Quakers or The Religious Society of Friends Marty and I look for small adventures to take near our home. Last weekend we saw an advertisement that said the Quaker Yearly Meeting House in Mt. Pleasant, Ohio would be opened for guests. I had never been there, and since I have been working at a Friends school, I felt a connection, so we decided to visit. It was a wonderful decision and opened up a little more Quaker history, as... Read more
Fear Mongering? It has been a frustrating week. School has been in session for the 2024-25 school year for less than a month. Already, on Tuesday and Wednesday we were on “soft lockdown” because someone had threatened violence against several school districts in the area. I’m a mother and a grandmother, and believe me, I get it. It’s a terrifying world out there, and too many young lives have been lost or altered by shooters, attackers, and intimidators, bullies,... Read more
What is life after death? I have been thinking a little about death lately. It may be because of an odd book I read that tried to offer comfort, but really gave a very disturbing scenario of life after death. It may be just the time of life that I’m in as I watch my much younger and more energetic coworkers, as I feel my knee begin to ache, and as I find myself winded after climbing a simply moderate... Read more
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Like most Evangelical Christians, I pray, “Lord, use me.” Then, I wait for Him to arrange divine appointments in my life, to open doors for me to spread the gospel, to dictate text into my ear for a new blog. It’s what we’re supposed to do, right? Three times last week, Matthew 25:31-40 was brought to my attention. Once on television,... Read more
I am a cat person, whatever that really means. Probably, it means that my cats are my babies, and I pay them a lot of attention. I have often noticed similarities between the ways of the cat and human behavior. The Ways of the Cat in the Bible? “The Bible doesn’t mention cats because they were rare in ancient Israel. However, cats are mentioned at least once in the Old Testament’s Baruch, a prophetic book written by the Scribe in... Read more
Things With Wings I’m not sure when my fascination with “things with wings” began. I just realized one day that a lot of my photos involved something that was flying. All of God’s creation is intricate and amazing, so I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that specific elements might catch one’s attention. Things with wings have not only captured my personal interest, but have become symbols, images, and metaphors in so much literature, including the... Read more
Breaking the Olympic Rings Most of you have probably been spending a lot of time these last few weeks watching the 2024 Olympic games in Paris. I have. It’s fun to watch and pull for a team, but I must confess that this year I found particular fascination with a new sport–break dancing, or more accurately, breaking. I don’t suppose it is all that strange for dance to be included in the Olympics. After all, there are... Read more
DO YOU KNOW THE MUFFIN PAN? “Some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices. Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baked in pans” (1 Chronicles 9:30-31). I wonder if they had muffin pans … THE MUFFIN PAN, THE MUFFIN PAN This line of thought all started with a new muffin pan. Do you know the muffin pan?... Read more
HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY (OR BEAUTIFUL) YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW Did you ever just blurt something out and have no idea why? Well, I don’t recommend it, but there have been a few times when I did that and realized that it wasn’t me, but the Holy Spirit who initiated the comment. He can always recognize the good, the bad, and the ugly (or beautiful). One day a student... Read more
Happy Spouse, Happy House I’m such a bad golfer. No, really. But as they say, “happy spouse, happy house,” and sometimes one must spend a couple hours tending the romantic fire. That might mean going to the golf course, even if you’re not good at it. I have learned, in some cases, the hard way, that when two people in a relationship suddenly have nothing in common, the relationship burns out. This can happen when the children grow up and... Read more
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