Tiny black intruders have, once again, invaded my kitchen. Black ants do this every spring. I’m not sure why they do. They seem to have no purpose. They dash off in one direction, stop, and run in the opposite direction. They wander here and there, always at top speed, always going somewhere but I don’t […]
On Board Your Ship
The storm arose suddenly. Waves tossed the small ship, wind battered it, and each second, the men on board feared they would be dumped into the angry sea. However, one among them was not concerned. He slept peacefully while lightning flashed, thunder crashed, and the sea roared. Of course, his friends woke Him. They asked […]
Caves, Chills, and Deep, Dark Caverns
Sometimes I am amazed at how our idea of entertainment has changed through the years. We depend on others to amuse us: movies, plays, music, TV, the list goes on. What would we do if we had to resort to our own ingenuity for diversion? It was a question that didn’t arise for my mother […]

A Home-Style Love
For some reason, homemade food seems to taste better on cold winter days. Hot soup, a pot roast, fresh-baked cookies, all of these warm the heart and the tummy. They are ways to say, “I love you” without actually saying a word. Following is an excerpt from the Etta Bend Book of Devotions: “The lines […]
Voices
This morning’s word of the day which showed up in my email was “Cockney”. This refers to people who live in the East End of London and the way they speak. I started to wonder why people from different areas speak as they do. We speak English but we sure don’t sound like the people […]

Etta Bend Devotional–Tep Willis
Etta Bend Devotional January 18–“Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store” (Deuteronomy 28:5). My great-grandmother, Catherine Serepta (Tep) Barker Willis, was an outdoors person as was my grandmother and my mother. I can picture her now, wearing a long-sleeved blouse (she would have called it “waist”) and long skirts that reached the tops of […]

