Hagel: Right Man for the Job

Last updated on: January 8, 2013 at 5:26 pm By Karen Spears Zacharias

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) would undoubtedly complain if Jesus Christ himself was singled out by this administration for a job. Jesus, I’m sure, wouldn’t be mainstream (read conservative) enough for Mr. Graham. Graham is pitching a hissy-fit over Obama’s selection of former Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense. Graham took to the airwaves on Sunday ranting that Hagel is an “in-your-face-pick” by Obama. Graham said Hagel would be the “most antagonistic secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel in our nation’s... Read more

The Art Factory Ministry

Last updated on: January 7, 2013 at 3:44 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

I have not been to Europe since 1957. We left Germany when I was six weeks old. Needless to say, I remember nothing about the land of my birth. Army Base. Stuttgart. Mama never had much good to say about her time in Germany. Mostly because my birth – four days of labor and face first, how else? – had been traumatic for her. (Somedays it seemed like everything about me was traumatic for her.) Tim has been to Europe.... Read more

A Tupperware Coffin

Last updated on: January 5, 2013 at 8:34 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

Mama ordered a $10 plastic urn. The nit-pickiest woman on planet earth – the very same woman who pitched a hissy fit if my roots were showing, or if I went to town without lipstick on, the woman who spent the last hours of her life shopping for the perfect leather purse — picked out a Tupperware coffin. “Why didn’t she tell us?” I cried to Linda. “We could have gone shopping together for something useful.” Mama had pointed... Read more

Getting Mama Ready

Last updated on: January 2, 2013 at 5:13 pm By Karen Spears Zacharias

In 1966, when we got word of my father’s death, it was my brother’s crying that frightened me most. The way he beat at the wall and yelled about the men he would grow up and kill one day. Mama had worried that her death would undo Frank. Maybe she’d remembered his cries from all those years ago, too. “Men aren’t as emotionally strong as women,” she said. “Besides, you and Linda have your families.” “Frank has a family,... Read more

A Good Mama is Hard to Lose

Last updated on: December 28, 2012 at 4:51 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

Shelby Jean Mayes Spears, 75, died after a brief bout of cancer at her son’s home in Auburn, WA. on December 26, 2012. Born on January 23, 1937, to John Harve Mayes and Ruth Matilda Shropshire Mayes of Rogersville, TN., Shelby was the youngest of six children and the family’s only girl. Surrounded by all those older brothers, she was destined to be a tomboy. Shelby Spears never met a river she couldn’t fish. In Tennessee, she fished the Holston... Read more

In Silence

Last updated on: December 27, 2012 at 1:41 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

Death is the most decisive moment in human life. It is like our coronation: to die in peace with God. – Mother Teresa Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence. – Helen Keller When all the noise is gone there is only God. ~Author Unknown Read more

And then they partied..

Last updated on: December 25, 2012 at 4:10 pm By Karen Spears Zacharias

Merry Christmas. Read more

The Gift of Christmas

Last updated on: December 24, 2012 at 8:23 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

The men are all gathered around the TV. Daughter Shelby is hanging out with friends she hasn’t seen since high school graduation, ten years ago. Konnie is in the kitchen preparing treats for a Christmas Eve gathering. Grandson Sullivan and his parents are visiting the other grandparents. And the dogs — Poe, Poppy, Portia, Dallie, and Flash — are all bedded up for the night. Dallie and Flash are the two dogs that belong to Konnie & Jon. Portia is... Read more

I Live with Adam Lanza

Last updated on: December 22, 2012 at 8:15 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

Editor’s note: The following guest post was written by someone who wanted their privacy protected because of the issues they address. Anonymous White Male is the name they gave themselves. By Anonymous White Male My friend and roommate very easily could have been Adam Lanza. To be honest, I fully expected one day to wake up one day reading about my roommate killing a slew of people. Fortunately, he recently got the help he needed, so I no longer live... Read more

Poppies for Sandy Hook

Last updated on: December 21, 2012 at 8:45 am By Karen Spears Zacharias

Editor’s Note: A year ago, I asked my mother to paint me a picture of Flander’s Field. Then I gave her the poem penned during WWI by John McCrae, a Canadian physician. McCrae wrote it in honor of a dear friend who died during the second battle of Ypres in the Flanders region of Belgium, where the German army launched one of the first chemical attacks in the history of war. Because of the damage done to Flander’s Field due to the... Read more