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
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Today is the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, a four-week tradition that marks the coming of Christ. We have looked at the themes of Hope, Peace, and Joy. This week’s celebration focuses on Love. The Bible says much about love. It is the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Eight hundred years ago near Greccio, Italy, St. Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas by assembling a living nativity or creche. He used live animals for a depiction of Christ’s birth, hoping to draw attention to the advent and away from secular materialism of the
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer An advent wreath was not part of our Christmas traditions when I was growing up. We didn’t light advent candles during the holidays or talk about what they meant, so learning about advent as an adult became one more thing on my to-do list.
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer The young Jewish woman we think of each Christmas must have been an equestrian of the highest order, riding full-term over rough ground on a donkey. Twenty miles a day for more than seventy miles she and her fiancé traveled so they could be
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I wish I had known my grandmother when she was a young woman with long russet hair and ankle-brushing skirts. I wish I could have seen her dreams, her daily struggles, and heard the defiance in her voice when she said, “I will not
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer I am often asked what advice I have for aspiring writers. My answer is always the same. “Don’t quit.” However, sometimes I say, “Never give up.” And often I elaborate: “Keep writing.” Sound boringly repetitive? I’m afraid so. But it is the kind of
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last Monday, the post office was closed for the observance of Columbus Day. I imagine the following day had a line of postal patrons stretched out the door and into the lobby. I have spent many post-Columbus-Day Tuesdays in a post office line. One
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer People who visit the Colorado mountains each fall to see the changing leaves learn how to position themselves in relation to the sun if they want the best picture possible. For the most vibrant colors and the bluest sky, they shoot with the sun
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer My kitchen is brimming with apples, and the choices abound as to what I’ll do with them: 1. Make applesauce 2. Make apple pie or cobbler 3. Make apple cookies 4. Make apple bread 5. Bake apples 6. Dry apples 7. Slice and eat
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Last fall, a cheeky tree squirrel ate the autumn decorations off my front porch. One evening I had two pumpkins and a clutch of Indian corn; the next morning I had one ear of corn with several kernels missing. And two hardened pumpkin stems.
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer Skyline Drive offers no railing in its climb up the hogbacks just west of Cañon City, Colorado. The narrow road lives up to its name, allowing motorists and hikers to feel as if they are scaling the sky. Some of us don’t like that