Can you talk someone into the Christian faith? — Vaccinated against Christianity During the past few weeks, I’ve been reading What Really Matters by Eugenia Price. Ms. Price didn’t decide to follow Jesus until she was thirty-three years old, even though she’d been raised in a church. When she went off to college she was glad to be free of the religious…

One sunny afternoon about 37 years ago, I was weeding my front flower bed when a scrawny little boy appeared next to me. Since he was a new face in my neighborhood, I suspected he was a recently placed foster child who lived next door. …

A lasting marriage doesn’t need to begin with an expensive wedding and honeymoon. We reached our Golden Anniversary without either. — A Simple Beginning to a Lasting Marriage When we first married, we didn’t have much cash. Neither did either of us have a driver’s license. (That’s a story for another time.) My new husband had to go back to work at his part-time job at UCLA the Monday after our Saturday morning wedding. That’s why we decided…

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised. — Psalm 113:3. How is this even possible? — How Is It Possible to Praise the Lord All Day? As we go about our daily lives, we have chores to do, children who need our complete attention, bosses who expect to have us devote our best efforts to the work they pay us to do, phones to answer, etc. Students have classes to attend, papers to write, and books…

Romance and flirting are entertaining games for couples. Neither is evidence of genuine love. Here’s how to recognize love. When I was young, I was very romantic. My daydreams were full of imaginary conversations between me and my heartthrob of the moment, whether he knew I existed or not. He…

When I heard the beeping at the train station, I walked over to see what the commotion was all about — Sometimes I do a photo shoot at the train station if I’m downtown. I like to watch trains come into the station and depart. While I’m waiting for the train to come in or after it leaves I walk around to see if anything unusual is happening. …

How quickly irritation can turn to compassion — The call How quickly one’s mood can change. When I got a Facebook message from my friend Beth asking me to call using the green photo button, I was in the middle of two other projects and really didn’t have time to talk. Beth had never called me from Wyoming before. …

Embers  glow in my heart Fanned into flame by memories of you.

No matter what you’ve done, what you believe makes all the difference between hope and despair — Jesus Came to Earth to Serve, to Die, and to Save It’s safe to say that no one followed Jesus believing he would later be arrested and crucified. Rather most followed him because they believed he was the Christ — the one who would overthrow the Romans who ruled them. They expected a conquering king. Both Peter and Judas Iscariot probably…

Writing a personal letter is like stuffing yourself into an envelope to pay a visit. A Facebook post is like waving at someone. — From the time I was a teen until my forties, the mailman’s visit was the highpoint of my day. Back then mailmen (and they were men) walked their routes, carrying their mailbags or wheeling them along. The mailman delivered personal letters from people you knew or bills you needed to…