Hailing from Pennsylvania, AKA “tick country,” you can bet I did my do-diligence on the Tennessee tick situation before making a move to the Volunteer state. “Come to TN,” the articles said. “We’re tick free!” they said. But “they” were wrong. In the past 36 hours I have extracted three ticks from two living beings […]
Something magical happens almost every summer night right around 8 PM… lightning bugs appear. As if on cue, the rear ends of these beloved flying creatures begin to illuminate the dimming sky at the precise moment that the sun starts saying good night. Even though they arrive without a sound, the lightening bug’s presence is […]
Across my FaceBook feed black boxes are appearing. Friends are posting them. Churches are posting them. Businesses are posting them. Ministries are posting them. The black boxes are in observance of #blackouttuesday, a day set aside by Black Lives Matter to recognize “violence and systemic racism against black people.” The details of the Black Lives […]
May is Lyme awareness month and as has been my practice for the past two years, I feel it is only right for me to write about Lyme before the month is over. I haven’t posted much about Lyme in recent months and I’m afraid my reason for the silence has been more emotional than […]
Nieko Lisi went missing on September 30, 2011. He was eighteen years old when he told his parents that he and a friend were going to take a drive to nearby Buffalo, NY. But instead of going to Buffalo, Nieko drove his friend to Michigan and then went on alone to Tennessee where his truck […]
In our culture of ever-changing buzz words, “new normal” has become the latest to take center stage. It comes on the heels of “social distance,” “flatten the curve” and “stay safe.” I’ll admit, I wasn’t particularly fond of any of these phrases but the “new normal” tops my list of worst word offenders and I’d […]
One of my favorite post-resurrection accounts of Jesus is found in John chapter 21. Let’s return to the scene. It’s nighttime and five of Jesus’ disciples are itching for something to do. Simon Peter decides he’ll go fishing which sounds like a fantastic idea to his four friends. And, with that, the five gather their […]
Mark 2:8 is what I call an “on the way to” text. What is an “on the way to” text, you ask? An “on the way to” text is one of the many Bible passages that often gets skimmed over on the way to the “good stuff” (ie: the miracle, the healing, the loaves and […]
The coronavirus crisis has been eye-opening to many people in many different ways. Some have become more aware of the dirt in their home and been compelled to do more deep cleaning. Still others have been awoken to their great dependence on household paper products and have decided to start keeping a secret stash of […]
“You should be afraid.” My neighbor’s words took me aback and I didn’t know quite how to respond. I was just being lighthearted, trying to infuse the coronavirus pandemic with a little “social distancing” humor. Apparently, she didn’t find my joke comical. I would have tried to pick my jaw up off the sidewalk, but […]