Articles

The TSA agent paused. Next her arm reached out and pulled my bag to the dreaded interior belt. I sighed knowing an investigation was ahead. Then she did it again! Both of my bags would require additional screening. As the agent moved my carry-ons to the steel examination table, all I could think of was home. It was my second trip in a month, and I longed to be in my own bed and back to my normal routine. This delay was one more obstacle in my way. But little did I know a God-

I had no plans to go back. None. But one day I found myself in my old house. The road to return to the place I once called home was a circuitous sequence of events. It began with what I thought would be a quick trip to pick up my former neighbor’s mail. Upon arrival, I noticed the flowers were desperately in need of a drink, and while approaching the hose spigot I heard running water and saw puddles around the foundation where the main irrigation facet was spewing. After seve

“I want to be a lightning bolt instead of a thousand flashlights,” I proclaimed confidently as I stood at the microphone at the end of the retreat. I was filled with energy and a renewed sense of purpose. No more flickers of light here — it was “Go big or go home.” That was more than 15 years ago, and it is now painstakingly clear that my desire to be a lightning bolt was quite lofty and maybe slightly emotional. My intentions were good, but my perspective was skewed by that

“We’re not getting a dog today,” I said as we entered the pet store. My daughter, Carolyn, and I were en route to pick out a Christmas tree when I suggested we stop in Petco since it was on the way. “It’s fun to see the dogs,” I said. While the idea of a four-legged companion would occasionally cross my mind, my travel interests and empty-nester freedoms cancelled out any fleeting thoughts of adding a new family member. Until I held tiny Ebenezer in my arms, that is. A 2 1/2