With years of experience in plant and operations management positions in industry-leading print, pre-press, and publishing companies, my awesome, big brother Donald specialized in process improvements. One of the biggest problems he tackled in those years was to create efficient and effective ways to eliminate financial loss due to the lack of communication within the movements of production. Nearly twenty years ago now, I’m still remembering the day when he and I shared breakfast at the famous [...]

I Needed This Today It was a hot summer day and I had been waiting for the sun to take the back seat.  It finally did so I grabbed my caddy filled with car washing detergents, glass cleaner, clean rags, Armor All, and paper towels, and I set out for the driveway where my old, 2001 Buick Park Avenue awaited its bi-monthly bath. Washing my car by myself had been something I had never, ever committed to.  [...]

I couldn't  remember the last time I felt the way I did.  Maybe years ago when my commitment to Christ had yet not been settled.  We as a nation and I might even go as so far as to say, the world had acknowledged that there was an epidemic requiring us to stay home - to be still.  We as individuals needed to find a new and quiet way of life for right now or else.  Ok, [...]

Saturday morning brought a heaviness to my heart.  My mind was tangled with all the events and experiences of the past week.  Some, while proving to be exciting in many ways, also left me with an assortment of trepidation in that, I would need to step out farther relying more on my faith than solid facts in hand.  Other things grew my self-confidence, and then there was that one, lone thing that revealed a glaring weakness in [...]

Every day around sunset I go out to the balcony to retrieve my American flag.  Sometimes I linger there for a moment or two.  I never tire of the view.  I’m sure there are bigger and better to be had around this world.  I’ve seen some of them them.  But for me, the one I call home is most meaningful.  This view belongs to me. I stood there a little longer this beautiful evening as I spotted [...]

The bulk of my elementary years were lived in the small northeastern town of Gurnee, Illinois.  It’s tucked inland, a mere six miles or so from the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan.  To say that the winters are cold there most likely will be an understatement.  I’ve not known much that’s colder other than the winters in Minneapolis.  Now, that’s cold! One of the benefits of long, cold winters that are often filled with gray, wet days, [...]

In March of 2020, a virus, known as COVID-19, invaded our country. It spread like a wildfire from town to town, city to city, and in no time – we all, as a nation, were frozen in our tracks. I’d driven one of two routes to get from home to work for over 25 years and all of a sudden that routine trip was null and void for who knew how long. The nation was closed. I’ll [...]

To my horror, about a month ago my husband hired a man to come and apply a tinted film to almost every window in our home.  Practically, he had legitimate reasons and ones that I could not refute. But aesthetically, there was no way he could win the argument.  I loathe the dark in the daytime. As a matter of fact, that was one of the things that caused me to fall in love with our little [...]

Several weeks ago I pulled a chair up to a table of young women who were lingering after our weekly Bible study class.  I casually turned to my left and put my arm around this fragile, petite young lady. I didn’t know her. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know her name.  Nevertheless, I asked her how she was doing. I knew that she was visiting a friend and was only going to be in town for a [...]

I like beautiful doors. Several years ago, I took this picture on the property of a Napa Valley Winery. I got to thinking about doors recently and how meaningful they really are. I mean think about it. They keep things out, keep things in, sometimes bad and sometimes good. But if they're there, there's bound to be something on the other side. Interestingly enough there are over 100 Bible verses about doors. Let me just give you [...]