Beyond the Pall

Pall—a casket covering used during the funeral, from the Latin pallium, or cloak. The days following Jim’s death were a flurry of activity—trips to the mortuary and cemetery, planning his celebration of life service, numerous necessary phone calls and texts, and people constantly in and out of the house. I was focused on doing the next […]

Continue Reading

When Forward Motion is Hard

What has 2024 been like for you thus far? Are you energized, determined, and happy, or has the first week of the year brought medical issues, sudden loss, and grief? My reality is the second part of the list. On January 3, 2024, I came home from a short errand to find my husband dead […]

Continue Reading

The Gift of a Redeemer

Long, long ago, in a faraway land, a baby was born. This is how fairy tales begin, but the story of Jesus’s birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection is not a fairy tale dreamed up in someone’s imagination; it is a true story, the greatest story ever told. At the beginning of this year, my […]

Continue Reading

The Gift of Music

Last weekend, I sang in our choir Christmas presentation. Unless you are a singer, I’m not sure you can fully understand the joy it brings to stand side-by-side with others who are singing. A camaraderie exists in blending voices and finally “getting” difficult passages. While the audience hears seemingly effortless, beautiful music, only vocalists know […]

Continue Reading

The Gift of Hospitality

Years ago, when I was leading a girls’ discipleship group, we completed a spiritual gifts survey for each person in the group. I was surprised to see the results. Many of the girls scored me high on the gift of hospitality. I never considered hospitality one of my gifts, but then I realized hosting these […]

Continue Reading

The Gift of Family Nostalgia

Last weekend, our family spent an evening at Tweetsie Christmas. Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, North Carolina, has been in existence since I was a child. It’s one of those places you remember from childhood, and later take your children, and this year, our grandchildren. Holiday events, items, and history, passed on to successive generations, […]

Continue Reading

Giving Good Gifts

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Pre-Black Friday. Early Cyber Monday. Extended Cyber Monday. What used to be single days has turned into weeks, or a month, of special deals. At this time of the year, we are bombarded with incentives to purchase gifts—the right gifts, the perfect gifts. But have you considered that the best gifts […]

Continue Reading

With Thanksgiving

Historically we think of Thanksgiving as a time of feasting. In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims had been on American soil less than a year. During that time, over half the original colonists died from disease or starvation. The Pilgrims hosted the first feast to celebrate life with their Indian friends and give thanks […]

Continue Reading

Lessons in Creativity

This week, I attended a charcuterie board class. I’ve created charcuterie boards before, but usually just placed items willy-nilly, not realizing there was a plan to how it should be done. I didn’t know you start by placing items in a diagonal line and build from there. I’d never thought about color and height when […]

Continue Reading