For writers, there is always a story—even a story about something as simple as planting a lemon seed. Since I enjoy taking a second look at simple things to see if there just might be a kernel of Truth or a lesson for me, and perhaps for you, I will tell you the simple story…
INTRODUCTORY NOTE: One of our dear friends, an infectious disease specialist and frontline medical professional, has been leading a drug trial for the drug Remdesivir, which appears to be a successful and viable treatment for the coronavirus. In learning more about this and praying for him and a medicine that would work, I had to…
News of the past few days—Hurricane Florence’s wrath bringing high winds and floodwaters to the East Coast, and then the pictures of those weary folks whose lives have been altered by circumstances beyond their control—it all reminded me of a memorable scene from one of my mission trips to Guatemala. One morning after our mission…
Being married to an artist makes life . . . what shall I say? . . . Colorful. Splashes of paint are frequently found in places other than his canvas – places like the floor, door frames where the artist walked through with orange paint on his brush, and even the refrigerator door handle. I’m…
Writers are sometimes asked where we get the idea for a story. Sometimes those ideas come as “lightbulb” moments, and sometimes they just grow bit by bit inside us. Let me tell you about my experience that birthed RETURN OF THE SONG. A few years ago, I received a call from the Executive Director of…
Summer has arrived in South Texas before the appointed June 21 summer solstice, and memories of last July compel me to hang on to the last of June’s cool mornings and cloudy afternoons. Even in retirement, I’m not so acquainted with that “summertime and the livin’ is easy” stuff, but I’ve committed to enjoy a bit…
In the past few days when the headlines were horrific, when the silent voices of lifeless victims were screaming, when those, whose lives have been forever changed, were sobbing, I’ve been silent. Many of my writer/minister friends have had helpful and important things to say that speak Truth and comfort. Others have just expressed their…
As a writer, I am a reader. I read an array of genres, fiction and nonfiction, and also a variety of writers. Almost everything I read becomes a tutorial – clever ideas, an interesting turn of phrase, clearer ways of communicating, and even some examples that I’d prefer avoiding. All that to say – I…
Advent is about waiting, and waiting comes with so much anticipation. But Christmas is that time when God rewards our waiting and our anticipation with THE VERY BEST GIFT—HIMSELF! He is always more than we could have anticipated. We have only to look at Christmas cards and nativity scenes to know that somewhere along the…
SEPTEMBER PERSPECTIVE Can it really be September? I mean, really? July and the Dog Days of August are history, but it seems no one told my thermometer or the meteorologists yet. Those sultry days of August were called Dog Days because of the ancient belief that Sirius, the brightest star in the Large Dog constellation,…