No Room at the Inn They say revenge is a dish best served cold. It was natural—every child in the church Christmas program wanted to be either Joseph or Mary. Tom was a ten-year-old and wanted the Joseph role in the worst way. Not only did he fail to get the coveted role of Joseph, it went to a rival …

The Best Present It seemed to be the worst Christmas present ever as I unwrapped it. I now value it as the best I’ve received.   It was Christmas 1973. I was a seventeen-year-old high school senior.   The present was from my Uncle Bill. Always my favorite uncle. He still is. I held the cheap brown booklet in my …

My short story collection, Christmas Jelly, was written in 32 chapters.  This allows you (the reader) to enjoy one chapter per day beginning December 1 and ending on January 1. Here’s today’s serving of Christmas Jelly! Enjoy!  The following fictional short story comes from a story told to me by the Miller and Lindsey families of Dry Creek, Louisiana. Enjoy! First Christmas …

      “Christmas in Winterset” was written during our African sojourn.  I met a church group from Winterset, Iowa. It was too good of a town name not to use in a story.  The actual story was related to me by a Beauregard Parish man who told of his uncle making this journey during the height of the Depression …

My short story collection, Christmas Jelly, was written in 32 chapters.  This allows you (the reader) to enjoy one chapter per day beginning on December 1 and ending on January 1. Here’s your fourth helping of Christmas Jelly. Enjoy! December 3 Chapter 4 Stolen Christmas Trees     “I know I tagged a tree in this area.” My neighbor Mitzi Foreman walks through …

  From now until New Year’s Day,  we’ll be featuring stories from our short story collection, Christmas Jelly.   My prayer is that you and your family will enjoy a wonderful Christmas, and you’ll feel the personal presence of Jesus, the King of all Kings. This blog post contains two stories,  “Christmas Jelly”  (Dec. 1) and “My Grandpas’ Boots” (Dec. …

I love this quote: “Lord, you’ve given me so much. I ask You for one more thing: a heart of gratitude.”   This week’s word is Gratitude. This is my favorite story on gratitude: Vance Gill, my guitar-playing Dry Creek friend (who I always remind that he’s only one vowel away from being famous) shared this:   “I was working …

    Tough or Hard—The Choice is Yours   In front of me are three objects: a hammer, a brick, and a flat piece of leather. They make for a wonderful lesson we all can learn from. It’s amazing observing folks as they go through difficult times. Periods of trial, adversity, and sadness distill out what is really inside people. …

Down in the Well   “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”   Proverbs 3:4   My neighbor Dudley Mercer tells a story from his Dry Creek childhood.  His family farm had a 35-foot deep well on which they relied for all of their water needs. Dudley’s family also had a problem: one …

The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The next best time is today. It’s a story worth retelling. His name is  John Stephen Akhwari and he had the dubious honor to finish last in the Marathon at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. John Stephen, a Tanzanian runner, finished more than one hour after the winner had …