For the past three years, my daughter Rebecca Loar has been working toward her Doctor of Music Arts degree at the University of South Carolina. She is a wonderful accomplished singer and voice teacher. We have all had great dreams and expectations for her and her family once she...

O Lord, how long will you forget me? How long will you look the other way? —Psalm 13: 1 NLT Lament. It's a word we don't hear very often. When I have heard it in the past, I've put it into the category of whining, venting, complaining to God from the depths of my soul. And maybe...

When you walk through a storm Hold your chin up high And don't be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet, silver song of a lark. Walk on through the wind, Walk on through the rain, Though your dreams be tossed and blown. Walk on, walk on With...

…did you not know what the Holy One can do with dust? —Jan Richardson, “Blessing the Dust,” from Circle of Grace Our pastors were away on a trip to the Holy Land. I was asked to assist the visiting pastor with the Ash Wednesday service. While I have held the Communion Cup...

Several years ago, I attended a writer's conference. It was a good conference and I learned some stuff that has been beneficial. But the best thing I got from those three days of meetings was a friendship with a truly delightful young gal named Natalie Snapp. It's a nice...

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land; A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, From the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day. -Elizabeth C. Clephane We sang this hymn in church...

And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race...

With Christmas just a few days away, I'm excited to share an excerpt from my latest book, Cradle and Cross, which is now available on Amazon.com and by order at your local book store. Does caroling fit into your holiday plans? Here's how it went in our family. Caroling We...

It was a perfect description. Anyone driving on that street near my house would know immediately what my friend was saying. In touting a Saturday morning local event, she said "It's at the church near the interesting intersection." Got it. I drive there almost every day. It's...

Some of the best things in life are imperceptible. - Sue Holbrook And often those imperceptible things don't need a lot of words. Shadows, breezes. Faith breezes. The shadows show the gentle breeze. It was faith that brought me here. I needed a touch from that gentle hand of...

Time passes. Thankfully. As I wrote down the date this week, I realized it was the anniversary of a most significant day in my life: May 14. On May 14, 2013, I had a bilateral mastectomy. In 2013, I marked the date on this blog with the following story about the night...

There is something about the doings of a three year old little boy that just puts life in perspective sometimes. Especially when the little boy is named Ellis and he's smart as a whip. Ellis is my grandnephew...the grandson of my brother. He is pictured here with his mother, his...

Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. -Thomas Jefferson / Benjamin Franklin / and Countless Others How many times are we told that if there's something we really really want to do we should do everything we can to make it happen. This quote is officially credited to...

John and Carrie Chesser Kennedy (This essay was originally published in my book Faith Breezes. I share it here in honor of the 100th anniversary of Vero Beach, Florida 1919 - 2019.) Few people in Indian River County would recognize the name Carrie Kennedy. They might know her...

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever...It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything." - Aaron Siskind I love this picture. Let me tell you about it. This is the road that took us to...

Lost as a goose in a snowstorm... It was not exactly our finest hour. Friend Judy and I were returning from our pre-Christmas day at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. We make it a point to go there sometime during the holiday season to enjoy the exquisite...

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. -Isaiah 43:19 (NIV) January 1 always puts me in a reflective mood. How about you? 2018 in many ways was no different from any other year for...

I hate the word HATE. In fact, in recent months the climate of anger and dissension in our country has brought this word to the fore more than ever before in my lifetime. Its use has become almost cavalier among certain segments of our culture who seek to throw the worst stigma...

Make new friends but keep the old... One is silver and the other gold. If I put a title on my activities of last week, it would be simply Friends. This little song from my Girl Scout days kept running through my head over the weekend as I looked back over the past few days. It...

Carl Holbrook, EM3/c Memorial Day is a time for remembering and honoring those who have given their lives in defense of our country. In that defense, there are so many who survived but carried with them the scars of battle. Many of those have been honored with the receipt of a...