In school we learned about the blockade at Yorktown which led to the surrender of Lord Cornwallis – which led to a quick end to the war for independence. We were told of the leadership of George Washington. We were told of the French hero who led French soldiers to aid us in the fight. […]

Today is National Cherry Day. Cherries are a stone fruit from the genus Prunus, which includes plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds. Pits from the cherries have been found in Stone Age caves in Europe and were enjoyed by the Greeks and Romans. Immigrants from Europe introduced cherries to the USA in the 1600s and commercial […]

Yesterday it was 37 years since my first husband was killed in an accident.  He died when the car he was working on fell on top of him and crushed him.  My two young daughters came home from school and found him there.  Needless to say, it was quite a traumatic experience for them. All […]

Grandma Sechrest was the only grandparent I was close to, the only one that expressed love and an interest in me.  I also related more to her because she was a red head, like me.  All my life I was told that I looked like her side of the family – the Tates.   I never […]

Growing up I often heard my mother say that as you age time flies faster.  I always thought that was silly.  Time is time.  It does not move slower or faster.  A minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes.  Same for everyone. Now that my mother is gone and I am the old […]

Reading in Matthew this week with my husband for our devotions I found a statement by Jesus that made me really stop and think about what I say. But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken….New International Version. Other translations […]

Another excellent Bible study today using the book “Encounter the Spirit” by Carolyn Moore. Moore noted that there is a difference between someone who cooks and someone who IS a cook. Many of us cook because we are hungry and need to eat in order to live. We probably know little about the vocabulary of […]

A few years ago my husband and I took our granddaughter to a park by the Mississippi River near our house to feed the ducks.  Although she was only four years old she quickly realized we were only a few blocks from the John Deere Pavilion.  She loves this place with all the many tractors […]

My granddaughter turned eight years old this month.  In her eight years she has kept me laughing with her wisdom. One of the funniest memories is when she was four years old and was trying to get her Papa to make a decision about whether he would take her to one of her favorite places […]

Probably no country in the world has been more adamant about the rights of its citizens and the role of government in maintaining those rights. When the U.S. Constitution was written, three delegates to the Constitutional Convention did not sign it because it lacked a bill of rights. Created in 1787 the Constitution became the […]

This past year has been so crazy! And the TV news channels I think have only added to the confusion and division. Depending on whether you watch CNN or FOX News you usually get a different take on the same story. One evening I just flipped back and forth between the two and I could […]

For some time I have been denying that I am having trouble hearing. Watching a movie or listening to my pastor on Sunday there are times when I will miss a complete sentence or two because I just cannot hear well. When listening to friends I find myself asking them “what” “huh” or just trying […]

Friend – a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations. Friend – a person who you like and enjoy being with. I sometimes envy other women when they share how they have been friends for 10, 20 or 30 years.  I listen […]

In one of the Aposle Paul’s writings he said: We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God. As I look at our chaotic world today with all the divisions as […]