Dead Mouse
How to live like you’re dying . . . I found the body of a deceased mouse in our barn today. Alive and well one moment, in the feline fangs of death seconds later. Flat and gray, stretched out stiff on cold concrete, there he lay. Did the mouse think about how fragile life is […]
Hope that Flies and Hops and Sings
The sand hill cranes are back. I saw and heard the first flock of thirteen yesterday flying over our farm, trilling. And the red-winged blackbird? The robin? My husband and I saw one of each yesterday on our walk along our farm’s trails—our first sightings of spring. One sat in a tree—the black and red […]
Hooves
How much do we hunger and thirst for God? Do we come ravenous as if our lives depended on His sustenance? Do we come panting, tongues parched, yearning for just a cool drop of water to satisfy? It takes the voice of God to break denial and forgetfulness. It takes daily reminders that we are […]
Heel
Years ago, an extended family member mocked a story I wrote about our dog. The words stung. Why? Because I was trying to help. Maybe stories about dogs seem juvenile and ridiculous to some, but to me, God uses animals to teach me lessons I might otherwise never learn. The dog I wrote about then […]
Turn Over
Some people want do-overs of days or weeks or even years. What we really need is a turn-over. I traipse carefully to the barn over icy patches beginning to melt. Sound of birds chirping a new day tell me our long wait is near over. Spring is coming soon. Grain and vitamins scooped into each […]
Son Spots
She lay there limp, resting in warmth of morning sun pouring through east window, spilling onto bedroom floor. She found the one small spot and she laid herself down—basking, soaking, resting. And I watched her. For moments I watched her eyes closed in slumber, warm rays soothing. And she looked at peace to me. Complete […]
Ashes
Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down . . . We sang it for fun, way back when I was young. Didn’t know the meaning. Still don’t. Urban legend says it’s about people dying horrible deaths during the Black Plague that swept through Europe long ago. But […]
FAT
All over the world, people are getting fat today. Because today is Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins our forty day march to the cross of Christ and we mark tomorrow with ashes. Different cultures were busy baking their sweet tradition yesterday, making them ready for eating today. The delicious, jelly-filled dough balls covered […]
An Uphill Climb
Think you’re not disabled? Think again . . . We went away together, my husband and I. We left our problems, our concerns, our constant stress that never seems to let up for long. Because when one is caring for three kids, now 22, 20, and 15—all with a myriad of permanent cognitive disabilities stemming […]