The Goodie Basket

admin — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:09:00 -0600

The moving truck pulled up to the house next door. Another family settling into our cozy subdivision outside Oklahoma City. Except that after three years it didn't feel so cozy to me, a single woman in my thirties, surrounded by families and young married couples.

I'd lost hope in being able to relate to my neighbors. Instead, I focused on my life at work. Still, I walked over and introduced myself to my new neighbors, a couple with two little girls. "Hi, I'm Stephanie."

Please, Please

jnalewicki — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 10:15:38 -0600

“Please, Lord!”

I often find myself praying this little prayer. When I’m scheduled for a check-up or biopsy, I pray, “Please, Lord!” when I think of the upcoming test.

If I’m working on something important, I write, “Please, Lord!” in the margin of the paper. I think of it as a way to keep my hopes constantly before God, a way of continually praying, “Please, Lord, let this happen for me.” Until recently, I never thought of it as selfish.

The Wave Factor

msteiger — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:18:15 -0600

Before they moved in, my new neighbor Marie and her husband read a book about what to look for in a neighborhood. Marie said one of the most important things is the "wave factor": If you drive down the street and people wave to you, it's a good thing.

The Shortest Distance

test_1 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:11:40 -0600

We were two strangers on a ferry.

We leaned on the rail, side by side, watching the African landscape fade into the river. I eyed her with a sideways glance.

She was Kenyan. I was American. She had beautiful black skin and her head was coiled with bright kitange cloth. I, white-skinned, wore blue jeans.

She had bare feet. I had on tennis shoes. Our eyes met briefly, then we looked away as we shrank deeper into our own separate and distant worlds. The only thing we seemed to have in common was our wariness of each other.

Call Me Coach

test_1 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:11:40 -0600

By the time I hit my late 40s, life felt like it had reached a plateau.

I’d married in my teens, and now my kids were grown and I was divorced, living alone in a small, quiet condo. I was still teaching history at Curtis High School on Staten Island, just a few miles from where I’d grown up.

I’d been a teacher for 17 years. I loved teaching, considered it my calling to impact my students’ lives. Lately, though, it hadn’t felt that way. Curtis had changed a lot. Staten Island had changed.

Blizzard Buddy

jnalewicki — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:31:07 -0600

Nothing had prepared me for the heavy snowfall in Denver, Colorado, when I moved there in 1982. A Christmas Eve blizzard was one for the records. My car was blanketed in snow that morning, so I took the bus to my job at a department store in the mall.

Along Came Santa

admin — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:51:00 -0600

I was traveling home for the holidays, from Sacramento to Fort Smith, Arkansas, by bus, taking my two young boys to see their beloved granddad. Sounds like the makings of a Hallmark story, right? It was anything but.

Truth is, I was broke. Flat broke. Dad had wired me $700—enough for three bus fares and food for my kids and me for the four-day trip to his house. I was afraid to tell him just how bad off I really was, that I wanted to move back in with him for a few months until I could save some money and get back on my feet.

New Year's Surprise for Ruby

admin — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:33:49 -0600

Why am I buying this? I wondered as I glanced at the brightly colored greeting card in my hand.

It showed a steamship setting sail, with streamers and confetti flying. It was blank inside so the sender could write a personal message. I had entered the shop on impulse, and although I didn't need any greeting cards, I felt compelled to buy this one.

After arriving home I tossed it into a box filled with ribbons and wrapping paper and forgot about it.

Did God Really Give Me Justice?

admin — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:12:00 -0500

An early dream of mine was to be a college baseball coach, and it came true. Then Michelle walked into my life. We married, settled in Pennsylvania where we met, and I concentrated on teaching. We had two boys and a girl. Today I know there's no better dream than family. I believe this more than ever since the arrival of our fourth child, my son Justice.

Empty Pew?

test_1 — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:11:40 -0600

My five-year-old daughter, Teresa, came into my bedroom Sunday morning. “Mommy, are you going to church with me and Daddy?”

I groaned. I’d woken up with every muscle and joint aching—another flare-up of my rheumatoid arthritis. I didn’t want to get out of bed, let alone go to church. “Oh, sweetie, I don’t feel well.”