We waited in line at a special holiday sale, the line longer than usual, the packages larger than usual, and a cheerful, seasoned employee called out “remember this is the joyful time of year!” I wonder where the slow time has gone. Advent is meant to be a time of
Previously published in the Hughson Chronicle-Denair Dispatch. A year ago, I dared to hope. I wrote in early January, “The thing I dare to hope for is to publish a book, or at least accepted by a publisher, not just any book but the book I have been
Previously published in the Hughson Chronicle-Denair Dispatch Grief. The five stages of grief are shock, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance. The four tasks of grief are accepting the reality of your loss, processing your grief and pain, adjust to the world without your loved one in it, and finding
Previously published in the Hughson Chronicle-Denair Dispatch R. R. Reno, the editor at First Things Magazine, an intellectual journal exploring religion and public life, offers some intriguing thoughts this month in his article “Common Good Conservatism.” In the first section, Reno focuses on the terrible rift in American society
Previously Published in the Hughson Chronicle-Denair Dispatch It’s hard to focus. I sit down to begin our homeschool day with one child. The washing machine cycle finishes and beeps until I attend to it. The littlest one needs a diaper change. I hang the clothes on the clothesline, sit
Previously published in the Hughson Chronicle-Denair Dispatch. My Theology 101 professor, Dr. John Boyle has a lecture that can be summarized by this, “when you name something you have power over it.” The power in a name, “it has the power to stop someone dead in their tracks
When was your golden age? For me, it was college. After completing a year of missionary work, I attended two years at CSU Stanislaus, lived at home and worked. I missed the community of the missionary team. “Live with Saint Paul’s Outreach,” Elissa said, a ministry that focuses on college
