Dec
31
2021
Dad loved Jesus’s response to the Pharisees. They often tried to trap Jesus. He frequently faced either/or no-win decisions by them but Jesus offers the third option. Consider, for instance, the woman caught in adultery. The religious leaders give...
Dec
30
2021
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live.” This verse was one of my Dad’s favorites. The root derivative of the word decide means to slay....
Dec
29
2021
Dad struggled with some forms of common sense—like when he accidentally shot my mom's dog (no, it did not die) while trying to warn off a woodpecker that was destroying our house. But Dad had uncommon common sense when...
Dec
28
2021
At camp, my Dad struggled to help student-athletes understand the necessity of encouragement. Then he compared it to oxygen.
Oxygen is necessary for life; the same is true of encouragement. Just like a room without oxygen steals our life, a...
Dec
24
2021
Merry Christmas to all of you at Words of Hope. I want to share this Christmas story. Tom is my father-in-law, and he and my Dad were close friends. They met many years ago when Tom invited my Dad...
Dec
23
2021
How many of our friends and family struggle with feeling alone? My Dad loved the great poet Maya Angelou who said, “We, unaccustomed to courage, exiles from delight, live coiled in shells of loneliness.” Christmas is a time many...
Dec
22
2021
My oldest daughter Natalya turned twenty-five Sunday. Dad was there for her birth. Shann, my Mom, Dad, and other friends waited in the comfortable birthing room and out in the lobby, waiting for my labor pains to come....
Dec
21
2021
I have been praying daily for the Christians kidnapped in Haiti. They were held by a murderous gang who wantonly killed children and adults unable to pay an exorbitant ransom. I felt frustrated with our government—why are we not...
Dec
20
2021
Sorrow can feel like a heavy shroud. I sometimes feel suffocated by it if I allow my mind to think of no more time with Dad, no more calls, no more chats by the fire, or surprise trips. I...
Dec
17
2021
I wouldn’t say Dad loved poetry when he was younger, but he definitely grew to love poetry. We both found poetry more and more beautiful after knowing my husband, Shann. Shann did an MFA in poetry, and now our...
