It was a warm November day, the leaves had only recently begun to turn, and the maples along our street were blazing in deep reds and oranges. The air smelled earthy, pungent, and I could hear the crackle of the fall leaves beneath my feet even over the podcast on my AirPods. All of this…
It was a night in the late winter of 2010. I had a six-month-old baby and a two-and-a-half-year-old. Life was full of diapers, keeping nap times, and playing with my toddler while my baby slept. I didn’t know where my quiet inner spaces had gone. Life was busy, so busy of here-to-there and everywhere in…
Dear Readers, Happy New Year! I’m both happy and sad to see 2021 in my rearview mirror. There were several milestones my family crossed during the last year. Early in the year I took over this editor-in-chief job from my dear friend JoHannah, who lost her battle with cancer on February 4th. It was quite…
Margaret Philbrick spent many summers playing tag in the cherry and apple orchards of northern Wisconsin. Her friend Julie grew up on one of those orchards and her life experiences of harvest and loss inspired this story. ******* Like most things it started with one. Grandma could never throw anything out. Like every Grandma in…
Hibo had no immediate family in Djibouti other than her children. Her husband gave her three kids and HIV and ran off. She had one dead baby and two living. Hibo had her first baby, the one who died, when she was 14. Malnutrition had stunted Hibo’s growth, and because of malnutrition her children’s hair…
I’m not an outdoors person. At least, that’s not how I have ever described myself. After all, I’m not fond of bugs or dirt or rocks, and the outdoors holds a plethora of each. But recently I wondered if I should stop refusing to wear that title. Because my denial might not be entirely accurate….
I never saw a heartbeat inside a chest before, until one day, I did. This wasn’t something I set out to do; I’m not a surgeon nor do I work in the medical field. In fact, unless there’s a problem, I don’t pay much attention to the beat of my own heart. I trust in…
Entrapped by cold concrete, beauty unnoticed between back-to-school walkers, dog sniffers, after dinner strollers. Protected by a crack, fending off frost, courageous late bloomer. Could we be like you? Shining our summer colors when least expected? Hiding our seeds in safe places? Creating while waiting on winter to wane? Awakened by April snows – showing…
Settling in the straw, I am grateful for a quiet moment after a 12-hour workday followed by all the necessary personal conversations that help mop up the spills and splatters of everyday life. My family verbally unloads their day like so much stored up dirty laundry needing to be washed and rinsed with the spin…
Dear Readers, Welcome to the last month of the year! We’ve been through a lot together. From living in a continuing pandemic, inaugurating a new president, watching continuing tension around the world, and yet still hoping and believing in a good God who cares about each one of us intimately. We here at the Redbud…
COVID-19 has initiated the celebration of some very unique milestones. For me, the most memorable was the day I sat between two of my grandchildren and read them a story for the first time since we began sheltering at home. We celebrated the relaxation of strict quarantine here in rural Maine with our little group of…
Pain is a strange companion of ours, whether we like it or not. There’s pain in our very welcome to this world, we fall and scrape our knees as we learn to walk, baby teeth have to be pulled in order for permanent teeth to show up and do their work. Seeds must shatter for…
I’m sitting here writing an article about grieving at a time when I’m grieving more than I ever have in my life. You might think it’s the worst time to tackle a topic like this, but in some ways it’s therapeutic. My husband, excuse me, ex-husband, filed for divorce a year ago, and everything has…
My closest friend in high school told me—on several occasions—that I was a “know-it-all.” Today the most common tagline I might be given is “she’s so real and vulnerable.” How did that happen? How did I go from an attitude of pride and I know what’s best to being willing to admit and even share…