Picket Fences

Today many people dressed up in costumes before they headed off to work. Many are planning to attend parties and lots of kids are looking forward to trick – or – treating this evening. Along with all of this fun, comes the scary side. Witches, skeletons, goblins and ghosts are hung up as decorations. Haunted houses are visited around town. People walk through them and they are scared out of their wits by things jumping out at them in the dark. Usually, a person will leave one of those places, exclaiming, how in one way or another, something terrified them. It’s a time to tell stories that make your skin crawl or watch a movie, that can even make a grown man, not want to turn the lights off at night. The holiday is full of the spooks. I used to love to get scared. I would spend this time of year at the scariest haunted houses and watch scary shows. If anyone was into a super terrifying movie, it was me. At the time it was exciting. All that spooky stuff lost it ...

Fall is normally my very favorite time of year for one reason: in the Pacific NW, some of the trees turn beautiful colors of orange and red in the midst of evergreen trees that stay green all year long. It's incredibly beautiful, especially, when you take a drive down the gorge, around Mt. Hood area or even up around the Olympic peninsula. Not that a person has to go for a drive in those areas to be in awe over the beauty during this time of year. Pretty much each street will be painted in vibrant colors as the leaves change color before dropping. Besides being beautiful, fall is so cozy. The weather cools just enough to be able to wear old comfy jeans and, at night, to put on a favorite sweater or sweatshirt. And high school football is underway. So a person can have fun huddling with other fans on cold rock-hard bleachers on a chilly night watching the game. I have some sweet memories of doing that when my nephews played football and when I was in high school. Now some of ...

Today, visiting us at the fencepost is a dear writer friend of mine, Sylvia Stewart. Her book "Kondi's Quest" has just been released by OakTara. I can tell you first hand Kondi's Quest is a great book. So enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPtgTLa7q8 In 1946, a few days before my sixth birthday, I landed in Stanleyville, The Belgian Congo. I remember the palm trees flying by as our old propeller plane taxied down the dirt runway. We stepped out into muggy heat as we crossed to the terminal. From that day, Africa has been my second home – as dear to me as my birth home in Oregon, U.S.A. As I grew up, my one desire was to “go back home” to Africa. My mother taught me first and second grade. Then I went to Rethy Academy, 350 miles and 10 hours’ drive from my parents. I began to learn to think for myself, to be independent and to rely on my heavenly Father. I especially remember one moonlit night, lying on my back in my dorm room’s top bunk. Lone...

The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 I remember lying in bed as a young girl trying to memorize the 23 rd Psalm. Every night before I went to sleep I worked and worked on memorizing it. Finally, one day it stuck in my head. I’ve repeated it often and I’ve heard it often since that time. It’s a very comforting verse, as are quite a few of the Psalms. Now many years later, I am doing a Bible study on the author of that Psalm, David. And during part of the study I looked up this verse again. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1. I know the LORD is my shepherd. He watches over me, protects, feeds and steers me. I have no doubt about that. The LORD is my shepherd - very comforting words. I shall not want.   REALLY? Okay, if only I could say, I didn’t have a want list. It’s hard in this world, and the way things are in our economy, it can be hard to not have a want list. I’ve been in times where I didn’t think about the economy and h...