Each year, I work with the kids and youth to put together a kids Christmas play. Since 2010...  Read More

How much snow did you get yesterday? As adults, we see every inch for the work it'll take to clear off of our sidewalks...  Read More

It was a cold, rainy afternoon in Rouen, France. I was standing at an overlook on La Côte Sainte Catherine. Even just getting to the overlook had been a challenge...  Read More

Barren pines keep watch  Read More

Psalm 122 comes with the superscription "A Song of Ascents." This is likely in reference to pilgrims ascending up the hill to the sanctuary in Jerusalem.  Read More

Starting next Sunday, November 27th, each day will feature a unique piece of original writing every morning at 7am  Read More

Zwiebrucken, Germany…December 1954Shortly before Christmas, the staff at the Service Club asked for volunteers to be “Fathers for a Day” for some orphans from Zwiebrucken.About 10:00 an olive drab bus pulled up to the base chapel.  The windows were filled with smiling faces—outside, gathered on the ground, around the bus, were the “expectant fathers” awaiting their new families.It was soon determi...  Read More

Over the next two days, Magnus slowly got back to work. Christmas was on Saturday and several orders needed to be finished. He worked in a daze, mindlessly completing memories, not noticing the movement of his hands.Alvis stopped by at one point, ostensibly to invite Magnus to his Christmas Eve party, but Magnus knew he’d heard about the argument with Val. Magnus gave a few noncommittal responses ...  Read More

(The following is a selection from Journeys: An Anthology of Adult Student Writing 2012 produced by The Minnesota Literacy Council.  Susan Ault shared this book and uses it in her work with adult English language learners through the Hopkins Schools.  Her students also contribute to the annual editions of this anthology.)My favorite holiday is Christmas Day because I’m from a poor family, and when...  Read More

I hold my young daughter’s mittened hand as we walk in the cold night, Christmas caroling with the Children’s Choir and a few adults.  The carolers knock at another door, waiting with anticipation.  The wait seems longer than it really is.  The gentleman that opens the door peers at us, looking over eyeglasses positioned far down on his nose.  We are from his church, just up the road in Minnetonka...  Read More

[The following is a poem from Journeys: An Anthology of Adult Student Writing 2012 produced by The Minnesota Literacy Council.  Susan Ault shared this book and uses it in her work with adult English language learners through the Hopkins Schools.  Her students also contribute to the annual editions of this anthology.]LOVELove is a grateful thing.Love is with a pure heart.Love is with a charity hear...  Read More

“No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corin. 2:9) The days are shorter and darkness descends as I sit down to write about love. The house is quiet now and I grasp this moment to reflect on what God’s love means to me. Soon the house will be noisy and boisterous. My college-aged boys will be home for the holidays with pile...  Read More