From My Front Porch

Life's stories connect lives

Dad’s Little Things

Dad NO“The longer I live, the more I realize that the little things ARE the big things.” My husband can look a bit scary, and I guess that came in handy when we had four teenagers at once, but in real life, he’s quite the teddy bear [Read more…]

Flirt Challenged

Flirt 1My husband tosses me softballs every day—okay, not literal softballs but the easy playful banter with obvious flirty responses I could hit back to him. If only I were that savvy! He tells me I’m really bad at flirting. Now THAT, I can respond to! I tell him he should be thankful I’m so bad at it. At least he can rest easy that I’m not flirting with anyone else if I’m so awkward flirting with him. [Read more…]

Sadness Has a Purpose

SadnessMy two-year-old grandson and I “watched” Inside Out recently. More to the point, I watched as he ran around looking for things to get into, but I found myself intrigued by the psychology. This movie really is a graphic dissertation on human emotional development. The main point? Emotions grow more complex as we age. That complexity means all the emotions necessarily function simultaneously and bump into one another, often contradicting. [Read more…]

A Spoon Full of Vinegar

white_wine_vinegar_16x9…like vinegar poured on a wound, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. Prov. 25:20b

Her quick response deflated my already burdened heart as she cheerily chirped: “It’s another opportunity to trust God.” True words, but not the ones I needed in that moment. At that moment, I was struggling through something that seemed insurmountable [Read more…]

Recovering Baptist: Keep Those Pedestals Close to the Ground

ChurchI call myself a recovering Baptist because of all the turmoil and scandal I’ve witnessed in my life worshiping in the Baptist church; however, I probably convey an inadvertent meaning. I actually love the people I’ve met in those churches, and many are still dear friends today. There is an unsettling trend though, in church broadly, that I happened to witness in those Baptist churches because… well… that’s where I was. [Read more…]