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 […]
A Cache of Cozy Critters
The sky is clear of clouds this morning. There’s a decided nip in the air but no frigid little breeze from the North Pole stirs last year’s leaves. It’s a perfect day for the gathering of Cozy Critters who trek to my home twice a month. It puts a spring in my step and a […]
Keeping Me Young
Aging is a fact of life. So, I suppose, are the various negatives that go with it. Now, I’m not getting old without a struggle; I exercise, try to eat right (does anyone know the health benefits of chocolate?) and take an interest in what’s going on around me. No, no, that’s not being nosy. […]
A Trail to Follow
This morning’s darkness is no match for the car’s headlights going down the street. My neighbor’s solar lights, as well as my own, push back the night to define boundaries of sidewalk and garden. Well-marked paths, these; you can’t miss them. I suppose many things must be taken into account when planners are mapping out […]

Shining Moments
I don’t get much in my mailbox any more–I don’t mean my virtual mailbox, but the actual metal box where the mailman stops almost every day. Oh, lots of advertisements find their way there and bills, and flyers, but very few letters. Times have changed! But yesterday, I got the neatest, fat, colorful envelope from […]
A Covenant of Salt
Yesterday, as I was reading Scripture, I came upon II Chronicles 13:5. In that verse is an interesting term, “covenant of salt.” I’m sure I’ve read those words before but yesterday, I took particular notice. Sometimes that happens. A verse that I must have read several times suddenly stands out. I checked out the significance […]

