I burned palm leaves this morning to make Lenten ashes. The leaves have been sitting in my garage for a few years now. I had picked up a few strays at the end of a Palm Sunday worship service and brought them home with me to dry them out. The tradition in many churches (and…
One of my household chores when I was growing up was ironing. Nothing big, mind you, and certainly not every week. No, my ironing was limited to whenever my dad ran out of handkerchiefs and was demanding more. I’m sure that my mom was washing them every week. They just didn’t get ironed until she…
New Year’s resolutions really don’t have anything to do with it. I’ve never kept a New Year’s resolution so I gave up on those years ago. No, I decided to do this back in November and chose my date to start not based on a new year but on the fact that holiday revelries would…
One of the reasons I ever got to the point that I could hear God’s call for me was because of a woman who was a member of the church where Terry and I served as elders back in South Dakota. She was a strong believer in Christ and a strong evangelist. She was a…
It all took place over 20 years ago. Rosemary and her family were living in Boulder, Colorado, at the time and it was Christmas. It had been the family’s custom to travel here and there or welcome family into their home at Christmastime, but this particular year was different for one reason or another. Christmas…
I’m certain Joseph and Mary aren’t the only parents who have come to the horrible realization that they have left a child somewhere, when, in fact, they thought the child was along all the while. When I come upon the scripture, and right after Christmas, about Jesus staying behind in the Temple to talk with…
When I worked as a reporter for the Rapid City (S.D.) Journal eons ago, the paper had on staff an outstanding photographer in Don Polovich. Don won my admiration and that of many others with his artistic and newsworthy shots, so well composed and eye-catching. He may still be with the paper for all I…
The last time Dana and I had a conversation of sorts was on July 1. I had inquired as to her health. She was upbeat regarding her bout with cancer. She said she had “only a few treatments left and then another scan. I actually feel good except for the fatigue. The most interesting part…
It has been said that there are around 365 incidents in the Bible that say either “Fear not” or “Be not afraid.” The actual number may be more in the neighborhood of 100 including both the Old or First Testament and New or Second Testament. There are plenty of quotations having to do with fear…
In the movie Toy Story 3, the nemesis, the enemy of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and all of the other toys is a wine-colored bear named Lotsa. He is a villain who, for a plush bear, is just as frightening as any movie villain portrayed by a human being. There is a meanness in him that…