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 […]
Jan 25, 2014
When Vesuvius Blew Its Top
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Yesterday, I watched a documentary about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. It was fascinating and, although I certainly knew how the story ended, I was interested to learn a bit about the city before it was covered with volcanic ash. I had not realized before seeing this film that the citizens of Pompeii had several warnings […]
Jan 18, 2014
Etta Bend Devotional–Tep Willis
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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 […]
Jan 16, 2014
When Yesterday Is a Memory
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I sure hope none of my neighbors were up early enough to see me taking a picture of the full moon this morning. They may harbor doubts about what I was doing out in the dark, but actually, I couldn’t resist the temptation to try to capture that beautiful orb caught in the friendly arms […]
Jan 12, 2014
Etta Bend Devotional
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Etta Bend Daily Devotional January 12–“What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3). Nighttime at Etta Bend in the early 1900s was dark indeed. If the moon didn’t happen to be shining, the only brightness was the light of coal oil lamps glowing in the farmhouse windows. Sometimes trouble is like […]
Jan 6, 2014
In the Frigid Northwest
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The thermometer registers one degree! One!! I have a feeling that, just before sunrise, it may dip below zero. Probably two or three inches of snow lie on the ground. This is Cold Weather. The Snowy Owl has been spotted in Florida and people in Canada are experiencing frost quakes. What a winter! And, by […]
