That baby squirrel walked right up to Daddy out of the farm stubble. It’s no wonder; he’d found its poor mama floating in the cow trough only days earlier. He named the baby Sadie and kept her alive on homemade peanut butter until Dr. Ben, the town healer, recommended a special milk formula. She thinks […]
Maybe you’re dreading going to church tomorrow. You struggle to connect, to relate, to listen. To believe. You struggle to hear anything over the howl of your own criticisms. The gale of bitterness blows harder each week, and you’re not entirely sure where it comes from. Maybe you’re pretty sure it’s you, not them, but […]
Somewhere along the way, images of bony fingers clasping Starbucks and women hurrying to nowhere inspired us to over-caffeinate and get busier. Fictional moms sold us the message that however we’re doing life, it’s wrong. We stopped laughing, demonized ice cream, and hashtagged ourselves #failure. We traded in what works for us for what works […]
I had to open my birthday present from Daddy in a hurry because we were late. I tucked the beautiful mirror box back in its bag and off we went. Days later I was sitting at my laptop, choking on grisly headlines, surrounded by unpaid bills and unmade beds, sinking…. I breathed, Where are You, […]
At the playground, Selah took up with a little girl right away, but I watched Etta Rose’s shoulders wilt when the big girls told her to go play with someone else. She climbed down and leaned into me lonely, so I pleaded a silent prayer that The Comforter would send Et a friend. I read […]
While fixing our girls’ lunches one morning, my mind wandered to the time Jesus fed thousands stranded without food, using only 5 pieces of bread and 2 fish. This miracle is recorded in all four gospel accounts, but only John—the disciple who wrote God is Love—bothered to include this detail: the bread and fish belonged […]
She knows there’s more. She knows. I can see His reflection on her face. She knows God loves her and He sees her. She said His Name to herself on that swing, and whispered words I didn’t have at her age… I am free… Let her always be free. Let no one kidnap her away […]
Years ago, I invited my husband’s best friend “Bee” to speak to my 8th grade students. Bee used that time to encourage them with stories from his own childhood. Having known him for only a short time, I hadn’t heard many of the deeply personal details he shared that day, like how he was abandoned […]
My Grandma Jennie Belle tells the story of how during the Depression, my Great-great grandmother Jennie would rise before dawn and disappear somewhere down by the creek. One morning her curious children followed her and found her knelt by a log, deep in prayer. She did this every morning her whole life, penniless and […]
We were the very next passengers to board our flight from Atlanta back home. Mama handed her boarding pass to the attendant, but before he could grasp it, a woman with a voice from Home appeared out of nowhere shouting, Cindy! Is that you??? Mama retracted her ticket, stopping the entire boarding process as she […]