THE THINGS MONEY CAN’T BUY

A $2 bill decorated with painted birds and a red heart, placed on a pile of coins.

READ 1 TIMOTHY 6:6-11      The $2 bill has a long history in America dating back to 1862 when it was first printed and circulated.  Obscure as it is now, back then it was a hefty sum of money. The bill bearing the portrait of Thomas Jefferson was discontinued in 1966. To celebrate America’s Bicentennial,…

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LIGHTEN UP!

Empty cans of White Claw among blooming yellow daffodils.

READ NUMBERS 32:20-25       Cruising through my neighborhood on the way to the store, life seemed so sublime until I spotted a hand-painted yard sign with black letters that read: “Your sin will find you out!” (Numbers 32:23) Whoa! I heard the celestial hammer come down with a thud. I thought I was on a…

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SUNNY SIDE UP

Sunny-side up eggs and bacon arranged as a smiling face in a frying pan.

READ NUMBERS 6:22-27      My husband Barry has a great sense of humor! One Sunday morning I thought of placing two sunny side up eggs and some bacon into a frying pan to make a “Smiley Face” for my monthly blog. I decided to use his breakfast for the picture!      He gladly indulged me. …

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HUGADAY

A white car with a personalized license plate reading 'HUGADAY' and a bird sticker.

READ PROVERBS 8:22-31      “HUGADAY.” Those were the letters of a license plate on the back of a white Buick in the parking lot.      “People are so creative,” I thought to myself.       Seeing the letters made me feel like the owner wanted to spread verbal hugs, however fleeting, to other drivers. Motorists could…

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All Men Are Like Grass

Four scarecrows dressed in orange overalls and hats, hanging side by side.

READ ISAIAH 40: 6-11      My grandfather Bill Myers was a seasoned gardener, raised on a farm in southern Ohio. He came north to the Cleveland area along with my grandmother to teach school, specializing in American history. After retirement, he focused on raising an expansive garden, plowing up the fertile soil with his tractor…

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Seamless

A long blue path on the beach

Our blog picture captures an immense cloudless sky reflecting down on calm lake waters below. That was our vista stretching for miles on a day at the beach. My husband and I made a trip with a friend and her two young adult children to Mentor Headlands State Park, a well-maintained beach and picnic area…

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New Life In The Cemetery

A baby deer laying in the grass next to a tree.

Our church owns and maintains a cemetery that was established over 100 years ago. Surrounding the sloping two-acre plot is a chain-link fence and lots of trees beyond that. Every year in June, a group of volunteers from our congregation come with rakes and work gloves to gather up the leaves that accumulate along the…

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3D Glasses

A pair of red and blue glasses on top of a table.

Does anyone remember wearing 3D glasses as a kid? The frames are normally made of cardboard holding one plastic lens that is vivid red and another lens that is vibrant blue. Peering through them, the eyes send two separate images to the brain. The brain is essentially tricked into combining the two images into one,…

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Muddy Boots

A pair of brown rubber boots in the grass.

When I bought my house, it had an inground swimming pool in the backyard. That feature was not every buyer’s “cup of tea,” but it certainly was mine! I love swimming and the vision of being able to jump in the water anytime during the summer months sealed the deal for me! Once I became…

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Hiking in Hinkley

A sign that is in the grass near some dirt.

Hinkley, Ohio is a small township located about 25 miles south of Cleveland. At a glance, it is home to cabin-like residences tucked away in its densely wooded landscape. The Cleveland MetroParks has aptly extended its parks system to include Hinkley Reservation. This 2,800-acre tract is laced with 26 miles of hiking trails and six…

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