His gloved hands grasped the reins of his horse. He gave Domino a gentle nudge with the heel of his boots. He knew what to do and began the long trek home with a gentle plod. There was still more fence to mend. He’d gone out on a limb and put his entire net worth into these acres and cows.
There was so much more work to do, but no more time, not today. The sun was going down. With each plod toward home, his mental checklist for tomorrow grew bigger, with more jobs, more tasks to do. Continue reading What Will He Do?→
It’s one of the most popular burger places across from Stanford University in Palo Alto. I stepped in the long line to order and a woman with an 11-year old boy got in line behind me. She warned her son several times to be patient, yet she was a tad bit irritated herself. A mother-son verbal conflict arose, complete with that’s not fair versus a you don’t always get what you want speech.
At first, I just listened. The boy was on verge of a chaotic meltdown, and honestly, I thought she should make good on her promise to take him straight home if his impatience continued.
When he smiles, it is obvious he has only one front tooth on top. He has a pear-shaped body so his hips are wider than his shoulders, and he walks with a limp. He always looks sleepy, and the giant T-shirts he wears every day with his thick glasses give him the appearance of a dull wit.
The thing is, he’s not. He’s actually quite witty, charming too. And he’s smart. It’s not that he’s educated. He’s not. But he’s wise. Wise is better. Continue reading Mr. Willie→
Kind. Gentle. Peaceful. Those are some of the most wonderful traits. When they are woven in a person and become intertwined in their soul, it’s more than wonderful, it’s beautiful.
So it was with my Great Granny. It wasn’t so much on the outside, at least not when I knew her, but on the inside. Her wrinkled skin, bobbing head, trembling hands, and even occasionally appearing to chew something that wasn’t there just wasn’t her enamoring factor. Even with that, in advanced age her outside was still just as cute as a button. Continue reading The Most Beautiful→
When he went at 9:00 AM for an angioplasty to clear a partially blocked artery, the doctor assured him it would all be routine, easy peasy. It wasn’t.
He was under a local anesthesia that kept him calm and relaxed, but quite aware. His give a hoot factor though was low, really low. When he heard the doctor say, “Oh no!”, Continue reading Longest Night of His Life→
We were in the Garden of Gethsemane in Israel. It’s at the bottom of the Mt. of Olives where Jesus went to pray with three of His disciples, and in a way, where His death really began. The stress was so overwhelming that Jesus experienced Hematidrosis, a medical condition where tremendous stress bursts tiny capillaries in the face and mixes with sweat, and thus, He sweat as it were great drops of blood.
Jesus already knew what was about to happen. After all, He was God, yet a man in flesh. He knew what He was about to do….and how it would feel. He knew the physical, emotional and spiritual battles He was about to face. Most of us can’t even look at our arm when we get a shot, but Jesus knew exactly how intense His pain would be down to the last beat of his heart. Continue reading Don’t Fall Asleep→
Ten thirty sharp he was up front. This was the last thing he was going to do before walking out the gate. A few minutes of exit paperwork and his retirement officially begins. He was like a giddy high school student on the last day of classes of the senior year. He was there, physically anyway, but his emotions were already elsewhere.
It came alive! Seeing the Valley of Elah in Israel a couple of weeks ago, the place where David slew Goliath, it made sense! The valley was big, but not huge. Much of the rich, fertile soil had just been tilled. On one side is a long hill with a continuous ridge, and on the other side, the same. Continue reading Let That Stone Fly!→
A couple of weeks ago I set the alarm for 5:00 AM to see a 5:30 AM sunrise over the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It was late and dark when we checked in the night before, but the back of the hotel was right on the water. You just can’t miss a sunrise like that!
The first step out of the lobby was facing west and I was about to make a U-turn east. The very first thing, on the very first day, in my very first time in Israel hit me squarely in the chin with surprising force. It wasn’t the sunrise, or a holy site, seeing the people or experiencing something brand new. It was something simple. Something ordinary. Something remarkably familiar. Continue reading A Sparrow’s Song→
Welcome to this side of our world! We’ve been waiting a long time to see your pretty granddaughter face! You’ve been enjoying another life the last 9 months in the peace, comfort and care of your mother. You’re still actually getting the same things from your mother, it’s just in a new, different way.
My guess was that you would be born a week earlier than April 18 because there was a full Continue reading Dear Claira→
Stories about family, faith, friends and funnies. Pull up a chair. Grab a cup of coffee and laugh, cry, ponder and inspire about ordinary events of this wonderful, ever changing, bubbling pot that we call "every day life".
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