Maybe you could sit with me here awhile. I'll make you tea in my pretty green pot and set out a tray with chocolates and cookies. There will be a bundle of oleanders and cannas in an old pickle jar, because does anyone actually buy vases any more? I'd like to hold your hand. To…
There is a gift my children have only half received. I feel in some ways like we've all been gypped, but then, that would be denying God's wisdom. The other half will have to be given them by us, telling the old stories that can't help but embed themselves into their impressionable consciouses. They had…
Thursday night I was getting ready for bed when David came in from several visits. “Penelope!!” he whispered lest he rouse little miss G from her light slumber. I heard his excitement but could little guess what the next words would be. “Doña I.... was saved last night during meeting.” “What?!” I replied, incredulous and…
We had no desire for a big to-do. No fanfare, party or even a fancy cake. The day was too sacred for all that. Our baby is alive. She’s well. She’s one year old. Solemn joy. We had a family meeting of thanksgiving. It seemed more appropriate than throwing balloons around. Oh, how very, very…
My desk is a mess. It's covered in cut out foam letters and stencils and scraps. There's a stack of books and an even huger one behind me. File folders and spreadsheets. Leaning against the wall is a newly framed Rand McNally Map of the World, Classic Edition. I'm wondering how this is all going…
It was just a little glass triangle. The late morning sun filtered through the large schoolroom window and we watched, mesmerized, as our teacher carefully placed a prism in the stream of light. A rainbow leapt from the glass, dancing, elusive, beautiful, the white light diffused into all our favorite colors. Mystery and wonder. There…
We spent the last several days in Mexico City, seeing a couple specialists who could give us some direction on our baby’s hip dysplasia after being told she’d likely need to be in a cast for three months. I could easily dissect each phrase of that sentence and probably write an entire blog post…
I think I’ve started this blog post no less than five times. It’s a new year, but it feels wrong to cheerfully throw virtual confetti in your face while gleefully shouting “happy new year” to a world who probably doesn’t feel too happy in a year that doesn’t feel too new. That’s why January is…
If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll have quickly noticed a perhaps unintentional yet recurring theme: hope and joy despite grief and pain. More than once, I have heard believers critical of others for being open about their emotional difficulties, citing supposed bitterness or perhaps lack of spiritual toughness (“you…
It’s a tiny village at the very end of the road. Bordering on the Chumpán River and the southern shore of the Laguna de Términos, Santa Rita is much like any other little place in Campeche. There is one difference though. For 23 years, Ernesto and Delfina have faithfully shared God’s Word despite enormous trials.…
