Old boots are much like ole friends. They started out a little stiff and perhaps a little awkward. In the beginning, they were not a perfect fit. However, the more time I spent with them, the more we molded as one.
Continue reading “Old Boots and Ole Friends”Redemption Parable
I remember as a child singing the hymn written by James Rowe and titled “Redeemed” with the refrain bouncing off the walls of our country church and settling into my spirit, I’m redeemed by love divine! Glory, glory! Christ is mine, Christ is mine! All to Him I now resign, resign I have been redeemed, redeemed!
Redemption Parable
One day vicious raiders from the north country raided our village. They broke into all our houses, stealing all the precious items our families had worked hard to provide. The men were ruthless and merciless.
Staying Warm (An Analogy)
I was raised in a farmhouse built in the late forties. When I was a teenager, my room was in the very back of the house equipped with a space-heater. I preferred to sleep without the heater. Fortunately, my mother was a quilter, so there was an unlimited supply of quilts. When it was very cold, I slept with a big pile of quilts on me. I felt so warm and cozy under all those quilts. On a rainy winter morning with the rain making music on the metal roof, it was difficult to crawl out and hit the cold floor.
Continue reading “Staying Warm (An Analogy)”Weeds
I was once visiting with an American mission group in Haiti. One of the leaders knowing that I had a background in agriculture asked my advice on the best spot in their compound for a garden. The answer was easy, “Wherever grass grows the best!”
Continue reading “Weeds”Goodbye Ole Okra
My old lover of hot summers is about to fade as the sunny hours grow fewer and the hot begins to turn toward cold. I am a son of the South, so I love okra, that odd vegetable that fills our summer plates and occasionally takes some space in our soups. Our Louisiana cousins put it in gumbo, and we love it too.
Our regional preferred dish is breaded and fried. I am one of the odd ones who also loves it boiled, leaving it slimy and slick. It chews easy and goes down quick.
Continue reading “Goodbye Ole Okra”Confusion and Chaos
The malicious destroyer scans his evil eyes over the landscape of a people who were at peace and prosperous. He knew his labor was not to convince but to deceive. He was trained in the principles of life and order in the Creation of the world, yet he rebelled against all that was good and holy and right. Whatever God was for, he was against.
He set his sights on two brothers named Confusion and Chaos and began the process of their wicked apprenticeship.
Continue reading “Confusion and Chaos”Constant As a Tree
We have a big willow oak (similar to a water oak) in our yard. It is part of the image of our home. My children literally grew up with this tree. I remember tying some of our horses to it back in the day, when it was only about eight inches in diameter. Now this monster is about 32 inches in diameter and a crazy eight feet or so around.
Continue reading “Constant As a Tree”Ingredients for the Joy Cake
Well, it’s the week after Christmas and days before the calendar flips to a new year. We are into winter regardless of the temperature and for many folks it is a dreary time of year. Presents have been opened, decorations will soon be stowed away, the daylight is short, and a new year looms just days away. The hype that made many happy a few days ago has wilted in the wind.
Being happy does not necessarily make us joyful. Happiness depends on a happening and when the happening ceases many get the mulligrubs. Joy is a peaceful and deep contentment that does not sway like the happiness barometer. Joy and her twin sister Peace swing from the same tree.
Continue reading “Ingredients for the Joy Cake”When Sister Thelma Died
She was lying on a hospital bed in the living room of her 60’s styled home. The month before, she had turned 86 and had lived as a widow for five years. Her paid caretakers had watched over her as her family had increased their visits knowing her departure was sooner than later.
Continue reading “When Sister Thelma Died”Old Boots and Old Friends
Old Boots and Old Friends
Old boots are much like old friends. They started out maybe a little stiff and came across somewhat stand-offish.. At first they may not have seemed a perfect fit but the more time I spent with them the more we molded into one. As we walked the roads together, we became a team of one.

