I just returned from a walk on our local beach here in Totoralillo, rumored to be the best in the region. No, I didn’t have a piña colada, but the fruit sundae booths, churro carts, and ceviche shops are already doing booming business. I didn’t wear flip-flops either, because as you may remember, it’s still…
Twenty-five tins that contain—or once contained tea—line the shelves and cupboards of my home. While I consider myself more of a coffee drinker than a tea fan, those special cups of tea remind me of dozens of “tea reads” over time. The main character of my original story world, Melissa Travis of Destiny at Dolphin…
Perhaps it may look suspicious for a blogger, the ultimate purveyor of virtual life and literature, to write about our worldwide digital dilemma. But that’s exactly what I’m going to do today. There was a time in early 2021, a year into the Covid pandemic here, when I wondered, “Am I the only person left…
On July 14, 1983—a crisp, cold winter morning—my husband and I arrived in Chile for our first term of service, with six suitcases, seven barrels, a crate, and an 18-month-old daughter in tow. Sometimes, the devil tries hard to convince me I’ve spent 40 years tracing circles in the wilderness, but I recognize his lies….
Living FOR eternity? Yes, we’ve heard of that. It surely goes without saying that a Christian should live for eternity. But the truth is, we’re already living IN eternity, recognize it or not. If you’re 90, you may fear you don’t have much time left. If you’re 20, you tend to believe you have a…
Many authors keep in mind an avatar or ideal future reader while writing their books. Christian writing podcaster Thomas Umstattd, Jr. suggests directing our stories to a real person rather than an imaginary persona. The apostle Paul was writing for Timothy—one person—when he scribbled the biblical epistles of I and II Timothy. Yet millions of…
My husband’s a World War II buff, and I too value the rich legacy bequeathed by that generation of heroes. Sometimes I wonder how the stories and screens of the past century would have looked different had the dramatic and traumatic events of two world wars never happened. Certainly, both Hollywood filmmakers and New York…
How often do you not finish the books you’ve picked out and started with such diligent intentions? Though a friend tells me I’m a bit obsessive-compulsive that way, it happens more than I’d like to admit. Back when I homeschooled my girls, we learned one day that King Richard the Lionheart (1157-1199) owned a magnificent…
My two granddaughters were charmed by the quirky set of Russian dolls I put in their Christmas stockings when they visited Chile in December. Someday I’ll share with them the stories inside the story here. As did—surprisingly—a recent guest speaker at our church when he used a set of these dolls as an object lesson….
Twenty-five years have passed, give or take a few, since I chanced on this little gem for my tin collection. Doing errands in bustling downtown Santiago, I ducked out of the drizzle and smog into a recently discovered “treasure hoard” of a store. Todo A Mil (“Everything for 1000 Pesos”—the Chilean equivalent of a dollar…
In my travels, I’ve made a game of snapping photos of doors and windows. I find the variety absolutely fascinating. They give me windows to the world by showcasing cultures and styles of architecture predominant in a given place. What vivid object lessons! From the exterior, you can note the size and shape of a…
What if I told you all the myths of Chiloé are true…from a certain point of view? A certain point of view? That little phrase—and the echoing question—comes from the original Star Wars Trilogy. You may remember the classic scene from Return of the Jedi where a disillusioned Luke Skywalker accuses Obi-Wan Kenobi of deceiving…
