Tag: Christ
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Wheat Pennies
Across the speckled linoleum floor of Room 16 at Martin Park Elementary in 1968 stood a line of 2nd graders waiting to leave for lunch. As they did every day, each boy or girl passed by Mrs. Mullis at the door and answered questions regarding their possession of pennies — not just any pennies —…
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A Song in the Air
If you dig a little deeper past Deck the Halls, Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, and even popular Christmas hymns like Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, and O Little Town of Bethlehem, you will find more obscure yet serenely beautiful Advent music. Could be you’re familiar with many of them, but as…
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Beulah Land and Betty Lou
My blessed mother-in-law started talking about her funeral somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 years ago so we “kids” became accustomed to nodding and smiling and “mmhmming” when that inevitable topic came up. Now we’re all sitting around on couches holding cups of cold coffee staring blankly at each other wondering what to do because…
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The Death of Roy
My friend Roy died of cancer when I was 14. He was 16. There was a funeral at the United Methodist Church and all of us teens who were in the youth group with him sat together and cried in varying degrees, dealing with wretched emotions as our young years both allowed and forced us…
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We Shout Out Hooray
In the quest for the shortest blog post ever, this one will most likely qualify. First, let me show you a photo of the first page of my planning notebook where I copied these verses about six months ago. It was a dark time, friends. Not a time without hope. But pretty cloudy. Today I…
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A Thousand Little Dots
Her name was Betty Ruth Flynt but I called her Barf. You can’t buy good friends like that–ones who will lovingly call you, “Barf.” I figured since I was not allowed to utter the middle name “Ruth,” that “Barf” was the next best choice as her initials were just asking for it. Junior High. What…
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What Makes Them Tropical?
Several years ago, before COVID temporarily wrecked summer camp for kids, I was the Snack Shack Lady at junior camp in the woods of western Oregon. In case you’ve never been in contention for that job, it is a highly coveted position, especially if your husband is the camp R.N. and you get to sleep…
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Belly Up
The 10-year old computer has gone belly up. I am plunking this out on my phone in the app which I do not trust as far as I can throw it. And so, dear brethren, we temporarily suspend operations until a new computer drops out of the sky. There are still some pretty fun posts…
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Valentine
If I can’t give anything else to my children at the end of my life because I’ve spent it all on puppies, plants for the yard, and train trips to baseball games, what I can give them is a love story. It’s the only one I’ve ever truly known so I can’t say whether it’s…
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Shifting Gears
Don’t laugh. I’d never be able to save your life by driving you to the hospital if all you had available for us was a manual transmission car because I can’t drive a stick. So if you’re feeling on the verge of a major health crisis and have me on your guest list for a…
Beyond Lashley Lane 