Listen HERE Fourteen years ago, my grandmother gifted us an ornate advent calendar. It is shaped like a house, and each door is numbered. She also sent little ceramic animals that I remember from my own childhood. “Put one in each door,” she wrote in her letter, “and then, each day you can see whoContinue reading “The Blindness of Advent”
Tag Archives: Hope
Growing Popcorn
Listen HERE It takes 100 days for popcorn to grow. I planted the seeds in May. I watched the stalks grow throughout June and July. By August 25th, the yellow ears were ready to harvest. My kids helped me take the kernels off about fifty of the cobs, and I couldn’t wait to fry themContinue reading “Growing Popcorn”
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: A Book Review and a Memory
When I first read Andrew Peterson’s title, “On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness,” I remembered being there myself. My father was a fisherman, and it was nighttime on the Atlantic in January. The slap of gentle waves against the ship made me sleepy as we sat silently side by side, staring outContinue reading “On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness: A Book Review and a Memory”
Autumnal Hope
Listen HERE “The seasons are a sort of disease all young poets have, it seems,” the teacher says to Emily in L.M. Montgomery’s “Emily of New Moon.” This makes two weeks in a row that I am referencing nature, but it is hard not to during such a beautiful Fall. Why did the Lord makeContinue reading “Autumnal Hope”
Washed Away
Listen HERE My grandmother led us stalwartly up the mountain road. She had on her walking hat and made sure that we each had our walking sticks, either intricately carved or lobbed off a nearby tree. Each walk had a different story: There’s a secret message tree just ahead with a knothole where explorers putContinue reading “Washed Away”
Horrible Made Good
I don’t go to Sunday School intending to break up fist fights, but it’s happened a time or two. After the most recent altercation, one of the offending parties flung himself down on his face in the grass and sobbed, “My life is so horrible!” He detailed the reasons why, and I couldn’t disagree. ThisContinue reading “Horrible Made Good”
Beautiful Little Fingers
Listen HERE Summer is the season of sidewalk chalk. Both at home and at church, I have crates of sidewalk chalk to keep little fingers busy and to share the Good News through color. Yellow. God is holy, and He made everything. Black. We sinned and disobeyed God, separating ourselves from him forever. Red. HeContinue reading “Beautiful Little Fingers”
Spiritual Sacrifices
Listen HERE The little boy motioned to me to bend down closer so that he could speak into my ear. Before then, the only whole sentences I’d heard him utter were, “Have to go bathroom,” and “Is it time to eat yet?” He had a long tale to tell that brought waves of grief asContinue reading “Spiritual Sacrifices”
What’s a Buckler?
Listen HERE “And under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” I’ve read it many times. I’ve quoted it many times. However, this week, I read it, looked up, and wondered, “What is a buckler?” Do you know? After googling it, I went around asking my kids. My teenageContinue reading “What’s a Buckler?”
Elect Exiles
Listen HERE Fireworks exploding in an over-stuffed garage caused a housefire one summer. Soon after the fire, I saw a sad procession as I was driving: a boy pushing a lawnmower, his younger brother wearing a garden hose wrapped around his shoulders, little sister with a black garbage bag slung over her back, and babyContinue reading “Elect Exiles”
Sarah Dixon Young 