Almost eighty-five years ago on a cold November day in south Ukraine, a baby boy was born to a twenty-one year old woman. Five months earlier, her husband, who had refused to fight in the Communist army, had been taken by train to Siberia. Her newborn child would...

Competitiveness is a form of selfishness. True? This is something my husband and I like to debate. We both love to watch and play sports. He argues that competition is a good thing that drives a person to be their very best. But I see a negative side. Sometimes I get...

What would it be like if we truly viewed ourselves the way God views us? I wondered this as I read the story of Gideon this past week. “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” an angel says to Gideon in Judges 6:12. The ironic thing is that at the time, Gideon is in...

There are a lot of difficult things we are faced with in life, but I think one of the toughest is waiting. There are several situations right now where I find myself having to patiently (or not so patiently) wait for the outcome of something, and to be honest, it is a...

The Fourth of July is around the corner, and whether you love the fireworks lighting up the sky or you can’t stand all the noise, it’s a day to take a holiday and celebrate the founding of our country. When we think of holidays we usually think of a day off work,...

The tennis match had come down to one point.  This never happens in tennis! But our indoor USTA matches were timed, and at two hours, you stop no matter what. Each of us had won a set, and we were tied in the tie-breaker. Now the whole doubles match would be...

Can you imagine sleeping at night with your head resting on a stone or a block of wood? Believe it or not, those were pillows of ancient times! The Chinese had their own version of pillows–headrests made of porcelain that were even designed to be works of art. It...

“I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me!  When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing...

Thank you, friends, for listening to my musings every week! Every time I start to wonder whether or not I should keep up this weekly gig, God puts something on my heart — something we are pondering at school, some random idea my husband shares, or something I’m...

It seems like I am constantly being bombarded with ads for face creams and other miracle beauty treatments. The perfect cure for unwanted wrinkles, age spots, cellulite, you name it.  Sign me up! The older I get, the more I realize that the deterioration of our...