Words on a Page

As a child and teenager, I was a brat. I wasn’t awful. At least I don’t think I was awful. But I was spoiled, and had a few instances where that “mean girl” syndrome came out. (Yes, I’ve sought resolution with those involved. I’ve asked for forgiveness from those I hurt and, most importantly, from God.) As I moved into my adult years, I was complimented for being understanding. I’m told I show tremendous compassion towards the weak and downtrodden. How a spoiled child could grow into a compassionate adult is beyond my understanding. As they say, “It’s a God thing.” Please allow me to be open, honest, and blunt. Regardless of my spiritual maturity, despite the fact I’m in my 60’s, and considering I am a born-again believer, I don’t understand where Christianity is headed.  I saw an interview with a White, older woman living in rural Arkansas. She said, “l can tell you why Christians in rural America support Donald Trump. Fear and envy. We are afraid our way of life is being taken aw...

Attention everyone: The Cracker Barrel war is over! Whew! You know a logo is so vital to America’s future. Our great-grandkids will be so proud of us! I mean, there are kids starving in the Gaza Strip. Israel is still awaiting the release of their beloved hostages. Ukraine’s entire future is at stake. Inflation continues to cripple most families.  The dangers of unchecked AI is very real. We’ve had yet another mass shooting. But, let’s take logos on as a cause, ok? Jesus did warn about wars, rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, earthquakes, distressed nations. I must have missed His message about the importance of logos. He did commission us to make more disciples. Tell me again where He asked us to defend logos? Remember Wyatt’s, Luby’s, Foley’s, Woolsworth, and TG&Y?  I have to ask remember because they are gone. (I know…a few Luby’s survived.) The problem was old people, like me, supported these businesses but young people, like my kids, moved on. When we refuse to ...

“ Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” We are traveling to Colorado. Anyone who lives on the upper Texas Gulf Coast knows that getting out of Texas takes awhile. Unless you’re going East. We are headed northwest. We stopped over in Amarillo for the night. We made a trip to Dollar General. Every camper knows that you always stop at a Walmart or a Dollar General while on the road. I was shopping, minding my own business, when a young man said, “You’re from California? I hope you don’t plan on moving to Texas.” Then, he walked off. He just knew he spoke for all Texans when he bashed California. Little did he know, I was wearing a souvenir shirt I bought in California. The shirt has special meaning for me. I bought it on a trip I took with my high school best friend 35 years after we graduated. We traveled to San Francisco to see another high school friend that we hadn’t seen since mine and Tommy’s wedding. One friend served as...

“ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” A few years ago, a friend of mine tried to convince me to go Keto. Truthfully, I’m not interested. While Keto works for some, the amount of protein consumed is risky. If a doctor tells me to go Keto, I’ll go Keto. The way I am eating is difficult with slow weight loss results, but I am eating “clean.” (Or at least trying to eat clean.) When I wasn’t convinced Keto was for me, my friend (and this is a true story) said, “Roni, that makes me so sad. With your family’s history of cancer, I am afraid for you.” I asked her, “Why? Because I’ll die?” She responded, “Yes. It hurts my heart that you’re willing to die.” Let me set the record straight. I am in no hurry to die, but I am okay if the Lord calls me home because I refused to eat Keto. The...

When I was a little girl, we’d go for Sunday drives. My mother explained to me that everybody was in a rush during the rest of the week. On those other days, people were trying to get to work, trying to get to school, or speeding to their other destinations. Sunday drives put us in a relaxed state of mind. When we took our Sunday drive, we’d go slow. We noticed what was around us. We enjoyed being with each other. We understood that other cars on the road were probably on their Sunday drive, too. We didn’t honk our horn. We didn’t give an irritated stare as we passed a slow-moving car. We let the world slow down. We savored our time. Sunday drives are how we should spend our entire life. Slowing down the pace. Taking the time to notice what’s around us. Being kind to others. Applying patience. Enjoying the scenery. I suspect we’d all be healthier and happier if this was how we lived. Hard-driving lives may make us more successful. They don’t, however, make us better people. You know wh...