I guess some might call me a news junkie. Not so much anymore. There's just so much junk in the news.
Breaking news is so often heartbreaking news. Unspeakable cruelty. Mutual destruction politics. Mass shootings. A ticking time bomb world.
And then there's Christmas.
Six weeks post surgery! I can drive... lift my arm... have more mobility... and can hug with two arms!
Incredibly thankful I finally had courage and time to face getting the help I needed for my shoulder. I kicked it down the road for years.
Makes me think of how we often put off dealing with the hard things in life - mentally, emotionally, healing, dealing with past trauma, walking through grief...
Words fail. Even words like "apocalyptic"... "war zone"... "total devastation."
The racing flames in the iconic Lahaina community of Maui simply consumed everything in its path - often leaving only ash where minutes before a building had stood. In a community where people have lived for a thousand years.
Unbelievable. It's another graduation season! And, wow, has the world changed since I was the one "commencing."
But the commencement ceremony itself? Not so much. Same sweat-a-lot robes. Same funny, flat hats with that flapping tassel. And the same lofty "we will change the world...follow your dream" speeches. Inspired by the view from the top of Mount High School.
Hallie, Evelyn and William spent the first part of the morning in their Christian school chapel. They were learning "Amazing Grace" to sing next week for Grandparents' Day.
An hour later they were with the One whose grace they had been singing about.
As the nation knows now, they were three of the six victims in a mass shooting tragedy at Covenant School in Nashville.
By Ron Hutchcraft
A lot of us have it just about memorized - that Christmas classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Maybe you even hear that familiar piano theme in your mind now. Charlie's efforts to find the meaning of Christmas are, of course, repeatedly frustrated by Lucy's big mouth and Snoopy's garishly decorated doghouse. But then there's Linus on stage, in the spotlight, reciting the story of the first Christmas from the Bible.
I've never been in Uvalde, Texas. But today I feel like a part of my heart is there. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.
How do you get your heart around a massacre of nine- and ten-year-old kids, locked in a classroom? Done by a teenager with a rifle. It's unimaginable, but horrifically real. It's unthinkable, but we can't ignore it.
Written by Ron Hutchcraft
Lord, you know we are in a battle against a brutal but invisible enemy.
Our heroes are those who are taking the risks on our behalf to save the wounded and protect the rest of us from becoming casualties.
By Sara Hutchcraft
It's a long, complicated road, isn't it? This thing we call life. Yet we trip along, thinking we know where we're going, with lofty plans and daring dreams.
They say hindsight is 20/20 - sometimes it can serve as a guidebook for how to go forward. These are the stones of remembrance that we set along the way as we go - to remind us of what to hold onto when the waves threaten to take us under.
It's a Christmas like no other. In a year like no other.
One clue it was different is the Santa Claus at a very popular store in our area. It was humorous to see their commercial, as they tried to say, "Come on - it'll be fun - and safe!"
