Leanne, a good friend of mine, recently started a blog called “Being Sam” based on Sam Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings.” In her blog she explores what it means to be Sam, to walk alongside another, to be “swept up in another’s journey and struggle.  The journey is not mainly [Sam’s],...

I’ve been getting a lot of “social justice” input lately. In addition to Christian’s blog which focuses a lot on the subject, a friend lent me the movie The Help, another friend lent me the book by the same name, and Blockbuster finally sent us Blind Side after months on the waiting list....

One day last week I was reading one of the blogs I follow and saw a word cloud based on Romans 12. One particular phrase jumped out at me: “Pray hard.” This is a phrase that I’ve seen and heard quite a bit, especially over the last few years, and it’s always raised questions in my mind. What...

According to most of what I’ve heard and read, most New Year’s resolutions don’t last more than a couple of weeks. We’re a little over six weeks into the new year, so I thought I’d check and see how I was doing. In case you missed it in my post called “Wishing You a Messy New Year,”  here’s...

Mom couldn’t read music, but she played the guitar and the piano by ear, and she had a beautiful singing voice. When they were young, she and her sister Fay sang duets in church, and Mom often led the congregational singing when no one else was available. It must have taken an enormous amount of strength...

The Christmas Eve service was beautiful last night. Lights were twinkling, carols were playing, candles were burning, people were singing and smiling and laughing and hugging and wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Excited children crowded to the front when the pastor told the children’s story. The...