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Against the Wind

Today I watched him on the tractor plowing our field. Our field. Not his own, though there is endless work to be done on his land as well. The dirt and heat swirling around his head. And the wind in his face. His sweat-stained hat wet from the hose. Pushed down tight on hair still dark. Not much gray though he’s just months from seventy. Dark like my grandmother’s midnight hair. She’s been gone for over a decade now. The girl from Montana – a force to be reckoned with. Sold her horse at seventeen and bought a train ticket to California. On her own. Her second […]

By Paula June 18, 2011

Spiritual Sailing

This past weekend at the ocean I watched a kite surfer wrestling the wind and waves. He appeared to be an amateur, the sea violently sloshing him around. I was seriously concerned for his safety. “I hope a shark doesn’t get him,” said Scott, who sat in the truck beside me on a windswept Bodega Bay bluff overlooking the beach where the kiteboarder struggled alone. “I can’t believe he’s doing that by himself. He needs major help,” I said. A storm was passing through. The wind howled. Waves rolled huge. Nobody was on the beach but him. After a particularly bad run at trying to surf… I thought he was […]

By Paula June 1, 2011

Safely Home

A storm cloud loomed on the horizon. I’d never seen a cloud like this in California. It looked like an atomic bomb blast, huge, mushroom shaped, and dark. Sinisterly dark. Lightening veined through it as if arteries of electricity fed the cloud life. I was in bed when Scott asked me to come outside to look at the cloud this week. “You’ve got to see this,” he said after returning from kenneling the dogs. This was so unlike my husband. Weather never excited him. We walked upstairs to our balcony for a better look. When I saw it, the cloud took my breath away. “It’s north of the ranch,” I said […]

By Paula May 28, 2011

You Can Choose Your Family

You’ve probably heard the old saying: You can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family. Well, according to Jesus, you can choose your family. In Luke 8:19-20, the Bible says that Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him, but were not able to get near him because of the crowd. When Jesus was told his birth family was standing outside, wanting to see him, Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” Later, as Jesus hung on the cross, he made a decision that must have upset his […]

By Paula May 18, 2011

A Gift Pony

About six months ago I began praying for a pony. I grew up on ponies and have wanted my children to have this bittersweet experience too. I say bittersweet because I broke bones (usually the arms of other little girls with me), yet many of my fondest childhood memories involve riding ponies. But when our girls were young, we did the pony thing. After our little daughters landed in the dirt numerous times and Lacy got kicked in the chest by her naughty pony, we sold the bratty beasts. After that, Scott vowed no more pint size horses. Quietly, I grieved this loss as we continued by trial and error to build our family out of our own growing-up experiences. […]

By Paula May 14, 2011

The Art of Vulnerablity

There is nothing more vulnerable than a newborn child. Left alone a baby would soon die. Babies need to be fed, clothed, cleaned, carried, and loved. Above all, loved. Life in third world orphanages show that infants who are fed and cleaned and clothed, but left unloved, often don’t live. The word vulnerability literally means the ability to be vulnerable. How good are you at being vulnerable? Do you even want to be vulnerable? As a baby you had no choice in being vulnerable: you were vulnerable because God made you that way. He could have made you like a baby deer that […]

By Paula May 5, 2011

A Power Surge of Thankfulness

Yesterday morning just as I hung up with one of my prayer partners, I heard some type of explosion. Then all our fire alarms went off. I scooped up the baby and headed down the hall to see if there was a fire somewhere in the house. With the fire alarms blasting, loud pops began to run through the electrical outlets. Growing more frightened by the minute, I gave up searching for the fire, and ran to the TV room where three-year-old Garry watched Beauty and the Beast. As I entered the room, there was a loud burst and smoke poured […]

By Paula April 28, 2011