Not long after moving into our house, we had some Mugo pines planted in a landscape area near the front door.  A Mugo is a shrub conifer, and the experts say they grow well almost anywhere.  Three of the four Mugos are thriving, but the fourth has had a hard time of it. Poor Mugo #4 is half dead, that is, half of its branches are dry and brittle with a bed of brown needles at their feet.  The other branches are filled with lush green needles and lots of new growth.  I have named our fourth Mugo Sardis.  Sardis the Mugo.

Sardis the Mugo’s namesake, of course, is the church in Sardis addressed by Jesus in Revelation 3:1-6.

Jesus tells Sardis the church, “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” He advises the people of Sardis to “wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die.”  Despite the dire warning, the Lord offers hope to those in Sardis whose faith is still alive: they are to remember and live the Gospel. “They will walk with me in white,” he says, “for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.” Continue reading →

Becky and I were off visiting family this past weekend, specifically our daughter, son-in-law, and five-year-old grandson in Memphis. In addition to the celebration of Mother’s Day (the five-year-old gave Becky a really nice LEGO set), the highlight of the trip was Saturday’s t-ball game. Yes, it was shortened by a passing Memphis thunderstorm, but an altogether wonderful event, nevertheless.

In this particular t-ball league, all the players on the defensive team are on the field and all the players on the opposing team take their turn at bat. The ball is placed atop and hit from a tee (from the old Scottish teaz, a verb having to do with placing a golf ball on a small mound of sand prior to a drive). The inning is over when all batters have been to the plate once.  No score is kept.  In practice, all the fielders and infielders run after any hit ball and most batters seem to forget that they are to run to first base after getting a hit.  Also forgotten is the practice of dropping their bat at some point along the way to first base.

T-ball players do not have long attention spans. Continue reading →

Becky and I are on a very good trip this week. The highlight will be tomorrow’s T-ball game.  We have a particular interest in one of the players.  Full report to follow.

I have mentioned before our volunteer work with an Afghan family who arrived in the U.S. shortly after the fall of Kabul. We have known them since late 2021 and our relationship has evolved to include not only what help we might provide as they rebuild their lives in our strange land, but a wonderful friendship we value deeply. We share our lives and family times, laughing together and occasionally crying together. Sometimes we just share a moment of humor, irony, or success.

Earlier this week our friend Aziz texted about a moment of humor and irony – maybe with a little twist to it.

Aziz drives for Uber Eats to support his family. He much prefers the independence and the out-and-about-ness of delivering meals and snacks to the monotony of the manufacturing work he had done earlier in their time in the U.S. Continue reading →

It has been unseasonably cold this past week. We have had frost warnings in the morning and a few brief and unproductive snow flurries in the afternoon. Spring made a brief appearance last week, the trees are budding and flowers blooming, but her coming has slowed this week.

Spring’s late arrival has been a gift.

Everywhere you go – the coffee hour at church, the checkout line at the grocery store, the walk through the neighborhood – people have something to talk about, more than that, something to agree about.

“It’s a little chilly out,” we say.

“Where is spring?” a friend or stranger replies.

How human. How nice. Continue reading →