"Come quickly," my wife hollered as I sat at my computer, writing in the early morning hours. Though we live in the city, a few months ago an opossum came waddling through the privacy fence surrounding our backyard and made himself at … Read more

It was almost four years ago that I began something brand new to me: writing devotionals. Let me explain how that came about. For a number of years now, I have been the "cat herder" for a group of my classmates from Multnomah School of … Read more

I started to scratch my head the minute that my daughter announced that my oldest granddaughter had picked up head lice: those creepy-crawly, hard-to-get-rid-of, teeny-tiny creatures that live in your hair and suck your blood. … Read more

"Please read the God Book, Oma!" pleaded my five-year-old granddaughter. I realized that she was referring to The Toddler's Bible by V. Gilbert Beers, even though I had never called it the God Book. That was her idea! I was thrilled. … Read more

One morning as I was walking from Penn Station in New York City to the 8th Avenue subway, one of the free newspaper vendors interrupted his normal patter and cried out, "Smile, you woke up today! Think about the alternative!" The crowd's … Read more

In the summer of 2014, my husband Jim was the lay minister at K-Bar, a recreational vehicle (RV) resort in the White Mountains of eastern Arizona, USA. He was also suffering the side effects of chemotherapy, so he sat on a stool to … Read more

There is an abundance of farmland where we live in southern Ontario, Canada. The farmers grow mostly wheat, corn, soybeans, and hay. Most of the hay is baled in round bales that measure four feet (120 cm) across and five feet (150 cm) in … Read more

It is very pleasant to look down from my fifth-floor balcony onto the street below, while I try to establish facts about the many pedestrians, who are from many different countries. They are close enough to see but too far away to engage … Read more

One rainy night in our university days, my then-fiancé and his friend were accompanying me home from the library, where the three of us had been studying. I was walking quickly on the sidewalk with my umbrella, and the two of them were on … Read more

I find that there is something special about meeting the Lord in prayer early in the morning before the day breaks. When I rise out of bed at what seems to be an inconvenient time, to praise God and to seek His direction in prayer, my day … Read more