By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer What does our soul wait for? To be honest, wait isn’t on my list of “Fun Things to Do.” More often than not, I’ve classified wait with other (inappropriate) four-letter words. However, the image of someone watching for the sunrise lends an air
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer As a writer, it’s easy for me to digress into drama over everyday situations, and that’s exactly what I did recently. Through circumstances beyond my control, I was ejected from an important relationship. I was also dejected about another tentative relationship, and finally
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Chocolate and flowers abound in February because it’s the love month and romance is in the air. Greeting-card companies, candy manufacturers, and florists attribute much of their business to this short-on-days, long-on-love month. However, it takes more than candy and flowers to make a
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer My first year as a sixth-grade teacher, I sprinkled my classroom walls with quotes, pinning them around the room at student-eye level. One of my favorites was taken from a desktop calendar: “Some people find fault like there is a reward for it.”
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last Monday, the post office was closed for the observance of Columbus Day. Tuesday morning, the line of postal patrons stretched out the door and into the lobby. It reminded me that I need to start mailing Christmas gifts. As I approached the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I recently finished a novel about a young woman considering her next step. Which way should she go? Which was the right path for her life? She had several options, but she wanted the one that would take her in the direction of
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last week I cut off the remaining leaf of bok choy for a salad and almost threw the end of the bunch in the trash. And then I thought, “What if?” What if I put the end in water? Would it grow? I’d
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Most of us are familiar with the story of David and Goliath, but I think it has the wrong name. It should be called the story of King Saul and a shepherd boy. Goliath is a secondary character. The real action takes place
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Are we there yet? Each of us has more than likely asked that question or heard it from the back seat of our car. It’s just so hard to be patient when the road is long. The work, the race—the pressing on—isn’t easy.
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer My dad taught me how to drive a tractor and a nail. He taught me how to start a motherless calf on a bucket by using my fingers, how to set irrigation pipe in the hot San Joaquin Valley sun, and how to
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer On Saturday, I took my three-year-old granddaughter’s birthday pictures and I learned something very important from her—other than the fact that Biderman is her best friend and Yucky Charms are her favorite cereal. I learned that no matter what you’re doing, whatever the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I stopped by the spring flower display at the local grocery store and breathed deeply. Such perfume! How could I resist? Living bulbs would bloom year after year in my yard, right? But for the next several days, I could enjoy them on
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Winds along Colorado’s Front Range this spring have been stronger than ever. We’ve been pummeled by shuddering gusts that rattle windows and awnings and send wind chimes, lawn chairs, and trash cans flying. Yet in the most brutal moments, I’ve found comfort in
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I love my own homemade coffee. In fact, I love it so much that I get it as close to “cowboy coffee” as I can with an antique enamel pot that perks the brew atop my stove. It’s the real deal. Add canned
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer My friend Jill is a name dropper. She raises Nigerian Dwarf Goats on her Kentucky farm, Sinai Thunder, and she drops a blessing on each animal born on the farm. As animal breeders do, Jill gives each kid a name that refers back