"Have you ever been lonely, have you ever been blue?"  Patsy Cline      I have experienced loneliness at times in my life. Fortunately  I have the personality of a puppy. I want everyone to play with me so loneliness never lasts long. Sometimes you can be lonely in a crowd and sometimes you can be lonely in a marriage.      Life today is full of people but physical proximity does not necessarily cure social isolation. Do you know any shopaholics? Could they be trying to buy happiness by filling gaps in their lives? Albert Einstein said  " It is strange to be known so universally and yet ..read more

     Several years ago I began writing a book. It was about the life of a small group of people post pandemic. Actually I started two books with different characters and circumstances. Several hundred pages into the first one I realized it was totally ridiculous and the second one only slightly less so.  I finished neither. Not a surprise since I have a life time of half finished projects behind me.       So here we are, 8 years later in a real life pandemic. I have not buried bodies or searched houses for food and medication or journeyed hundreds of miles on foot. This is not pandemic of the ..read more

CHRISTIAN LIVING IN TODAYS WORLD Disagreeing with Christian Friends in Social Media And everybody was Kung Foo Fighting...Sometimes the amount of controversy elicited on Facebook reminds me of that Foo Fighters song. It all started with re posting a joke, innocent enough you might thing. It was offering one of our leaders to Iran to replace one of theirs that we had executed. I was called on the carpet by several people, saying calling for the murder of someone is unchristian. Hold up - murder? I thought the joke was offering her services, let her ruin their country instead of ours. May ..read more

    Christian Living in Today's World Christian Life with Mental Illness  I was talking to my husband yesterday about Christianity and mental illness. I bless my husband who recognized my suffering and insisted I get help.  But how can an untreated person be a Christian when they cannot control themselves? Since he has witnessed my meltdowns when I get off my medications. Ken felt he did not have the answer.      What happens, after about three days without medication I am appalled to hear the things that come from my mouth. I can hear them but I cannot stop them. Indeed it is if a demon h ..read more

Don't you hate when people make a reference to something in their life and you aren't"in on it". You have no idea what they are going through or what kind of emojii might be called for. So this will be the full story, the rest of the story. As I was thinking about writing this, I had the urge to be vague. After all, so many times the truth can show us in an ugly light. I want everyone to think I am sweet and nice all the time. Well, I am not.  So while this story doesn't reflect well on me, it reflects the wisdom and power of our God. My family has been dealing with a problem and the problem ..read more

     On Father's Day, particularly on Facebook we see many heartwarming pictures and stories. Then there are those of us who are silent. Those whose fathers died before we were old enough to have memories, who opted out, or just didn't leave any good memories.  My father died this past fall in October. I wish I could say I was grief stricken. Unfortunately I was only mildly sad.  I did feel bad for his mate of many years, Ruth and her family. They loved him and became his family. I am grateful that he had that. I realized that I know almost nothing about him on an intimate level. Did he hang ..read more

The title is paraphrasing Dorothy Gale from the movie The Wizard of OZ.  It can be difficult to tell the difference just by looking. I am working my way through the Old Testament. I began jotting down the names of the women mentioned on an index card.  To my surprise I have filled three cards front, back and margins and started a fourth. Some of the women's names are probably well known to you. Heroes like Marian and Rahab, strong leaders like Deborah, great beauties like Bathsheba and beautiful evil ones like Jezabel and Delilah. There are so many more, their names are listed with the descr ..read more

I was practically born in a church baby bed. I even remember being in the nursery as a toddler. I go to church with a couple who even kept me in the nursery at Abney Street Church of God those many years ago. I remember when I got saved. We were good little Methodists in my youth group and the local Baptists were showing a movie about the Rapture. Our minister, who had two young sons in youth group urged us not to go to the Baptist to see it.  Perhaps this was reverse psychology. At any rate all of us, including ones who seldom attended youth group made a bee line for the evening Baptist ser ..read more

     Obedience is something I have always had trouble dealing with. Any older person in my family, although not so many are left - could tell tales of my childhood. I would sneak out in the "woods" behind our house, refuse to tie my shoes, talk back, and strain against the discipline of 30 minutes of timed piano practice. Even as a toddler I threw huge screaming temper tantrums      The older I got the more of an attitude of MAKE ME! I got. When told to do the dishes I would do half the job, hiding the worst ones in the bottom of the garbage. I was halfway obedient.      Even joining the mil ..read more

There was a man whose pregnant wife craved ramps,  His next door neighbor had a beautiful garden full of wonderful fresh produce. Each night the wife would beg for ramps to fulfill her craving, so one night after dark her husband snuck into the neighbors garden and picked some ramps for his darling wife. The next night, his wife was sighing for more and once again he snuck into the garden, only to be caught by the owner, who happened to be a witch.  She agrees he may have all the food from the garden his wife desires but when the baby is born it will belong to her. Being afraid, he agrees. He ..read more