Two weeks before Christmas, the water meter reader left a note on my gate--"Meter is moving at 12:00 p.m.," it said. Apparently the meter reader is a man of few words, but I grasped his meaning--at a time when a house should be relatively free of running water, mine wasn't. So I went out to the street to look at the meter, and saw that the man was right--the little triangular symbol that … [Read more...]

My family and I have had mastiffs for years now. We've had nine so far, but we only have them two at a time for obvious reasons. At 200+ pounds each, having two mastiffs is a lot of dog, especially if you're allergic! For years I have also worked as a volunteer photographer for dog rescue groups. I've snapped many a photo of homeless dogs because good pictures make it easier for these dogs … [Read more...]

I have discovered a wonderful book: Food at the Time of the Bible, by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh. I use it as I write, of course, because I can't have my first-century characters sit down to eat something that didn't exist in their part of the world . . . or I can't have observant Jewish characters eating something that was forbidden. (I was once taken to task for having Samson eat wild rabbits, but … [Read more...]

When I was in high school, I played with the church high school hand bell choir. One day our director, Dr. Jim Whitmire, told us we had been invited to play at a local synagogue. I was surprised, to say the least, but Jim said that if we blessed the Jews, God would bless us--it's a scriptural promise. So we went and played, and God planted something in my heart that later blossomed into a … [Read more...]