Doors and Windows

New pictures arrived in my e-mailbox just before Thanksgiving. There were two and the second one grabbed my heart. His face was beaming with a smile that melted me off my seat; his eyes twinkled and for some reason, through that picture he became real to me. Just less than two years of waiting, hoping,...
Read more »

Twenty-eight years have disappeared from the day I gave birth to my only child. November is the month I pushed him out into this world and met him face to face. I was a teenager when he was born, unable to comprehend the miracle of his precious life – unwilling to have my self-centered...
Read more »

I was on my way home the other day when I noticed an arm dangling out of the trunk of the car in front of me. After a double-take, I chuckled at the mobile Halloween décor. The flapping arm triggered flashes of “body-in-trunk” scenes I’ve seen in movies and it made me think how life...
Read more »

Isolate “X” we are told. Get rid of everything on one side so that only X is left then figure out what X is. Only a select few, I have found, understand what X is or how to find it. Multitudes, on the other hand, have no clue how to find X, what it...
Read more »

Peace. This is the title of an inspirational painting hanging above my writing desk. The scripture underneath this quiet word says, “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” Psalm 119:114. I draw from the well of this statement made by David, anointed King of Israel, penned while hiding...
Read more »

Less than two weeks before the somber moment pictured above was captured on film, my husband and I sat with his father in a Peoria Illinois restaurant. All was normal. He was well. We chatted, he asked us questions about our welfare, and we answered each one while he ate a huge plate of...
Read more »

Graduation is indeed an accomplishment worth celebrating – a time to reflect on hard work and good times. For high school seniors, it’s like a wedding. Students order invitations, gowns, rings and flowers. They attend rehearsals and welcome relatives from far away. They pose for endless pictures, hug everyone at least once and secretly...
Read more »

Mom drifted off to sleep long before bedtime most weeknights. As a child I remember how she got up early every day, dressed up real nice and went to work. My brother and I got home before she did, and when she arrived she wasn’t up for much conversation. One day Mom told me she...
Read more »

Agent Maxwell Smart began his day marching to his desk through a multitude of doors. The weekly TV show’s determined detective was portrayed as not-so-smart, but his entrance into work was spectacular. Some doors Smart encountered were disguised. One, I recall, was a brick wall. Others were made of unlikely door material, but all opened...
Read more »

Their journey was long and treacherous. The four travelers were exhausted and frazzled, entering the castle with anticipation. Finally they had arrived. Here in this place was the answer they sought – so they hoped. Each one came for a different reason. One came to find a way back home. One to find courage,...
Read more »