Michelle DeRusha's Blog, page 55
February 15, 2014
February 14, 2014
On Valentine’s Day, Let’s Plant Seeds of Love {#veggiesforAfrica}
It’s a little hard to imagine right now as the snow blankets the back yard and the garden lays quiet. A few browned squash vines and sunflower stems poke through the drifts. I watch from the window as a fierce wind blows the dried fountain grass fronds, crisp tips tickling the frozen ground. Images of lush lettuces, vibrant zinnias, radishes pushing their ruby heads through loamy soil are but a distant memory.
Come mid-March, though, the work will begin. Brad and the boys will head to the rais...
February 12, 2014
The Season of Slow
The dog and I fight for real estate in front of the space heater. {What?! you say. A dog?! She’s not mine – we are dog sitting for a friend…but do stay tuned – there’s more news to come on that front}
I wear a turtleneck sweater, a sweatshirt and a scarf wrapped three times around my neck. The colors all clash and I don’t care. I’m still cold, no matter how many layers I wear.
Outside the sun room window (“sun room” a misnomer these days) the sky laps gray upon gray upon gray. The birds flutter...
February 10, 2014
Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: When You’re Looking for a Sign
The day my sister-in-law’s father died, she pulled into the driveway of her parents’ home wrung dry with grief and witnessed a full rainbow arched right over the roof of the house. It was, she told me later, a sign from God, a sign of hope, peace and comfort in the midst of sadness and dispair.
Just a few weeks later, as my mother-in-law lay dying in a hospital bed in her family room, I looked for a rainbow, too. I looked every day, scanning the cloudless Nebraska horizon for signs of rain. I...
February 8, 2014
February 7, 2014
On Shooting Stars and Jewish Blessings
I’m already in my pajamas, tucked into the sofa with the fire crackling bright at my feet, a book open on my lap. When the door opens, I feel the rush of frigid air slip around my shoulders like a filmy veil. Brad and Noah clomp their boots on the doormat, shake snow from the bottoms of their pants. Their cheeks are flushed scarlet.
“You’ve got to come see this,” Brad says. “The sky is spectacular. You can even see the Milky Way.”
I shake my head. “No way. I’m too cozy,” I say, nestling into th...
February 5, 2014
On Personality Tests and Your God-Given Passion
In high school I took one of those personality strengths tests aimed at helping you discern the best career path. When I finished filling in all the circles with my number two pencil, my dad, a guidance counselor, tallied the results. Turned out the test revealed I’d make an excellent card store manager. Not a doctor or a professor or lawyer. Not an engineer or scientist. A card store manager. I could barely contain my excitement.
Nothing against card stores or managers, of course. But at that...
February 3, 2014
Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: When You Find Yourself Drinking from the Wrong Well
Ever since I read the story of the woman at the well this week, I’ve been singing the refrain of that old song from 1980, “Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places.” Do you remember that one (you can stop reading right here if you were born after 1990)? It’s a country song – the hit single from the movie Urban Cowboy with John Travolta and Debra Winger.
I was looking for love in all the wrong places. Looking for love in too many faces. Searching your eyes, looking for traces. Of what… I’m drea...
February 2, 2014
January 31, 2014
Bible in the Bathroom
I call it Bible in the Bathroom.
When I heard a well-known Christian speaker mention that she writes a verse or two on a three-by-five card and tapes it over the bathroom sink, I thought I’d give it a try. I admit, I was desperate. Every one of my previous attempts to introduce regular Bible study into our family’s routine had flopped. Badly.
At dinnertime I’d tried reading a verse or two with a brief commentary geared toward children. The kids pronounced it boring after a week.
I’d experimented...
