By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I ask why a lot. Do you? Why did mother die? Why did that guy cut me off in traffic? Why did I lose my job? Why has life not gone as I planned? Maybe I’m asking the wrong why. Maybe I should
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Transition – ugh. That space between one place and another. Like a portal or threshold between what was and what will be. Like dying. I once heard a preacher say that death didn’t bother him. It was the “getting dead” part he didn’t like.
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I find myself shying away from those whose words contain no flame – people books movies I find myself longing for the power of story, an ageless warmth that drew crowds from their daily lives to the words of the Galilean – to feel
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer This week marks the arrival of spring – the season of rebirth, renewal, and resurrection. Of all the seasons, I believe it is the closest to those remarkable days when God said, “Let there be—” The very first thing the Bible says about God
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I have a black button-pin with white letters that say: “Well-behaved women rarely make history.” The round pin was left anonymously in my campus mailbox when I taught Creative Writing at Pueblo Community College. A reminder that March was Women’s History Month. What a
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I don’t even like donuts, but this enthusiastic eater of the doughy delights makes me want one. Do food commercials affect you that way? What about a billboard with an image of someone chomping into a juicy burger or slurping a double-scoop ice cream
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I remember the day a dump truck backed up my driveway, extended its hydraulic arms, and spilled a stream of crushed rock down the center of the muddy lane—just exactly as I’d ordered. Someone had been carrying off my gravel one chipped rock at a
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Life is full of give and take—sharing. It’s a back-and-forth effort like a swing at the playground. But, as is often the case in the English language, there can be a play on these two words. What, exactly, are we giving and taking? Are
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Chocolate and flowers abound in February because it’s the love month. Romance is in the air, and greeting-card companies, candy manufacturers, and florists attribute much of their sales to Valentine’s Day. I certainly don’t begrudge their success, but I’m not a fan of what
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer A couple of weeks ago, a stomach bug, the flu, or whatever the latest identifier is stopped by for a visit. During its stay, more than my body was affected. The weakness – or its agent of delivery – made impressions on my groggy
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Today I welcome fellow award-winning author, Susan G. Mathis, a regular guest on this blog. Her excerpt from Emma’s Engagement, Book 3 of her lighthouse series, shares some important aspects of forgiveness—often a difficult concept to deal with. But first, let’s take a behind-the-scenes
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer When you wake up in the early predawn, what do you do? If you leave for work at that time of day/night, then I already know what you do and my heart goes out to you. But if you typically rise at a more
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Death of the human body, a dream, or a goal is not necessarily painless, but it can be easy if one let’s go in faith — like the dying believer who knows His God awaits him. Because death is not the end, but the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer So many people in our society today are mesmerized by the video in their palms. They look down at their phones – not up. Like most of the people I’ve seen waiting in airports, they’re not paying attention to what’s going on around them.
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I’m going to miss December’s decorative Christmas lights shining into the night from homes and streets. One of my favorite displays this year was a small farm whose owner outlined the entire peaked barn, farmhouse windows, and pasture fences. What a beautiful thing to