two—drum roll please—containers of Clorox Wipes! Have you laughed with excitement when the grocery order contained toilet paper? We’ll tell great-grandchildren one day, “You think you have it rough? During the Covid-19 pandemic, we couldn’t…
What God Is Doing in Your Crazy, Frustrating Life
When you pass someone on the sidewalk wearing a large “How Can I Pray for You?” button, you pay attention. I met Lori Hatcher at a conference just after a crazy, frustrating afternoon. She smiled and prayed with me. Have you ever wanted someone to be your friend as soon as you met her? My friend, Lori Hatcher, laughs easily and loves big. Her love for God and people shine in her writing. Because of my friendship with Lori, I have a gift for you today—a sample devotion from her new book, Refresh Your Faith, Uncommon Devotions from Every…
“Gather” from a Distance
The childhood memory of going to a summer drive-in movie with neighbors produces an ear-to-ear grin on my face. The moms sat in lawn chairs and shelled butterbeans. The kids fished icy bottles of orange or grape sodas from a cooler to wash down salty, butter-laden popcorn. I don’t recall the title of the show, but I remember the excitement of gathering with neighbors at the drive-in theater. Fast forward several years to last month… “Hurry please, so we can sit–I mean park–on the front row,” I said to my husband as we visited a local church’s drive-in service. We…
The Undertow of Fear
When a dangerous undertow at our favorite childhood beach pulled my little brother, Ed, under the water and further from the shore, he almost drowned. Inside the vicious swirl of water, an older cousin fought relentlessly yet futilely to free Ed from the monster’s grasp. Nearby sunbathers and swimmers mocked the cries of my loved ones because they weren’t far from the shore. How could they be drowning? A young man, unseen by people on the beach, saw my brother and cousin from the second-floor window of his apartment. From a high vantage point, he realized they were in peril.…