Quiet in His Love

From 2007: As Christmas approaches, you tend to get excited about many things.   You start thinking of wonderful gifts to give your family and friends.   You anticipate the gifts that others are choosing for you.   Gatherings are planned to celebrate the season with a festive air.   Trees have been put up and decorated with lights, bits of tinsel, Hallmark ornaments, and hand-crafted pieces from second grade.   You have put out your favorite nativity scene and rented all of the classics from Video Hut down the street.   The eggnog is chilling in the refrigerator and Bing is crooning about snow on Christmas from the stereo in the corner.   Your Christmas cards are in the mail with your personal notes to each and every friend and family member, and you have started receiving cards and displaying them for all to see.   Each card that arrives not only contains a nice little sentiment about the holiday season, but it also adds another notch to your b...

As Andy approached his high school graduation, it was unclear what he should do with his life.   He prayed regularly, asking God for guidance in this matter.   Arthur was still very much a part of the lives of the Donnellys and suggested that Andy work in the warehouse where he worked.   Andy felt that was the right decision and so began the most wild ride of his life.   Andrew Donnelly began his first day at Riteden Publishers on June 21, 1954.   What a day it was!   He was to be a runner in the warehouse – filling orders, bringing supplies to coworkers, cleaning up messes, etc.   However, on the Friday before he began his job, a man quit a higher position that was much more crucial.   Mr. Riteden asked Andy if he was up to doing the more difficult job.   Andy said that he certainly was up to it.   So began his journey through the ranks of Riteden Publishers.   God saw fit to bless Andy with two new positions and three pay raises i...

The pages turn freely under your hand as you head toward the end of the white pages.   Underwood, Daniel.   Uze, Paula.   Vacuum World.   Valley Brethren Chapel.   Valley Calvary Baptist.   Valley Chapel of the Woods.   Valley Christian Church… 15 Roper Street .   No!   It makes no sense.   How can this possibly be?   The Donnellys live in the wealthy part of town.   They must be crazy or something to attend church on Roper Street .   Nobody goes to that part of town, not even the criminals.   This phone book thing is really going too far, even for me, but I need to understand what’s happening here.   I can see the Donnellys parking their new Cadillac in the lot at Valley Christian Church.   As they proceed to the entrance, several people call out greetings to them.   People dressed in cast-offs and hand-me-downs.   That shirt on that girl there looks like the one I donated to the Goodwill.   ...

Written in 2007. Have you ever been so bored that you read the phone book?   And then you started wondering about Bill and Joanne Berkeley.   You started thinking about their gorgeous house at 280 Pleasant Lane .   Your imagination took off as you pictured the two-thousand-square-foot house with the spacious three-car garage and in-ground swimming pool.   Bill and Joanne were spending their Saturday afternoon grilling on the newly stained back deck.   Their three children were with them as they all sat down to eat the picnic feast set before them.   And after enjoying a rousing game of croquet, the five merry Berkeleys make their way into the house where they all contentedly tasted a delicious home-baked apple pie.   As soon as they entered the house, you noticed the interior lush with antique furniture, imported carpets, and top-of-the-line electronics.   But wait…the doorbell is ringing.   Who could that be?   Joanne knows!   ...

Probably written in 2008. On the side of the hill was a small wooden bench that overlooked a beautiful little pond.   Many times the bench had held people in its protective arms.   Some days the rains would come and sometimes the sunshine.   The bench continued to stand guard over the little pond and to welcome a child or a couple or an old gentleman.   With each passing season the bench would grow a little more comfortable in its place and a little more scarred in its wood.   A small child would find a rock and scrape along the bench’s length, leaving behind a streak of chipped stain.   A young couple in the blooming stages of love would sit on the bench’s seat and vow to always love one another.   Then they would carve their initials into the bench’s tender wooden back.   The bench didn’t mind so much.   Love was important, the bench knew that.   Now, as years passed, the bench began to grow a little less spry and a little less invit...