The Color of Homelessness   ADD HOMELESS LADY IN DRY CREEK   Most things in East Africa have a color. Including homelessness. In our part of Uganda, it wears red. Not a bright red. More of a dirty red. I’d call it the color of rust. The average African wears the same basic outfit daily. This is no meant to …

BEING A MEDIATOR Both Sides Now:     elaborate on story of Franklins and Taylors I’ve gotten in lots of trouble in my life trying to mend things between folks. I have a good story about bringing two rural families together at school to end a long-running feud that had started over a deer stand. The children of each family …

Underdogs I’ve not sure I’ve ever seen anything that looked more out of place. As my grandpa said, “It was like a saddle on a pig.” Brand new shiny playground equipment in the midst of a ragtag barren refugee camp. I walked over to a swing set and pushed on it. It was cemented in the ground. Just as I …

Snake Bit!   “At ________ Camp, we are averaging two snake bites per day.  In fact, a sixty year old woman is now fighting for her life as a result of a Puff Adder bite from last night.” –       Medical clinician at refugee camp meeting.   I wonder if that lady survived. I wonder why God allowed the pastor in …

Today is her birthday. I won’t reveal her age but she was born in 1935, You can do the math. Her name is Mary Plott Iles. And she’s my mother. Don’t tell her to act her age.  She’s the youngest thinking person I know.