Frogger

Looking to the left, I saw three people walking side by side, and crowds of people trailing behind. Looking to my right, I saw a mom pushing a stroller, with another child on a leashed harness. Behind her there were three more people, and then a gap before the next convoy of travelers.
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PEACE AND QUIET

Running errands with my over-active, over-talkative four-year-old son challenged my reservoir of parenting patience. As we drove the fifteen miles into town and then from bank to post office to grocery store, Luke rehearsed of every thought that had crossed his mind since birth.
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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.

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New Use For Old Pain

By Cynthia Ruchti

Have you found a new use for old pain? It’s a biblical principle spelled out clearly in II Corinthians 1:4. The wording can seem a bit cumbersome if we skirt over the passage without thinking too deeply about it.

It reads this way, beginning with the last phrase of verse three: “…the God of all comfort… comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God” (NIV). In one version, the last part is “with the comfort wherewith we’ve been comforted.”

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Gated Community

By Kathy Carlton Willis

Yesterday the gates went up. Temporary walls providing safety and barriers. This was not a great divide between two nations. We installed baby gates to block off the guest bedroom and the family room, two areas where our almost 10-year-old calico, Libby, hangs out. Why? Because our 3-month-old Boston Terrier has learned to permeate the smaller barriers we previously used. So, we brought out the big guns. These gates will also help us house-train Jazzy.

It has been interesting to watch the behavior of our two pets since the installation of the dividers. Libby acts more confident and seems to be rubbing it in the face of her housemate Jazzy. Now that Libby has secure areas she sits like a queen on her favorite pillow, taunting the puppy spying from the other side of the gate. Jazzy is making new habits and enjoys the times Libby comes to the great room for some interaction.

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