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The Night After Christmas
Christmas is over. The house is quiet. Sheets and towels softly tumble in the dryer. The dishwasher is swooshing almost unnoticeably. Our kids and their spouses went back home. Everything moves quickly past. Even the garbage was picked up this morning. The disposable dessert plates and shreds of wrapping paper disappeared into the… Read more
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Dreads and Bulky
I was in a hurry. Annoyed, I weaved my cartful of groceries around the man and his dog. Both stood right by the exit of the big box store. What an odd couple at an odd place. He was thin and tall, thirty-something. Long, black dreads fell into a dark and deeply scared… Read more
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The Christmas Card
Today, the envelope arrived. Each year, with the beginning of Advent, I carefully comb the daily mail for this letter. NEW YORK, NY is stamped next to the cursive return address. I run my finger across the beautiful stamp, a rendition of a renaissance oil painting of Virgin and Child. I don’t want to open… Read more
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Reflections
My makeup mirror distorts my face, oversizing it to show more lines that have seemingly crept in overnight. I stare longer than usual at the red spots I have been trying to ignore. Are they bigger? I unscrew the small white cap from the tube of prescription medication. I have been avoiding it for a… Read more
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A Million Maples or “What is it to you?”
I was walking in the woods this morning and felt compelled to pray for two friends. The crazy thing is, they don’t know they are my friends. I don’t check in with them like close friends do, don’t have them over for dinner or call them to tell them the latest happenings of our family.… Read more
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The Sovereign and the Chickadee
Over the summer I have been sitting outside at my deck table to meet God. This morning, when I straightened out the damp table cloth to put down my journal and Bible, I noticed a chickadee’s downy feather. I smiled. Words stirred my soul… ~~~~ You make me smile. You, the herald of the morning,… Read more
Heidi Viars 