We went to a new church. It’s hard to search for a new church home when you are on the road as much as I am. I won’t be able to get back to church for four weeks due to travel. We’ve tried a few others lately but it’s hard to find a church. I imagine it to be like an adoption, you want to find the right family, not a perfect family, but the one that will be just... Read more
Some years ago, my daughter Shelby and I were traveling across country. I’ve gone back and forth so many times, in so many ways — except boat, never taken a boat across country — that I can’t remember exactly why it was that we were headed the way we were. But we made a detour to Flagstaff, Arizona. I travel by the notion that adventure is all about the detours we take. I often take the back roads, rather... Read more
High atop a hill on the north side of Spokane is the home of St. Michael. It’s an imposing structure, made from brick and mortar and very little wood, as required by fire code following the fire that burned 27 blocks of downtown Spokane. In the early 1900s, they built their on railroad up the hillside to haul up those 2.5 million bricks and all that mortar. Because they are way up atop a hillside that overlooks Spokane Valley... Read more
It’s the match that lit the fuse that caused the explosion that led to the theory of the Big Bang. That’s how one scientist explained the discovery of the Higg’s Boson. Frankly, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Tim and I came across a herd of Boson once. We were vacationing on Catalina Island and had been on a day long hike on the island’s preserve, which was reportedly full of wildlife. We were within a mile... Read more
God does not love America. If that offends you, you have a problem. God does not love Israel. Israel as a nation is a construct of the Truman Administration and some legal wrangling within the United Nations. I know we have been taught — truly indoctrinated — to think otherwise. I get it. It’s a hard truth to realize that as a nation God is no more devoted to us than he is to Afghanistan or Iraq, Iran or North Korea. ... Read more
Ashley and Shelby turn 30 today. I can barely get my head around that. It seems inconceivable to me that by the time I was 30, I had four children. Ashley is expecting her first. You realize your grandmother was your age when she lost Dad, don’t you? I asked my daughter on the eve of her 30th birthday. That would be very, very hard, Ashley replied. And Dad was only two years older that your husband when he... Read more
We have not done the work of prayer. Diana Butler Bass The worst sin is prayerlessness. P. T. Forsyth I am spending time this week with a friend who is one of the Lost Boys of the Sudan. He is also an Army Captain who has completed three tours in Iraq. My friend has commanded troops of men and women. It is, he says, the hardest thing to lead men and women, particularly so when they are cranky and exhausted. How... Read more
I made a quick trip to Portland and then the Oregon Coast today. There and back, all in one day. That isn’t something I would normally do but my friend Captain (Soon to be Major) David Moses is in town after three tours of duty — two to Iraq, one to Afghanistan. Captain Moses helped run the command that was the last boots on the ground in Iraq. He’s going to be spending the next few days with us. I’ve... Read more
Nora Ephron has died, and with her at his right hand, God will surely get some much-deserved comic relief. Ephron was endearingly funny. If you are a female over 40 and have not yet read Ephron’s book I feel bad about my neck you need to rush out today and get a copy. Nora’s musings on aging will remind you what it is like to laugh out loud with a girlfriend on a sleepover. Men will find it funny, too,... Read more
Now that the trial is over, the satellite trucks have all returned home and new headlines have replaced the story that was Jerry Sandusky. Penn State has indicated a desire to settle the lawsuits as quickly as possible because that is the only way they can salvage what’s left of their reputation. And without it, you can be sure that all those generous donors of Penn State’s past are going to be finding elsewhere to build their legacy and leave... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias
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