Blog

For Wilshire Baptist Church

The spider lilies are blooming. It’s the first day of fall and we’re having a late, near-record heat wave, and yet the spider lilies have come up in the yard as they do each fall with their red spidery blooms atop their thin, light green stems. They’re confirmation that change is coming. Cooler weather will be on our doorstep soon.

When I was younger, I looked for signs of fall in other places, but they don’t seem as reliable as they once were. In my memory it was always cooler when school started, but the high schoolers who walk through our neighborhood to school have had to endure temperatures near 100. Football is the ultimate fall sport, and yet last weekend we almost burst into flame under a blazing midday sun as we watched our team. But the spider lilies? They’re the real deal; they know what’s going on.

Continue reading “Change and Hope”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I can’t believe someone stole our ice chest – out of the corner of our yard in broad daylight. It was there one minute and gone the next. I don’t know if it’s a random event or just another disappointing sign of the times.

So, why was the ice chest out there unattended in the first place? Glad you asked. Since the first day of school, we’d been putting the ice chest out under the tree next to our turquoise table. We stocked it with iced-down bottles of water and a sign taped to it that said, “Free Water.” We put it out there for the high school kids who walk down our street after school from about 2:50 to 3:10. It was still 100-plus degrees on those first days, and we thought it might be something nice to do.

Continue reading “Cold Case”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Sometimes I put my foot in my mouth and all I’m left with is a lingering bad taste. But occasionally I get a good lesson for my troubles.

Our double-pane kitchen window has developed a haze between the sheets of glass. It’s not unusual but it can be complicated because the fix requires taking the window apart or even replacing it. We’ve had one company come to look at it and they said replacement glass may be a different tint and the dividers might get damaged in the process. Nevertheless, they said they’d get back in touch with us but they haven’t.

Continue reading “A Window on Emmaus”