I’ve got 99 problems, but sleeping all night isn’t one of them. I’ve been awake for hours. Feeling these tightenings in my belly come and go. Some make me squirm into a different position, but some make me want to hold by breath. The older women tell me to breathe through these pains — they say it is normal. They…
Author: D'Rae Krein
Row, Row, Row Your Boat Gently Down the Stream
We’ve all sung the song. But have you actually rowed the boat? A raft, a canoe, a kayak? Have you rowed in choppy water? Or rowed with the wind blowing hard against you? Have you rowed until your arms ached and your chest burned? Our favorite apostle Paul knew a thing or two about rowing. Recently, I talked the family…
Next Slide . . .
As we sat down in the pew at church today, my friend Robert Swanson was up front speaking He was doing a special feature on the servanthood of deacons, and being true to his eccentric self, Robert shared a slide show. But with no slides. “Here’s Mr. X cutting wood. Next slide. And here is Mr. YZ stacking the wood.…
Recalibrating Your Values
I think I can speak for at least for the nurses I work with that there are parts of our job that annoy us! Like for instance, operating the controls on the glucometer. A glucometer is a little machine that is used to get a patient’s blood sugar. There is a hardstop every 24 hours that the operator cannot go…
Mountains to Molehills
Are you familiar with moles? As in the critter? Do you have any experience with the molehills and tunnel damage they wreak upon your yard? Unfortunately, I do. Moles can be minor menaces. Do you have any experience with turning molehills into mountains? Unfortunately, I’ve experienced that as well! It seems I’m good at it. Taking something small and minor…
Rest Assured!
At the beginning of the Spring, I ordered three shirts. Now, this may not impress many people, but I was very excited! I don’t order many things. The boxes that come are usually for Tom and now the boys, but never for me! So yay! I ordered shirts. Week after week after week passed, and no box of shirts arrived.…
In His Hands
As I read in my new “The Chosen” devotional book, a paragraph jumped out at me and I’ve been thinking about it. What, of worth, have you held in your hands? Whether literally or figuratively, what have you held of importance? Literally, I’ve held my newborn babies. I’ve held hands. My love’s. My boys’. Patient’s. I’ve held my Dad’s warm…
FOUND!
A few weeks ago, a friend and coworker got lost hiking a waterfall. She stepped, by total accident, into a thigh-deep hole. Taking over an hour to free her leg, she was losing day light. She then lost her trail. For two nights, she was lost in the woods. On Tuesday, we came to work quiet and solemn. We were…
The Ladder!
I like analogies in the Bible and all they can make you think about. Like Jesus is the bread of life. The living water. Light. The true vine. The good shepherd. The ship. The rock. But one analogy had escaped me ’til recently and I’ve been thinking on it. A ladder. Jesus is the ladder. I don’t have many experiences…
The Tale of Two Lawnmowers
Often the things I write about are things I question — things I struggle with. Here is one such example. The Tale of Two Lawnmowers. A true story. Once there were two neighbors who, getting ready for the first grass cutting of Spring, got their lawnmowers out. They both cranked hard on the string, but nothing. They cranked and fiddled…