Hi. I’m Sandra/Sandy/Snady/SHK, and I’m a Tweetspeak Poetry workshopaholic. I want to believe that the investment I make in these workshops will pay off, that I’ll eventually/someday reap what I sow in terms of my bank account. That may or may not happen. But I’m pretty sure that what I invest in self-care is immeasurable […]
Simple Touches of Hospitality
Several weeks ago, our Sunday School class held a Chili Cook-Off. I brought bowls of shredded cheese and sour cream to help calm anticipated spicy fires of the tongue. I also won second place with my vegetarian chili, substituting ginger ale for the beer. The recipe is in GraceTable’s free Fall-Winter Volume I cookbook […]
A Harp Journey – Coming Home
In fall of 2011, an aggressive form of brain cancer attacked my mother. When I moved into the hospice home with her, I bagged my harp up and brought it along. I plunked out “Amazing Grace,” and together we just “noodled” around with it. Another musically-inclined patient down the hall was giddy over this […]
Drink Up All
How many times have I traveled this road as it bends and curves? Enough lately so I dare to look around and let the Journey carry me. It downshifts itself to climb. Carmine and golden hills surround me. I’m in ski country. My dad says this road was once an Indian trail that led from Petoskey to Alpena. Gray […]
Some Ramblings On Charleston
I’ve been mostly silent about Charleston, stunned and saddened and totally at a loss to understand the hatred directed toward someone whose skin color just happens to be a different shade. I’ve also been hesitant to speak or write for fear of saying something too stupid, too simple, too superficial. Of speaking without understanding. Of being […]
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 […]
My House Is On Fire
I’d just set down bowls of chicken and rice kibble mixed with canned lamb dinner when my phone rang. I’m used to not being able to understand the grandgirl because of giggling and commotion in the background. But tonight (Monday–the day after Mother’s Day) was different. Through her panic, I finally understood her screams. “My house […]
One Word Less For Lent 2015 – 10
He was . . . a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. ~Isaiah 53:3 (NASB) Word Count: 10 All the One Word Less for Lent 2015 posts are bundled here. In the stillness, Sandy
In Which Cancer Brings Clarity for David
UPDATE: David Landrith, pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church, joined Jesus in heaven this morning, November 18, 2014. He now rests in the shadow of the Amighty. Please continue to pray for his family and his church. I’m so sad today, yet grateful for the privilege of having just a small connection with his people, for having […]
Cultivating Good In the Midst of Grief
She was my age, and also a nurse. She helped birth this place–a place where people could live out their last days in unforced rhythms of grace, where grief itself could cultivate good. I’m sure she never dreamed that she would be birthed to a new life from one of its beds. She was admitted the same […]
