Groomed

When a young Ray Barone proposed to his girlfriend Debra (Everybody Loves Raymond), she whooped and danced around the room. Then with barely a nod his way, she whipped out the scrapbook of wedding ideas she’d collected since she was twelve.

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I Heard What You Said

Late to get out the door with her brood of four children, my friend “Wanda” shooed them and shoed them.

“Brittany, get your shoes on right this minute!” Mom Wanda grabbed her keys, purse, and errand list plus snacks, sippy cups, and diapers for the littlest one, expecting four-year-old Brittany to slip into her Velcro shoes and fall in line behind her.
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Colorful Characters

By Cynthia Ruchti

Consider any troupe of sit-com characters. What makes the blend work? Their differences linked by a common bond.

For example: the quirky young people with vastly different internal conflicts, all struggling to become full-fledged adults in the big city environment.

The unique family dynamics that often erupt in a firestorm that keeps us laughing because, though exaggerated, the mother-in-law seems like our own…the brother’s phobias sound familiar…the grandpa’s caustic comments show up at our own Thanksgiving dinners.

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Be and Do

By Gina Stinson

Christ was always busy doing the work of His Father. Whether he was performing miracles, learning from the priests in the temple, spending time in the Garden with the disciples, sharing a meal of remembrance or dying on the cross. He was busy…doing the will of God. In the world that we have made for ourselves, it’s difficult to imagine living such a singular purposed life (after all, there’s a mortgage, jobs, kids, pets, stuff, bills, schedules), yet as Christians it’s the singular purpose of JESUS that should keep us focused on finding a way through all that…to share Christ with others.

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Serving Cheerfully

By Virginia Smith

I am not fond of housework. I know some people love it, but to me, washing dishes is torture, laundry is capital punishment and the vacuum cleaner is something to be avoided at all costs. So I was shocked when an unwelcome idea came to mind one day as I prayed for my friend Judy, who was recovering from a prolonged illness. You should volunteer to clean her house. I tried to dismiss it, to laugh it off as a rogue thought from an overactive imagination. But no matter how much I disliked the idea, I knew that spiritual nudge of rightness had to be from the Lord. Reluctantly but obediently, I called Judy and made the offer.

The next day, armed with rubber gloves and Lemon Pledge, I arrived for my dreaded act of service. “Lord,” I prayed as I got out of the car, “I’m doing this because I love Judy and I love You. Please help me do it cheerfully.” Then I plastered a smile on my face and went inside.

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