Posts with the tag “karon-cecy”

My Dad loved to disguise our Christmas presents. He would put a phone book or catalog inside a present to make the box heavier. My sister and I would shake our gifts and hear rattles that turned out t...  Read More

Have you ever picked berries from the vine?  You gently, carefully pluck the juicy berry from the vine taking care to not get scratched by the prickly thorns.  You pop the berry in your mouth and tast...  Read More

Planes, trains, bicycles, automobiles, golf carts, cable cars... So many ways to get from one place to another.  Big cities have subways that speed you to your destination. There are even underwater s...  Read More

Raising teenagers can be disheartening.  One-minute parents are amazed and hopeful as they see their teens act responsibly.  The next minute their hopes are dashed as they see them do or say something...  Read More

“What is that noise?”  My daughter was driving when the noise became more clear. “Meow!” over and over again. She pulled her car over to investigate, popped the hood up, and peered inside. There was a...  Read More

The moon is full. The stars twinkle as if to say, “Look at me”. Reeds along the shore sway in the gentle breeze. Underfoot the tiny shells on the shore crackle as we walk on them. Water lapping on the...  Read More

I picked up the pea between my thumb and finger and flicked it across the table at my husband. Our three girls gasped in shock.  Throwing food at the table was not allowed! My husband retaliated with ...  Read More

The moon was full, giving everything a soft silvery glow. So lovely. My family slept peacefully while I quietly, stepped outside. Bathed in moonlight, I walked to the middle of our backyard and stoppe...  Read More

She fell into my arms.  We both wept tears of joy. It had been about 25 years since our foster daughter was taken from our home. With a big bear hug, my husband Jim exclaimed, “There’s my girl, welcom...  Read More

I hear it coming…. a quiet tremble, then a screaming rumble! A shocking boom follows it and then the violent shaking begins. Next, I hear the crashing of items thrown off the counters and watch the ch...  Read More

It was a peaceful moment.  My mom was gently teaching me to float on my back in the river. With me in tow, she walked on the riverbed backwards. All of a sudden, my mom unexpectedly fell into a deep h...  Read More

As a young adult, walking into a church for the first time, I felt intimidated. Up to that point, I worked hard at being invisible to people—always quiet and very much in the background. As a new beli...  Read More

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”Romans 12:9 - “…give preference to one another in honor…”I come from a long line of First ...  Read More

My heart was moved by the description in Genesis of Jacob’s move to Egypt. Jacob was shocked to learn his son Joseph, who he thought was dead, was, in fact, alive and the most powerful ruler in Egypt ...  Read More

Our first home was a quaint cabin-like house in the woods of Felton, California. I loved many things about this house. It sat in the center of the horseshoe-shaped lane called Lazywoods.In the front y...  Read More

There is so much food for meditation in this event, but I am struck today with one question after reading this: Why did God tell Noah to build the Ark?  God could have built it. After all, He made the...  Read More

When I was thirty-five years old something happened that changed my perspective forever about my devotion to God.One morning I felt convicted about giving God my leftovers of time for prayer, worship,...  Read More

There is nothing that prepares you for a natural disaster.  Oh yes, you can stock up on food and always have water accessible in your house and car. However, the emotional stress and sorrow of being i...  Read More

Traveling is not easy. Beyond the airport hassles, lost luggage, and exhausting ministry schedule comes the challenge of maintaining a regular eating schedule.In my experience:Europeans have a heavy b...  Read More

One day it finally happened! In reading through the Bible, I now arrived at Leviticus. In the past, I found great difficulty reading this particular book. Consequently, I decided to pray and ask the H...  Read More

My window to the world is opened up through the power of the internet. Once again, I wait patiently for my ministry friend to log on. How amazing it is that I can connect with someone in Bucharest, Ro...  Read More

What do you do when you wake up with a feeling of anticipation that something important is going to happen today?  Fear and uneasiness seeps in.  Overwhelmed by the magnitude of unexplained change…the...  Read More

I was delighted when my new husband felt called by God to become a pastor. My husband and I had no idea what was ahead. Both of us were late converts. As we stepped into the role as leaders we were wo...  Read More

My window to the world is opened up through the power of the internet. Once again, I wait patiently for my ministry friend to log on. How amazing it is that I can connect with someone in Bucharest, Ro...  Read More

Many times, God uses what has happened in my past or present to drive home a lesson He wants me to learn.This week, God took me back to the time my daughters were little. My daughter stumbled into the...  Read More

One night I woke up at 2am with a start!  A thought struck me, “I should do a Bible Study for my grandkids.” Musing on the thought I drifted back to sleep. In the morning I awoke thinking about my 2am...  Read More

Both sides of my family were embroiled on opposite sides in that tragic, American Civil War which was fought April 12, 1861–May 26, 1865.  Here I am today a descendent of the North and the South. On m...  Read More

A hero is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as “A person admired for achievements and noble qualities. One who shows great courage.” Who are the heroes in your life? Perhaps a favorite Bible character, ...  Read More

My sister Marsha and I were raised in a home with a mentally ill mother. Our mother was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. She refused medication. Consequently, my sister and I grew up in a volati...  Read More

There are some images that will stick in my mind forever.  One of those images is my dear husband lying on his back next to our foster daughter under the coffee table.  He was talking softly to her as...  Read More

There we were at the Department of Motor Vehicles—no one’s favorite place! It was one of those times, as an eighteen-year-old cop’s daughter, I felt the pressure. I adored my Dad and wanted to him so ...  Read More

I don’t know whose idea it was—my sister Marsha’s or mine. She was eleven years and I was thirteen. Our house was situated on two and a half acres. We decided to create a village under the giant cypre...  Read More

Sleep captures me every night. I can drink coffee, sing or watch a movie to delay sleep, but sleep will come over me like a fog rolling into a valley. Sleep always wins. God gave us this turn-off swit...  Read More

Our seminary days were a real financial strain. While he studied full-time to seminary, I worked full-time. Besides living expenses, the tuition for seminary put our budget to the test. Jim worked bet...  Read More

We see in the Scriptures that hospitality is commanded by God, especially for church leaders (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8). But what is hospitality? Quite literally it means to be “a lover of strangers.”...  Read More

UGH, I have ignored this walk-in kitchen supply closet long enough. Whenever I try to find something, an item crashes onto the floor. I stuff it anywhere it can fit. Balanced on the edge, it is ready ...  Read More

One evening I was leading a Bible Study for young women in my home. One of the women shared that the Bible she carried belonged to her mother who had passed away. Flipping through her mother’s Bible, ...  Read More

Growing up in a home with a schizophrenic mother, I learned to be silent. The less I said, the better. Consequently, this protective shell of silence became my norm. People called me shy; I felt it wa...  Read More

I have always looked for teachable moments with my kids with the goal of creating a hunger and thirst for God. One day a lesson came in a most unexpected way. It had been storming for a few days as th...  Read More

I spent many years as an executive secretary. (Now they call them Assistants). I was eventually able to type sixty-six words a minute and was also quite adept at shorthand at 110 words per minute. To ...  Read More