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All These Things I Believe
God calls us Home, Each in His own time, And that is why life is precious. Do not fill your days with worry and fear, But rather, be grateful for the life given you. Mourn lost loved ones, But rest safely in the comfort of knowing they are with their Lord. Do not bemoan…
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Excerpt from A Laughing Matter of Pain – Chapter 15
There’s little joy around here. It’s not like the guards put up greenery along the hallways and wind garland around the bars. There aren’t any Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. It’s just the same dull, dim overhead lights, the kind that make a guy look even more like death than he already does in…
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Review of The Austrian: A War Criminal’s Story (Book 1) by Ellie Midwood
The title of this book alone is a hook, at least for me. World War II is, after all, one of the most important events in recent history, filled with some of the greatest atrocities ever committed against our fellow humans. It’s easy to root for those who were persecuted and the Allies who ended…
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Facing Loss and Embracing New Possibilities
Loss. It’s a word we don’t want to hear, let alone experience. Yet we all experience it. We all know loss, not just of it. Some of us have known it on a first name basis for too many years. If we’re lucky, some of us know it only as an acquaintance for brief periods…
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Excerpt from Arianna (Unpublished WIP)
The service began at 9:30. As it progressed, familiarity returned in full force. A person might think it would be foreign, like wearing someone else’s broken-in shoes, to return after so many years. The music, the words, the prayers–all were like slipping into a pair of my own old shoes. The sermon nearly caught me…
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Excerpt from Arianna (Unpublished WIP)
My body still shook with the sting of Brad’s words when I pulled into Nana’s narrow driveway. The street was dark, with the exception of a streetlight every three houses. Buried between Nana’s house and the neighbor’s nearly identical bungalow, I stayed in my car with the windows rolled up for some time. The night…
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Small Group Friendships
If the title of this blog reminds you of cliques from when you were in school, stop right there. While I can feel that vibe, this is about the opposite. This, my friends, is a blog not just about friendship but about small group friendships. What do I mean by that? My definition of small…
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Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude
Ugh, do I have to wake up? Waking up is vastly overrated. The pillows, the blankets, the soft curve of the mattress against my body, these are calling my name, beckoning me like a lullaby. But if I’m honest with myself, I’m lucky today. I actually didn’t wake before my alarm on my phone. My…
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Excerpt from Arianna
The sky was vibrant orange and pink over the lake as Marc and I sat on his couch. “You have a million-dollar view,” I said. “I’d like to think it’s priceless.” I turned toward him and smiled. His right arm was draped around me as I sat with my legs pulled up on the cushions.…
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“As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love we had, we can die without ever really going away. All the love you created is still there. All the memories are still there. You live on – in the hearts of everyone you have touched and nurtured while you were…