Being a child of the Eighties, I grew up with Sesame Street (I believe older episodes were better). Jim Henson’s Muppets made the show, in my opinion. Kermit the Frog was among my favorite characters. The Muppet Movie (the original) remains my favorite of all Muppet movies. I’m surprised...

Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God by name, yet his providence is seen throughout these short ten chapters. The book takes place during the time of exile and the reign of Persia. The book opens with King Xerxes giving a feast. Everyone...

Nehemiah and Ezra worked on the Temple and the city wall together. Their stories overlap yet present different information and points of view (like the four gospel accounts). In the past, I paid little attention to the return of the captives, skimming over the story in a rush to...

The book of Ezra opens with Cyrus releasing a portion of the remnant to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of God. He returns the items taken by King Nebuchadnezzar and offers the Israelites everything needed for the task. Soon, his edict is forgotten. Lesson 1: People forget...

I enjoy watching lightning flashes and listening to thunderstorms. I marvel at the differences in storms between the flat plains of Texas, the mountains of Colorado, or the countryside of Germany. On occasion, I gazed over the horizon as a wall cloud formed, unable to look away. This seemed...

When we moved into our apartment, Madilynn refused to come down the stairs by herself. After about a week, with some assistance and modeling by Big Brother Dietrich, she started to scoot down the stairs on her bottom. This past week, she began walking both up and down the...

I wear contacts. Without them, my vision is blurry. I am nearsighted with astigmatism. Due to the move, Peter’s job change, and waiting on insurance, my last pair of lenses were getting a rather thick film on them. One or both may have had other imperfections as well, like...

About five years ago, we learned the cause of our son’s violent rejection of many meals: an egg allergy. Many changes occurred in our home. Everything about the way food was prepared changed. I read every label, sometimes two or three times in the store and again at home....

On this day, eight years ago, I woke to Peter’s phone call saying he had been bumped from his flight (the Army wouldn’t let him off early the day before to get to his own wedding). He made it, just in time – though I guess we would have...

Confession: I am judgmental. I see often see things in black and white, with little wiggle room between right and wrong. I “call ’em like I see ’em” sometimes without regard for the feelings of others. I am quick-tempered, think justice should be swift and thorough, and that those...