Melinda’s Blog

The waves caressed our toes. I swayed with our 10 month-old babe in arms as I watched our 2 year-old and  4 year-old sons play in the shallow, sweet spot we’d discovered. We had already walked the shore line, explored every rock and seashell available near the...

Last year I wrote how God wooed me as a child. I promised a series of these retellings. Well, here’s the next one in the collection, only next generation: On a rainy January day (many years ago, as Josiah was age 9 and Andrew age 1), the five kids and I hopped in our...

Some Sing “No Elk…”Sung to the tune of Noel It’s a fun family tradition on Sunday evening at church to build a mounding platter of nachos for our shared meal. After communion, a few of us race to the kitchen, load a silver platter full of chips topped with...

My husband and I attended a wedding for a young couple we dearly love. Dinner over, cake cut, speeches complete. David looked at me and said, “I’m ready to go home when you are.” I wasn’t ready. Tiredness hung at the corner of his eyes. It had been a long week with...

After a long season of school and work, our family celebrated a sweet fulfillment: Gideon graduated from both high school and community college, earning an Associate of Science degree. Yay! We celebrated by taking Gideon to Hawaii, where we stayed with a dear friend...

Things were in place. Chicken marinating in a garlic and lemony Greek slurry with herbs from our garden. All the tablecloths were washed and ironed except a few. “It’s late. I can iron them in the morning,” I told my husband. One full day before my good friend Julie...

I walked with a young friend to the top of her hill. Tehillah is 14 and, like us, lives near a vineyard. “Oh, I wonder,” I started, stretching to see the view from the street over some annoyingly tall brush. “I wonder if we could just sneak a picture from the...

As Resurrection Sunday approached, I began asking the Lord what to share with you. I’m away at the Mt. Hermon writer’s conference, deep in the redwood forests of California, and this is the story God whispered to my heart—from over thirty-five years ago. My...

Don’t you love a good love story? When we meet a couple, we are curious about the life and relationships that person treasures. Married? What’s your love story—how did you meet? How did you end up here doing what you’re doing? How did Christ woo you to become His own?...

Hello Friends, Perhaps you know the joys of having a dog. We have two chocolate labs—one 5 years old and one 8 months old. Truffles has been my faithful walking companion through many seasons. Sure, she went through her let me take the lead stage. But she has settled...