The Blessing Jar

The Blessing Jar

Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done! Are

Make Clear The Road Each Day

Make Clear The Road Each Day

There is an old Celtic Blessing that sits on my desk that I look at nearly every day. O God,

Choose His Side

Lately, there are many places to “pick a side”. A lot of trying to figure out the right answer to everything. The virus brought with it several choices- to grow stronger as a country or to let it start to destroy us. My hope was that, just as our country had done before, we would pull together in a crisis more than ever. Initially, it seemed we were doing just that! We focused on the positives coming from slowing down and being at home and saw the good that was being created even out of a bad situation. We saw ways God was working in families and lives that could not have happened at any other time. But there also was a restlessness that seemed to creep in, and then every day became another day to pick a side. You could choose to wear gloves or not, wear a mask or not, speak up or be silent, protest or not, and even pick a political side. I found myself very frustrated and misunderstood and unable to know when and how to express what I truly valued. Even agreeing with an article could be taken the wrong way.

New Seasons Of Life

New Seasons Of Life

This past Wednesday I traveled to Charleston with David Rosenblum and his son John. We shared lunch with The Rev.

Joy In Serving The Children

Joy In Serving The Children

This summer looks different in so many ways, both in the world around us and in the walls of the church. We usually offer programs for children at both campuses and VBS or other summer programs. But this year the rooms on both campuses are silent. The laughter and singing isn’t there right now, but it will be again in the near future.

Padre’s Father’s Day Ponderings – Edisto 2020

Padre’s Father’s Day Ponderings – Edisto 2020

Once-young lovers strolling hand-in-hand, an old man re-baiting his hook, a father teaching his young son to throw a cast

My Heart, My Son

My Heart, My Son

Our second oldest son, William, will graduate from Bluffton High School on June 6th. Of course, he’s not graduating in

The Gardener

The Gardener

Spring has always been a time for planting seeds and preparing the soil for gardens. Our family had a vegetable garden and each year we made sure that it was planted by Good Friday. I am not sure if that was just a tradition passed down through the family or if it was tied to the Farmer’s Almanac, but it was what we did each and every year. Gardens and their bounty form a big part of my the summer memories. Cucumber and mayonnaise sandwiches on white bread or tomato sandwiches so juicy that you had to eat them standing over the kitchen sink were a daily occurrence that marked those summer months. Recently my brother began his days of quarantine by tilling up his side yard to plant an enormous garden. Sports had ended because of Covid-19, so his favorite pastime had come to an abrupt and disappointing halt. He took this time to go back to his roots and be a gardener once again. Growing up, he was constantly outside digging in the dirt and playing with the metal John Deere tractors in our backyard. I remember once he created a mini-farm by our pump house using his toy tractors. He marked off neat rows, planted corn seeds and created an irrigation system for his miniature field. He was in his element then and now, because farming and gardening is in his DNA. Actually, gardening in all of our DNA.

Go Forth In The Light

Go Forth In The Light

On many occasions during our twenty-four years together, I have stood by an open grave and quoted these promising words: “He [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away . . . I [God] am making everything new!” from Revelation 21:4-5.

Stones of Remembrance

There are so many unknowns right now, but nothing about them is new to God. Recently, I was looking back over family updates from years back. In 2010, we didn’t know when we would be moving, where Jonathan would be working, or when baby #5, our sweet Josiah, would be born. It seemed we had more unknown than known. What I can tell you about the unknowns, uncertain and even scary days, is that the closeness of God is palpable. It is a closeness that brings tears and love, patience and peace, along with a flood of knowing He is all that matters. Oftentimes, I find rereading updates I have shared to be so helpful, because I have forgotten those times of God’s faithfulness. I realized it is no accident that in the Old Testament when leadership is changing hands as one is about to die, there is a reciting of the whole story of all that God has done. We think we won’t forget, but we do. And I have learned the best way to remember is to write them down.