Grocery Store Gospel
I work at a grocery store part-time and today, the weekend before Christmas, was BUSY. The till whines an incessant tune of: BEEP – turkey – BEEP – stuffing – BEEP – cranberries – BEEP – flour – BEEP – butter – BEEP – sugar… I smile at an endless stream of faces and peek into lives as they enter my world for a few short minutes. Today, people are weary. Weary with work and overwhelmed with crowds. It feels like a sea of people, in the same place but with no togetherness. I see a little girl in polka dots at the checkout in front of me. She’s about three…
The Only Kids in the Creek
It was a pretty normal morning. Our three children and I were wading through a close-by stream, searching for little creatures. We were quite the sight – large rubber boots, nets, and nature jars in our hands. But we had success – a toad – croaking loudly. As we emerged from a treed space, I noticed a large group of children of all ages lined at the edge of the water. “Must be a homeschool group” was my first assumption – I’d never seen children here during a school day. Our children are always the only kids in the creek. Upon asking a young blond boy, I was pleasantly…
Tilling the Soul.
I get it. The theraputic nature of gardening. I didn’t always. The grit of the soil between my fingers, it now connects me deeply to God’s earth. The tilling of the ground – an act as ancient as time. And I do it this week. Hardened dirt lays before me. Naked and grassless in a small area, maybe 6ft by 4ft in our messy, unkept, but gloriously green backyard. But not this patch. It’s dead brown. We need to plant seed – so I start to till. On a sunny, cool morning, I just start hitting the soil. Me, a three-pronged weapon and bare dirt – we have a date. WHACK. …
