Winter Wonderland

By Kathy Carlton Willis

“The following school districts are closed today, due to snow: Bowling Green, Clarksville, Louisiana…” Anytime snow fell, we huddled around Dad’s radio to listen to KPCR’s school closing listings. I grew up in Louisiana, Missouri, and it took quite a few inches to have a snow day. We loved having these free days off. No homework. No cares in the world. Just glorious snow calling our names.

First we bundled up in our winter clothes to enjoy the imaginary land of Eskimos and Snow Angels. When ice crystals hardened our gloves into crunchy wool, we stomped inside for a warm-up. With hot chocolate in our systems, we wanted to go back into the cold white snowy paradise. Before Mom allowed us to go outdoors again, we had to strip out of our cold, wet garments, and into dry warm ones. Often we covered our cold digits with socks to shield them from the frigid temperatures, while our first generation of winter garments stayed inside without us, draped near the gas heater to dry out.

Read more

Can I Start Over…Again…In 2010?

By Laurette Willis

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness.” Isaiah 43:18

A new year and a new start. Perhaps you’ve talked yourself into believing this month will be like last month, or this year will be like last year. Maybe you have heard whispers in your ear that the mistakes you’ve made before will be repeated again. Someone may have told you, as was once said to me, “a leopard never changes its spots.” Did you know that’s in the Bible? It’s from Jeremiah 13:23.

Before I came to the Lord in 1987, I was that leopard who could never change her spots. I had so many “spots” on me that only the Lord Himself could see something salvageable beyond the spots and stains caused by a life of sin.

Read more

No Room For A Snake In The House

By Susan Dollyhigh    

Who put a rubber snake in here? The ugly, scaly, black thing lying in the hallway was coiled with its head up just a bit. Even so, I kept a good distance as I leaned over to take a closer look. About that time, the rubber snake must have seen me because it slithered off towards the kitchen.

Thankfully, my two-year-old granddaughter, Katelyn, who hadn’t learned to fear anything, didn’t see the snake. If she had, she would have rushed past me and snatched it up. That could have been the end of Nana. To be on the safe side, I grabbed Katelyn and picked her up. She started yelling and kicking for me to put her down. But I held on firmly as we dashed through the den and another hallway. Holding her tightly, I ran through the living room and out the front door. Crossing the front porch and side yard in record time, my feet barely touched the ground. I bound up the steps to my husband, Danny’s office and threw open the door. My abrupt entrance startled Danny.

I screamed. “There’s a snake in the house!” He shrugged. “Well why didn’t you call me?” Because there was a snake between me and the phone.”

Read more

Creating Opportunities

By Virginia Smith

I collect Christian tee shirts. Some of them have catchy phrases like, “Know Jesus Know Peace—No Jesus No Peace.” One has a big smiley face with the caption “Psalm 92:4.” And one of my favorites displays those universally recognized letters, “WWJD.”

I was wearing that shirt on the London tube during a trip with my mother. We had remarked earlier that everyone in London seemed to wear nothing but black, especially the young people. So I stood out in my white tee shirt with those letters embroidered in shiny gold thread across my chest. In fact, one black-clad young man wearing more jewelry on his face than I had packed for my entire vacation caught me in a direct gaze across the aisle and nodded at my shirt.

“You one of those religious nuts?” he asked.

Read more

The Hair Cut

By George Dalton

Have you ever seen one of those things that you just knew you could do? That almost cost you something important…like your marriage? Walking through a Wal-Mart recently I passed a display of electric hair cutting machines. I remember thinking, now how hard can that be? The economy is tight; we need to cut corners where we can.

Twenty minutes later I proudly marched through the back door from the garage. My wife turned and looked at me and asked, “What is that thing?”

Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »