little stories in light of the big story
Twelve months ago I wrote in my journal, "Lord, I feel so desperate. Take away this desperation." Time had done it's job and shown me the insufficiency of my wisdom and wit to sail smoothly through life. I'd messed things up. I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I'd frazzled myself in a state [...]
Where are the bells? I've strained my ears, longing for the sweet, familiar sound, but they feel so far away. I look out to the horizon, searching for those singing the unbroken song of wild, sweet words, but I cannot see them. Can you? The world revolves from night to day, I long to hear [...]
2020 has thrown a wrench in a lot of my plans, but one of the things that really benefitted from this wacko year was my reading list. I completed my initial reading goals in April, and decided to keep plowing ahead. I haven't read this much in years, and I have to say, I thoroughly [...]
All year long I've been planning what I would read for Advent. In typical 2020 fashion, those plans fell through and in a last minute decision, I decided that instead of trying to quickly come up with an alternative, I would just read the opening chapters of Luke each day. There's something about reading the [...]
I broke the law once. At least, I think I did. When I was little, I had an odd obsession with the pilgrims. I read every book in our library. I made paper Mayflower ships. I did it all. When I was nine years old, our family took a road trip to Massachusetts, where we [...]
The old Thanksgiving hymn "We Gather Together" has been stuck in my head the last few days. It was stuck in my head as our Governor gave a press conference on Ohio's dangerous spike in cases. It was stuck in my head when our elders let us know we would be cutting back on evening [...]
During one of my last autumn walks this year, I came across an open field on the other side of the woods behind our house. It was close to the elementary school, and the strong scent in the air clued me in to the fact that it had recently been mowed. Well, that, the large [...]
I had written and scheduled a blog post to release this morning. However, yesterday, I learned the tragic news that Tim Challies son, Nick, had unexpectedly passed away. I have postponed releasing any more of my own content for the remainder of the week, and instead would like to ask you to join me in [...]
Words. I’ve grown rather tired of them this year. Everyone has words and most of them contradict, weigh down, and confuse. Are you weary of them, too? As someone who has grown up loving words, this being burdened by them, is a new experience. I recently deleted several social media accounts because I could not [...]
I recently reread Jane Austen's beloved classic, Emma and watched both the 1996 film adaption and the 2009 miniseries. To put it simply, I love that story. I love Emma's character flaws, I love Harriet Smith's gullibility, I love Mrs. Bates rambling monologues on Jane Fairfax, I love Mr. Woodhouse's over-protective father love, and more [...]
The Corner Shelf 