My daughter came home with sermon notes from Sunday church. She read them to me. I stopped her at the first point. “Wow. This is what I’ve been saying. Christians are the moral conscience of this country.” I felt like I was being a fuddy-duddy and old-fashioned, but we are responsible to others for our actions. A trip to Arizona put things in perspective for me. I watched people interact with service people — the rudeness they showed to those who waited on them. Leaving their trash on the table …

The phone rang. Our children invited us to go to Arizona with them. It would be a quick trip, four days, lots of fun, great food, fix my Sweet Al’s hearing aids, celebrate my grandson’s birthday and get a pedicure. Our daughter had me at pedicure. I said, “Yes, we’ll go.” “We’ll pick you and Daddy up at 7 a.m. Thursday morning.” At 3 a.m. Thursday morning, my Sweet Al woke up excited. He got ready to go, dressed with his coat and shoes on. Woke me up at 3:30. “You’re going to be late. Get up.” “…

Similar in subject, design, and color, these two paintings are vastly different in application. Iris in Bloom 1 is a watercolor and the white of the flower comes from the paper. Iris in Bloom 2, is a mixed media and the white is added on top. Iris in Bloom 1 is considered a purist watercolor. This means nothing is added except watercolor paint and water. No salt, no coffee, no white acrylic paint added. I painted Iris #1 in 2008. I saved areas of white on the paper. No white watercolor paint wil…

On the evening of March 28, 1990, the Chicago Bulls played the Cleveland Cavaliers. Michael Jordan led his team to victory, 117-113. His scoring brought him to a career high of 69 points, giving him a legendary title in basketball. A rookie, Stacy King, also played for the Bulls. King took four foul shots and missed. On the fourth, missing his first shot, the ball went into the basket on the second one. After the game, the newscasters crowded around Jordan. A reporter found King and asked him ab…

When God won’t turn loose of us it’s a good thing. He wants something more from us. He becomes redundant, like a gnawing, a constant reminder in our hearts until we say, “OK.” He wants our attention and reminds us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Mathew 6:21, NKJV). The Passion Translation reads, “For your heart will always pursue what you value as your treasure.” Probably what I value most is leaving my love for Jesus to my children in a book. It sounds high and mi…

The biggest job we have is to keep our busy lives in balance. How does God bring balance when life pulls us to one side? Many of us hit the floor running—a book to edit, a job that requires our attention, a house to keep clean. Not to mention the people who live in the house—family members needing our attention. These two watercolors are examples of how life could be. One is full of things and the other one scaled down, both with the same design, but each with the same problem. it’s not the te…