Dear Reader, I love stories. I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I devoured books late into the night–or rather the early hours of the morning–especially during summer months when I didn’t have to be up early for school the next day. My imagination would often run away with…
Dear Readers, In my 60 years of life, I have lived in 11 places, including my college apartment and a couple of short-term apartments: one when I moved to another city, one when I got married, and one when we moved to a new state. I’ve been in my current house for 22 years. My…
Dear Reader, It was just three years ago that I started writing for a Christian meditation app called Abide. I hadn’t really thought about meditation too much prior to that. I didn’t have anything against it. I know that the Bible talks a lot about meditating on God’s Word and how important that is. But…
We’ve done more than a few home renovations. One involved our kitchen and jack hammering up our floor to move water pipes. The other involved our master bathroom and punching through drywall to again, move water pipes. My husband got our boys involved in this particular demo project, giving them thick gloves and telling them…
Dear Reader, What’s so holy about going to the grocery store? Or doing laundry? Or taking a meal to a sick friend? Or changing a diaper? You might think of sacraments as things like the Eucharist (Communion) or Baptism, or Marriage. But when we do all that we do for Christ and in Christ, we…
Dear Friend, Do you believe that you are completely and wholly loved by God? Some people more readily feel it than others. Maybe those who grew up in nurturing families instinctively know that God loves them, while those who struggled with hard parental relationships have a tougher time believing that they are worthy of love….
Dear Reader, I live in Florida, so every summer we hear tragic stories of toddlers falling into backyard pools and drowning. We have a pool, and we have a 3-year-old grandson who spends a lot of time at our house. We also have a pool fence. Or at least we did until we paved our…
Dear friends, This month, The Redbud Post tackles a scary topic: vulnerability. Think about a country building a defense against invaders. It wants to make itself invulnerable, doesn’t it? Don’t let anyone in who might hurt us. Where are we vulnerable? Shore it up. Well, with a country, that’s a good idea, but with relationships,…
It’s been more than 50 years, but I can still picture the scene: my family sitting at the dinner table when the phone rings. My dad answers, not saying much. And then the pronouncement: our sweet little dog, Ginger, was gone. I was very young, so I didn’t understand everything, but I understood that I…
Dear Readers, William Wordsworth once said, “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” Even though spring is bursting with new life, evoking powerful feelings, it has a tranquility about it as well. Doesn’t spring just inspire poetry in your heart? Songs, poems, spoken word pieces….
Dear Subscribers and Friends, It is with a heavy heart that I want to let you know about the loss of The Redbud Post’s editor-in-chief, JoHannah Reardon, on February 4, 2021, after an 18-month battle with cancer. JoHannah was a longtime Redbud Writers Guild member and had been the editor-in-chief of The Redbud Post since…
Katherine James, award-winning novelist, missionary, faithful follower of God, endured a nightmare no parent ever asked for. And she and her family came out of it with more hope than ever before. In A Prayer for Orion: A Son’s Addiction and a Mother’s Love, James poignantly, honestly, heart-wrenchingly, and faithfully recounts the story of her…
What’s that old saying? Man makes his plans and God laughs? My husband, David, and I had talked about dreams we had for our empty-nest years: Taking our tandem bike to several exotic destinations. Opening a unique bed-brunch-and-bikes place (since I’m not a morning person, the breakfast idea wasn’t going to fly). Selling our house…
The tables were all set with festive tablecloths and centerpieces, and light twinkled from votive candles as we awaited the arrival of our guests. Christmas was in the air. As more than 40 of our close friends gathered in the warm Florida December evening to celebrate the birth of Jesus, I addressed the group to…