I love celebrating Christmas with Light. Light brings beauty and joy to these short dark days of winter: Lights on our Christmas tree. Candles on the table. And this lighted nativity scene in my kitchen window. Today, I will tuck the Christmas decorations back in their boxes. But I won’t look back with nostalgia or […]
Author: clsmithsword
Pandemic Easter
Jesus conquered the grave What Joy! What hope! What calming peace! But this will likely be the weirdest Easter of our lives. Watching an abbreviated Easter service on YouTube wearing comfy sweats. A housebound dinner after church. No guests. Maybe takeout, unpacked at home with sterile techniques previously only used in setting up surgical trays. […]
Valentine-style Love
You have probably heard the legend of St Valentine—a young man chained in a Roman prison, writing a letter to the girl of his dreams and signing it “from your Valentine” shortly before he was beheaded for his faith. The actual history of the man is murky at best. There are records of three different […]
Abihail—a broken heart mended, a character reborn
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t yet read Trouble in the Ruins, and don’t want to know how Abihail’s story will play out, STOP HERE. Abihail is the only fictional character among the set of seven youthful protagonists in The Stones of Gilgal saga. She was originally created to be a tragic character, the daughter-in-law of the Biblical […]
Sikh Festival, Seeking Insight
“Sikh and ye shall find.” What I learned at the Nagar Kirtan festival in Yuba City last weekend.
Time to Celebrate
At the sound of Joshua’s shofar and the breathtaking touch of Yahweh’s hand, the walls of Jericho fall. But dire trouble rises from the ruins. Trouble in the Ruins chronicles a period just over fifty days, spanning the spring grain harvests of Canaan. The Israelites are eager to celebrate their new life in the Promised Land, and God has already […]
February Reflections ~ “Beloved, let us love one another”
A Valentine Story Tucked Into the Heart of Black History Month I really love Valentine’s Day. Even more than I like getting chocolates and flowers, I love having another reason to say I love you. I want to take every opportunity to tell my husband, my children and grandchildren, and a handful of other precious […]
Hunger Inflicted by a Plague of Locusts
Swarms! Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes . . . the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm —Joel 2:2,25 We all experience times when we are hungry for a word from God, but scripture just seems like so many words on a […]
Rahab—A Name Redeemed
Rahab of Jericho~ the best known of the primary characters in THE STONES OF GILGAL novels. How odd—since she is a foreigner, a Canaanite girl, joining a cast of six young Israelites. Although the lives of these six Israelites impacted the future of their nation in significant ways, their stories lie buried beneath the dust of time. Othniel, Acsah and […]
Acsah—an inspiration for International Women’s Day
The Stones of Gilgal novels retell the powerful stories of the era of Joshua from the viewpoint of seven real (but minor) biblical characters including two very strong women, Rahab and Acsah. In honor of International Women’s Day, may I introduce Acsah (Judges 1:12-15) Daughter of Joshua’s closest friend, the heroic Caleb. Future wife of Othniel, the greatest […]