Sophie's Story

     A few years ago I was looking for something to watch or listen to after my morning Scripture study. I like starting my day in this way as it makes my day better and puts things in to perspective. I found something on YouTube. It is a short morning prayer service that originates from Washington National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Every weekday morning they put out a short devotional consisting of prayers, a reading or two from the Bible and a short message.     This morning's prayer Service was lead by a woman who helps to oversee chaplains that serve in the armed forces and the federal prison system. She ended the service by reading the a prayer that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi although it has not been found among his writings. As today is Memorial Day  and in light of the many acts of violence that have occurred recently, I share this version from 1912 that I found on Wikipedia. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me being

        I came to a startling realization a couple days ago. I graduated from college 30 years ago.       On May 23, 1992 I walked across a stage at NDSU wearing my black robe and mortarboard with olive green tassel to accept my degree of Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy. I worked very hard for that degree, harder than I had ever worked for anything in my life at that point. Not all people attend college commencements. I don't blame them. They are long and boring. I wasn't going to miss this though. After all my hard work, I wanted to celebrate.    My celebration wasn't going to last for long. My hard work wasn't over. In order to get a license as a pharmacist I needed to do a graduate internship and then pass the Pharmacy Board exam. My summer was going to be spent working at a small independent pharmacy in Grand Rapids Minnesota. Then I would move back to my parents' home to study for boards.    One of the things I learned during those five years at NDSU is perseve

         As we pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store, I saw him. He had left the store and was walking across the parking lot. His hair was a bit thinner and he had gained some weight around the middle. He  plodded his way to the end of the parking lot where his car was parked. I recognized the leather bag that he carried. That had not changed.    My first instinct was to run him over. Not very charitable on my part, I'll admit it. I've mostly forgiven him, but on very few days, I still resent what he did. I should be a bit more generous to him. I'm sure he was following the orders of someone higher up in the company. He's only a district manager, the ones who have to enforce the decisions made by others higher up.   Many years ago in an effort to trim the one cost that could be trimmed, corporate decided to cut back on our support staff. At the same time they had recently converted to pharmacy processing software that was much more labor intensive than the o

      When we bought this house, it came with a garden. The garden had been planted by the original owners of the house. One of them was a master gardener and her fine work had been left to grow wild by the group of young men who bought the house from them. When we came to the house after the closing, one of my new neighbors came to me and told me they hoped I'd do something with the garden.    I'm not much of a gardener, but I do my best and most of the time it looks pretty good. I tore out a lot of what was there before because it was overgrown or I wanted to make room for the things I wanted to plant.    One thing I left alone was the tulips. Every year they come up sometimes in places they have not been before. It's fun for me to see where the tulips will show up. Most of the time there are yellow and red ones. I have also seen pink ones and once we had a purple one. I'm starting to see yellow tulips with red on them. The number of pink tulips is starting to increas

     Mother's Day at church was has always been a challenge for me. It was worse when my mother and I were not speaking to each other. That part has improved, but it is still not my favourite day.     It's not that I have anything against a day honoring mothers, I firmly believe mothers should be honored in any way they choose on that day. No, my challenge is that in an attempt to be inclusive, I get treated as if I am a mother. This bothers me, a lot. For starters, I believe it is an insult to those who do have children. It's kind of like celebrating my birthday at somebody else's birthday party on a day that is not my birthday. I am quite comfortable with my childless status. I have plenty of opportunities to nurture that don't involve giving birth, adoption or fostering. I don't need to take a title that does not apply to me.    One nice thing about my new calling is that I have an opportunity to influence or at least voice my option about certain things. One

     Now that the sun is out and it hasn't rained for awhile, C and I decided that it was time to bike the Cannon Valley trail. We got up early this morning and prepared to go. I filled our water bottles and a couple of small plastic bags with snacks. C checked our bikes and tires. He lubricated the chains and  put more air in the tires. We made a couple of breakfast smoothies, put on our riding gear and headed out.     We we both excited to ride again. The April cold and snow meant that we couldn't get our bikes out as early as we had last year.  C was particularly anxious to ride. He has been working our at a local gym and was eager for some outdoor exercise.      When we got to the halfway point at Welch, the spot we start out at, we noticed that there were not as many cars in the parking lot as we expected. We were pleased about that. The trail is pretty popular and can be rather crowded especially on the first nice Saturday of the year. C parked the car and got the bikes o

        It may be just a vicious rumor, but I think spring just might be here now. The tulips are showing up in the garden in even larger clumps than usual. The grass is turning green. There are strange dark steaks across the front yard which I think just might be shadows of the trees. If the trees are casting shadows then that light in the sky must be the sun.    I haven't been complaining about the weather the past few months because complaining doesn't do anything. The snow and rain will still fall and the clouds will still continue to cover the sky. The best thing to do is just move on and find thing to do inside. (Like finish the baby blanket I started a few months ago)    Spring is the reward nature gives us after the winter months. After months of dormancy and cold, the sun begins to warm up the earth. Birds come out to build nests. Trees and bushes begin to bud. People start to come out of their houses.     There are signs of spring in our home. Scamp has been sitting i