Thinking on these things . . .

My daughter came stumbling into our room at 4 a.m. “I had a bad dream”, she said as she crawled into bed. Did she want to talk about it? An immediate, adamant “No!” Ten minutes she was sound asleep safe in her dad’s arms. Safe When she experienced this bad thing she went to where she would feel safe. Later in the morning she told me about her bad dream and it wasn’t as scary to her in the 7 am brightness as it had been in the dark. Could we have explained that it wasn’t that bad and just a dream to her in the middle of the night? Not a chance, at that point she just needed to feel surrounded and protected. When trouble comes, overwhelming troubles like the constant crashing of waves on the seashore, where do you go to be safe? I wrap myself in scripture and claim the promises that God is… a refuge and help in time of need (Psalms 46) the Shepherd who supplies my needs and walks with me through the valleys (Psalms 23) the God who knows the way that I am taking (Job 23) who delights in e...

It was Halloween, 1966 and the phone rang in the red brick house. The baby they had been waiting to adopt was now ready to be brought to them; would they like their daughter tonight? The woman was worried, she had a cold and was afraid this would keep them from bringing over the infant...So while cowboys, princesses and ghosts traversed the neighborhood in search of candy, Lee and Virginia Fisher became parents. And every Halloween for years my mom would tell me how I was their Halloween treat. But this is the "happily ever after" part of the story. What about the years previous to this joyous ending? What about the disappointment, frustration and angst of the almost twenty years that preceded it as they tried everything to have children? What about the cruel trick that kept them from becoming parents as their siblings had families of 3, 4, and 5 children already: when others carried new babies and they did not? Our lives are suddenly thrown these seemingly cruel tricks, and ...