My two-year-old daughter was missing. I’d been sitting in a lawn chair under the Georgia pines that summer morning while I watched her play in the driveway and must have dozed off again. I ran around the yard and through the house and back outside calling for her—not too loud because I didn’t want to […]
When Hospitality Is Caked With Dust
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. (1 Peter 4:9 ESV) My dad’s told the story a quadrillion times. How I overheard him say he’d like fish and fried potatoes for breakfast. So one morning I rose early (Dad says I was probably only 10 years old), grabbed my fishing pole and a can of […]
I Didn’t Expect
I never expected to have children. I never dreamed of a family. I didn’t play love and marriage or stuff my shirt with pillows. I did dream of caring for others. Maybe in far countries. I even used to hope I’d find an injured animal so I could take care of it. But I […]
scripture sunday: children come
One month from today, I’ll be back in Haiti. Stilled by anticipation, Sandy With Deidra and The Sunday Community
how we love
Lillee bounces down the aisle and slides into the pew like she comes to this church with us every week. She pulls a hymn book out of the rack. When time comes for the children’s sermon, she beats everyone to the platform steps and takes a seat next to Miss Jeannie, then stands up […]
helping a child transition
Packing up the dreams God planted In the fertile soil of you Can’t believe the hopes He’s granted Means a chapter of your life is through. ~Michael W. Smith I find Jacoba Brenda in a storage tub, buried with her sisters under musty newborn-turned-doll clothes. I gently pull her out and cup her beany body […]