“If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
As a pre-school youngster, I often whispered that prayer while covering my head with a blanket. Rumors of war, tornado warnings, or even a bump in the night would raise fears of death in my young mind. What would happen if I should die? Would I live on in heaven? Would God really take my soul to be with him?
A whisper of air struck my cheek and I turned to see the guard standing beside me.
“Is this your favorite painting here?” he asked.
The temptation to stay in bed with the covers over our heads is strong. For many of us, we’ve lived with government recommendations—even, in some cases, demands—that we actually do stay in our homes. Shielding ourselves by staying home, turning off the news, engaging in safe, warm, cozy activities and light books and entertainment in an attempt to block out or forget about all that is going on is an understandable desire.
How do you anticipate a season if you’re dreading it? For some, this year has been full of blessings, but for many, it’s been one challenge after another. I feel you. This year has been a mixed bag for me.
The secret is that anticipating Christmas doesn’t depend on our circumstances.
I’m a wife, stay-at-home mom, writer, and editor, so I balance quite a few hats and don’t have a lot of free time. When my son was born, I knew I wanted to be a mom first and foremost, so I decided only to work during his naps and whenever I had babysitting help. This…
C.S. Lewis writes in his essay on Historicism, ‘pre-historic poetry has perished because words before writing are winged.’ The oral tradition of storytelling is in hibernation. Sitting on the porch watching the fireflies’ nightly dance creates time for reflection. Today, who has time to sit quietly and listen to the family lore dished up with…
In seasons where life feels slow and dull and the future seems to hold all the promises we could imagine, it’s easy to focus on tomorrow like it’s the dangling carrot getting us through today. We keep our eyes on the prize, striving for the next day, the coming weeks, the summer months, or even…
[Alyssa Roat] Disabilities in Fiction
Picture Credit: Dysautonomia International I’ve always been a reader, and like anyone else, I love an inspirational story. And what’s more inspirational than miraculous healings, rising above disabilities and illnesses, or an able-bodied person learning lessons from someone who has it worse? There’s a place for that. Especially since fiction is just that, fictional. But…
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