Mexico–May 2006
In May 2006 I skipped my graduate school commencement and Chuk skipped his college graduation ceremony to take advantage of a missionary opportunity. Our family went with an evangelistic team to Mexico. One evening we visited a tiny, humble village on Lake Chapala. Most of the streets in the village were dirt. The main street was cobblestone.
The street was filled with children when we got there. We had a big watermelon to use for a skit, but someone had the idea that we should just slice the …

A few years ago I stumbled across a unique restaurant in Fenton, Michigan called “The French Laundry.” One morning I took Lois there. We sat and watched what people ordered. The waiter walked past the table one morning with a waffle the size of a small state piled with a mountain of fresh strawberries and a mound of whipped cream. Lois said, “I’m getting that when I come back.” Over the years we lived in the area Lois and I split not a few of those strawberry waffles. I would …

Lois invited me on a walk last night. I’m glad I went. It’s a lot less punishing than the game of “21″ the boys and Hope were putting me through in the driveway. After months of pale winter the neighborhood finally has some color in it’s cheeks. There are scores of flowering ornamentals in our neighborhood. They are fragrant and beautiful and they do my heart good after a long, snowy, monochrome winter. It rained last night and deepened the shade of green in the grass to emerald. Branches that …

We moved into the Granville Cottage just as the last leaf fell from the trees. I have to count again to make sure, but I think we have nine trees in our yard. There are a number of shrubs and bushes. Now that spring is here we’ve had some happy surprises around the cottage. A few days ago we were delighted to discover daffodils springing up along the fence in back and from the ground cover. Along the very back fence is a huge, brilliant, yellow forsythia bush. It just …

One night the older girls went out on their in-line skates and left little Hope behind because she can’t keep up. Usually they take her almost everywhere they go so it is hard for her to be left behind. She told me about it with a little catch in her voice so I knew it was time for Dad to practice some dadness. I said; “Would you like me to take you to the park?”
She said; “Sure!” (She has the sweetest way in the world of saying …

This week, while I was doing some pastoral calling. Everywhere I went I heard unsolicited reports of kind deeds, acts of mercy, and good works, done by someone in the church for others. Potato soup for shut-ins, auto repairs for widows, help for young mothers, and visits to those who are sick. I could write you a long list. These deeds were done without fanfare. I can tell you that more is happening than you will ever see. More good deeds are being done than you will ever know. More …

I have about 75 pages of a book nestled in the electronic archive of my notebook computer. It is a book about my grandfather’s farm. Here is a fairly current view of the farm, now no longer owned by the family. If you know what to look for you can actually see in the satellite photo the tree I refer to in my story, “Of Trees and Truthfulness.”

Today is Holly’s birthday. As always, we could hear the birds singing as we walked into the restaurant for our traditional birthday breakfast. (I’m sure you can see pictures of Holly at www.loispierpont.com). Dan and Wes preached their first sermons this past weekend. Dan will preach again on Wednesday night. Pictures of that may surface there, too. Hope will be nine next Lord’s Day.

The One who with the Father and the Spirit spoke the worlds into existence has promised that as long as the earth remains the cycle of the seasons will continue. We are again on the brink of warm, sunny days and evenings among the flowers in the yard. We’re in the greening of the year. It’s like the whole world is blushing with young love.

I brought this post to the top of my site because I mentioned it in my message Sunday morning. Be sure you follow the link at the end of my essay.
Do you know who Janice Meredith Wilson is? You should. Let me get on my soapbox here for a minute and then I will introduce her to you.
The guest list for lecturers at the National Cathedral in Washington D. C. is heavily weighted toward an odd amalgam of men and women, writers and preachers, educators and …