Church
The Faith of Bobby Bowden
This was a feature story I wrote that appeared in the Sunday, August 15, 2021 edition of the Mobile Press-Register, Birmingham News and The Huntsville Times. It wasn’t included in their on-line site, and many of you contacted me, unable to read it without a hard copy of the newspaper. Thanks for your patience while…
Read MorePop-up VBS – here’s the scoop
I sat and watched again on TV last spring as a teen turned violent and shot and killed his peers. His teachers said he was “disconnected” from his community. I felt glad that couldn’t happen in our small (but growing) tight-knit community because everyone feels involved here, right? I mean, Southern Living loves us, so…
Read MoreThe joy of cooking with a church cookbook
Laura Jean was asked to chair the new cookbook committee for her church in Prattville, and she’s beyond thrilled. She took the words out of my mouth when she said, “I thought with the availability of recipes on the internet these days, we’d never see another church cookbook again.” Everyone in the South knows the…
Read MoreThe miracle of the mother
Even though there’s no maternal element mentioned, the Bible story about the loaves and fishes has always made me think of mothers. I’ve never had a problem believing the small lunch was multiplied to feed thousands, but what’s difficult to accept is that out of all the people at the gathering that day, the only…
Read MoreThe True Joy of Cooking
My brother, Robert Harrison — not to be confused with my son, Harrison Robert, or my husband Robert, threw a party dedicated to the well loved church casserole. Robert (the brother) is single, and he’s always looking for a way to get women to bring him food without making any kind of commitment, so the…
Read MoreA little bit of trouble in a Baptist church
The day I made my way from the front of the church to the back, by way of crawling on the floor beneath the pews, was the day that ended with a spark of revival and righteous reprimand. Before you get excited and think this incident occurred this past year, get your head on…
Read MoreThe nursery isn’t my gift
Once they grow up, we long to hold a little baby again, or do we? I just wanted to hold a baby. I wanted to snuggle my face into its chubby neck and smell baby powder and lotion. My two boys are giant teenagers and in no way resemble anything I could hold or rock…
Read MoreGo to church or the Devil will get you
Yes, it’s a real sign in Alabama on private property. And we all pretty much have grown up seeing it every time we go to Grandma’s house or the beach. Living in a state that literally has a sign on Interstate 65 that says, “Go to church or the devil will get you,” has often…
Read MoreThe Easter Quilt
The Easter Quilt It was Christmas day 1998 when I took the scissors and cut my grandmother’s quilt into pieces, but looking at one of the remaining scraps now, always brings to mind the beauty of Easter. The quilt was originally started by my great-great-great grandmother for her daughter, but for some…
Read MoreThe Joy Choir
In addition to some first-class Holy Rollers, Southern churches have also produced some mighty fine musicians, with many of the big-time stars giving credit to their religious roots for introducing them to the basics of music. But it doesn’t matter how many Grammys these stars have won, nor how many thousands of screaming fans their…
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