Category: Debbie Shope

By Debbie Shope Were the stars boasting the brilliance of their Creator When the world opened its eyes to the Light of the World In a small rustic corner, unseen by most Even from the eyes of those who would later seek to extinguish him? Did the breeze blow softly across the way Whispering words...

By Debbie Shope The clouds in New Hampshire have a fearsome beauty.  The mountains themselves are magnificent and formidable, of course.  But as I sit on a porch gazing across at Cannon Mountain, I witness a different spectacle: slowly, a silver gray colossus rises from beyond the mountain, gaining ground, slithering across entire ranges until...

By Debbie Shope EXPECT DELAYS.  This is my life motto.  I know.  Many Christians have a ‘life verse’ that comes from Scripture, not a road sign.  I, too, have passages that I hope define my life.  Philippians 3 and Isaiah 41 are the top contenders.  But these verses describe truths that are transcendent; they are...

By Debbie Shope Recently, our family, or at least I, have developed a great attachment to a number of the Brit Crimes on PBS. One such show is called Grantchester, about an Anglican priest, Sydney, who solves mysteries. A secondary storyline, though, is that the woman he loves got tired of waiting for him to...

By Debbie Shope “Silent night, holy night; All is calm, all is bright . . . .” Wait a minute.  All is not calm, and if we are talking about a sparkling house, all is not very bright either in my world right now.  It is Christmas, after all.  In my world the calm usually...

By Debbie Shope There are beach people and there are mountain people. Occasionally there are beach/mountain people, but they are a rare breed. I am a beach person. I was born in southern California and family lore has it that, from a very early age, as soon as I set foot on the beach, I...

By Debbie Shope I recently was offered an old, beat-up aluminum pitcher which I was happy to accept. My husband, not so much 🙂 As I admired my new acquisition, I looked at the bottom — why, I don’t know — and discovered it was 99% aluminum. Not bad, eh? But this triggered a familiar...

By Debbie Shope I was reading about the Exodus recently and was struck by the idea that the waters parting, while certainly spectacular, was only one part of the story. What totally amazed me was that the Hebrew people went through on dry ground. Never mind the walls of water on the side; they waltzed...

By Debbie Shope No thank you. Invasion of personal space. Turn your gaze elsewhere if you will. After all, the poor guy in Song of Solomon had his heart held hostage with just the glance of his lover’s eyes (4:9) — this eye contact thing is powerful stuff. For those who are blessed with a...