Brick by Brick: Rebuilding the Broken

Like the Sesame Street game sings -  "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just isn't the same."    *Broken Dryers, Barns, and Basements* Let me tell you a story...  I haven't had a working dryer all summer,  It's not that we haven't tried to fix it. Whenever we were going to get our dryer fixed,  either something else broke that needed to be fixed first,  or other events kept us busy, and then my daughter moved.     This has been a poor year to be drying clothes on the clothesline,  since we have had non-stop rains almost every week. Non-stop rains equal flooded basements. At our house, it's not a "wipe everything downstream" flood. Just a "crack in the cement" pouring in kind of flood. That's what happens to old houses. Yes, it needs to be fixed. And we will get right on that. After etc., etc., etc. Priorities. So, here I am with a broken dryer.  The

I meant to post this in August - When I saw that first leaf make it's way to my feet.  But I just couldn't. As the months drift on by, the countdown keeps it's sullen ticking to a silent signal. It's in the chill of the morning air. It's in the shortening of daylight. Like a distant coyote howling, it chills me to the bone.  I can feel it coming.  Even in the height of summer, when a leaf tumbles to the ground, my heart stops a little. The deep sigh of resolution and sadness grips my being. Perhaps, for you, it is the first day of school. The children shopping with moms for new clothes and school supplies. Or the end of the school season and graduation. Or weddings, or grandbabies. Yes, me too.                                            I don't like this time of year anymore. I planted one of the mums we received at our son's funeral. For two years, it hasn't bloomed until after the beginning of Octo

I don't look anything like this beautiful warrior, nevertheless, I am a soldier. There are many reasons I am a fighter, for I am part of a war.  A war is going on around us, even as we sit quietly to read the morning paper. The unseen battle rages day after day, with innumerable ranks in combat, in the conflict of the ages. The war between good and evil. We must keep our eyes open and our swords sharp. The only way to ensure our safety in this struggle, is to be in constant communication with the Commander-in-Chief. The strategy is well laid out in the Word of God. We even have a suit of armor, built in the best armory ever. The complete soldier's protection is given to us, piece by piece. The Belt of Truth:    Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  - John 14:6 The Breastplate of Righteousness: For God's Kingdom is not a matter of eating and d