Children’s stories tell of wonderful and magical things that can happen when someone or something is sprinkled with fairy dust. What child is not intrigued by the thought of dust bunnies under their bed? My cousin tells me that a covering of dust can hold furniture together. But the dictionary definition of dust is anything [...]
Archive for the ‘Candle Lights’ Category
We often refer to gifted children as child prodigies. They are endowed with great abilities, natural talents, or exceptional intelligence and they fascinate us. Whether you enjoy opera or not, one cannot help but enjoy listening to eleven year old Jackie Evanko sing. Even if you have no appreciation for art, when you look at the [...]
It is that time once again. Time to stock up on batteries, get the important papers organized in the grab-n-go box, to obtain a “Hurricane Survival” pamphlet from Channel 3, and to be sure the generator works. The hurricane season of 2011 is here, and the fear-mongering has begun. Just yesterday, the official start of [...]
When I read about the wild man of the Gadarenes, I get a picture in my mind of how he might have looked. I see a man that is filthy, bearded, and naked; a man whose body is covered with scars from the constant “cutting of himself with stones” (Mark 5:5). I can hear the [...]
The bees chased me to church yesterday. Life’s bees come in many forms, often they come in swarms. We may not see the bees until the lawn mower of life disturbs their nest. Sometimes the bees are physical. Sometimes they are emotional. The physical bees come, but the emotional bees seem to chase me [...]
Our small town in the Florida Panhandle is surrounded by guardians. Most evenings the sound of gunfire breaks up the stillness of the night. On any given day you can feel the whoop, whoop of the helicopters as they fly over. At times you can stand on our beach and catch a glimpse of the [...]
We all know how someone else should play the game. From the time our son started in T-ball to his last college football game, I coached. Oh, I did not get out on the field or know much about how to play the games, but from my seat on the sidelines I could see that [...]
We were standing in the kitchen looking at the woods behind my brother and sister-in-law’s home when he appeared in the clearing. He was beautiful, but he quickly retreated back to the protection of the woods. Anxious to see him again, we kept our eyes on the woods hoping he would come out. After the [...]
For years it has been silent. It stopped ticking when Sorrow entered its home. The owner of the clock thought that it was broken but it held a special place in her heart so she put it on a cabinet shelf. Since the day that time stood still, the clock has been moved to [...]
One second is such a small thing, but a lot can happen in one second. I was amazed when I read that a 1.8 GHz computer is performing 1.8 billion operations per second. At sea level sound travels 340.29 meters per second. Light travels 186,000 miles per second. A football game can be won with [...]
Fainting or swooning can often be caused by sudden fear, illness, exhaustion, or great hunger. Just as our physical bodies can experience fainting spells, our spirits can go through times when we feel as if we are going to faint. We feel weak and lose courage. Our roots are spread by the River, but [...]
We spent hours and hours at the ballpark when our son was growing up. Baseball is my favorite sport, but the day games were killers in the Florida sun. At the baseball park it was hard to find any shade. I would seek refuge in the shade around the concession stand and the bleachers [...]
The Declaration of Independence states: “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Unalienable means that these rights are incapable of being surrendered or transferred. By implication, we have the right to live our lives [...]
In Florida we often describe things or events in relation to hurricanes. For example, folks in our area of the Panhandle say things such as, “Before Hurricane Ivan there was a restaurant on that property.” or “After Opal the fishing pier was gone.” Things are changed forever after a storm, that is until [...]
The Israelites were in a bad place. “All the horses and chariots of Pharaoh…his horsemen, and his army” were closing in behind them, and the Red Sea was in front of them. The children of Israel were afraid, they cried out to the Lord, the Lord intervened, the sea parted, the enemy was [...]
The United States Postal Service is considered snail mail. We carry cell phones so that we can reach out and touch someone and visa-versa. No one wants to start a job at entry-level anymore. Why in Las Vegas there is a drive-through wedding chapel! Our world is a fast-paced, “I want it now” world. [...]
In my younger years, I would often proclaim “I can take care of myself.” I was strong-willed, determined, and independent, and I just could not seem to relate to being a sheep. I often wondered why Jesus called us sheep. Why not lions or tigers, or panthers? An animal that is more magnificent [...]
What would Jesus do? For awhile this was the catch phrase. WWJD could be seen everywhere on clothing, Bible covers, jewelry, and stationery. Hopefully, seeing WWJD caused some of us to stop and think before acting. If we cannot imagine Jesus doing a certain thing or going to a certain place, then we should [...]
We should not long for yesterday (Ecclesiastes 7:10 & Isaiah 43:18&19) for as children of the Living God, the best is yet to come (I Corinthians 2:9). But to remember and to long for are two different things. It is good to remember the “old paths” (Jeremiah 6:16), the “marvelous works” of the Lord [...]
Several times each year between June 1st and November 30th, we debate the issue. Which route is the best? What time should we leave? What should we take? Is it really necessary to leave? Then the time comes when a decision must be made. Do we stay put or do we take Highway [...]
My husband and I sleep among the stars every night. The stars are not very noticeable in the daytime, but at night when we turn out the lights and go to bed, the stars begin to shine. Several years ago Adam, our son, put “glow in the dark” stars all around his room. [...]
Low carb! No carb! No protein! All protein! Calories count! No, they don’t! Drink this! Don’t drink that! New workout tapes appear on the market everyday. Each fitness guru thinks that their exercise program is the answer to the world’s problems. Exercise equipment manufacturers hire celebrities to show us that their version of medieval torture [...]
The people at the Department of Tourism tell us that we have more sunny days than rainy days in the state of Florida. Of course, after the 2004 hurricane season devastated the majority of the state, they may have to re-think their ad campaign. Seems to me that life is like the weather here in [...]
Ever since she died there has been a sadness about him. At times he seems lost and at other times he is very afraid. He is trying to fit in with the others, but he never quite seems comfortable. When someone touches him, he recoils. He misses his familiar friend, and now everyone is unfamiliar. [...]
When I first met Harry, I did not realize that he was not like the others. Oh, he looks like them, walks like them, lives where they live, and eats what they eat, but inside of Harry something is different. Harry is deaf. Harry does not respond to the things of life [...]
The darkness can be so heavy. In Exodus 10:21, the scripture speaks of a “…darkness which may be felt.” I know that darkness. At one time or another in our lives, we may all experience that type of darkness. When dreams turn to nightmares, hearts shatter as glass, and hope becomes hollow, the ashes [...]
Our hearts are warmed by the sound of a loved one’s voice. The soothing tone in a mother’s voice will chase away the pain. The reassuring sound of a father’s voice can calm the fears of the night. The lively sound of a child’s voice will bring joy to the hearts of his parents. [...]
I have always loved the paintings of the large-eyed children that were so popular in the 60s, so when my friend was getting rid of Eden’s Skater, I took her home with me. The painting leans against the wall behind my printer. The most striking things about the girl in the painting [...]
From Candle Lights by Diane Padgett What a story! Pharaoh’s army is destroyed in the Red Sea. Moses and the children of Israel break into song about the triumphant of God over their enemies and how He cares for them (Exodus 15:1-19). Miriam and the other women “went out…with timbrels and with dances.” (Exodus [...]
From Candle Lights by Diane Padgett I remember a time before television and twenty-four hour shopping when we would sit on the porch in the evenings. The porch was where we could escape the heat of the house, talk about our day, or just relax in the dark and listen to the hypnotizing sound of [...]
