Three Days in Pennsylvania Last week, Marty and I decided to take a short vacation i did not attend the high school trip to Gettysburg, Hershey, and Lancaster last May because I was about to go to Myrtle Beach with the senior class, but it seemed like such a great trip and it was relatively close to home, so we began to plan for an amazing, American adventure: three days in Pennsylvania. We planned to visit all three... Read more
When Life Gives You Rain, Dance Last week, my daughter and her four children came to visit from the “sunny South.” Little did they know that they would be spending their days in the “Rainy North,” and not just rainy, but flooding. I wrote about it. For many people just across the river, the floods were devastating. There was loss of property and loss of life. At our house one afternoon, we watched as the creek rose... Read more
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19B).. Floods Come One of the great benefits of our relationship with God is that He speaks to each one of us personally through His word in moments of need. I was reminded just a few days ago about how effective the word can be in trouble when terrible storms and deadly floods hit our area. Many... Read more
Great Opportunities at Impact Ministries in Myrtle Beach Back in May, I had the opportunity to take several high school seniors on a missions trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We partnered with Impact Ministries, and with our input, and considering the students’ individual gifts and talents, they provided an organized itinerary of service work that the students embarked upon with enthusiasm. Our students were even joined on a couple of projects by several visiting foreign students to provide for the many... Read more
“Grafted In” In horticulture, the term grafting means the joining of a section of one tree (the scion) into the trunk, or life force, of another tree (the rootstock) with the result of them becoming one tree bearing the characteristics of both. The scion determines the fruit type, while the rootstock influences tree size and other such characteristics. This technique is used to propagate specific fruit varieties, as most fruit trees don’t come true to seed, and cuttings don’t... Read more
Poppies for Memorial Day Where did they go? A couple of weeks ago, Marty and I reminisced about “back in the day” when people would stand at busy intersections on the Friday before Memorial Day and sell little paper poppies for any donation to help the veterans. Neither one of us had observed it happening in years. Then last Friday, just like a memory had been conjured back into life, he was driving through a small community near us, and... Read more
“Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost” I usually talk to graduates about the quotation, “All that is gold does not glitter; not all those who wander are lost” (J. R. R. Tolkien from The Fellowship of the Ring). I usually concentrate on the first half, advising them not to judge by what they see on the surface, but God has given me a new revelation in the second half of the quote: “Not all those who wander... Read more
Noah, the Flood, and PTSD Yesterday, I watched the incredible production of Noah from Sight and Sound. What an amazing experience! It included very good actors, music and dancing, beautiful and detailed sets, and many, many live animals. What a production! Somehow, watching the action with an enhanced but believable backstory made me think more about the man, Noah– “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, [who] walked faithfully with God.” How did someone with a resume... Read more
Words we don’t expect to hear: Jesus was not where He was supposed to be. John 20:1-7: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have... Read more
An Extraordinary, Exquisite Passion Tale: “The Dream of the Rood.” It is the season for considering the Passion of Christ. There are so many ways to tell the tale that changed the world. In my opinion, one of the most extraordinary and exquisite narratives outside of scripture is “The Dream of the Rood.” “The Dream of the Rood” dates back to the Old English period. Its author is unknown, altough some have suggested Caedmon or Cynewulf. The Vercelli Book,... Read more
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