Acknowledging My Mother’s Birthday Today

Taking a few moments from my busy day – after having noticed the date – to mention that my mother, Margaret Ruth Linger Slifer, was born on this day ninety-nine years ago. Last night before bed, I opened my mother’s red diary to browse through her notations from April 1946 and then her large-hand-written notations in the same journal in January of 1967. I was three years old then, and apparently, she was quite upset around that time (reflective) about...

Hand-Painted Church Portrait on Wedding Invitation

Last week I finished another commissioned watercolor painting on matteboard surrounding a wedding invitation. The piece was custom framed in a cream barnwood, and my client was very pleased! “Oh my goodness! I love it. Your work has a wonderful 3D effect and your use of color really make the whole picture pop!” ~ karen Copponi The joy I feel when clients communicate their feelings about my work and how gifts were received brings such meaning to all I do...

Repentance, Fifty Shades of Black and Fifty Shades of White

Repentance. It’s a loaded word, and one that seems particular in most ways to Judeo-Christian thought. A word that from various sermons I’ve heard over the years means along the lines of making a 180 degree turn. A word that is defined by the Oxford Dictionary in the following way: re·pent·ance noun the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse. “each person who turns to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved” Similar: remorse-contrition-contriteness-penitence-sorrow-sorrowfulness-regret-ruefulness-remorsefulness-pangs of conscience-prickings of conscience-shame-guilt—self-reproach—self-condemnation-compunction-conversion-rue-sorriness...

Linguistic Battles

Tonight in my YouTube feed this talk called Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality (with Jordan Peterson and Helen Joyce) came up and I listened all the way through. I think this is a worthy share. Dr. Peterson presents so much for consideration, drawing upon his deep expertise in the field of psychology and his own personal experiences of vitriolic response to his non-compliance. Equally, Helen Joyce, a British journalist, presents such keen observations and also tells of the vitriolic response...

Untethered Excursions

When I lived in Alabama I yearly attended and volunteered at a large hot-air balloon festival. There, I learned what a tethered balloon ride was and took one, maybe once or twice. Once a hot-air balloon lifts off the ground and the tethering rope is no longer keeping it within certain parameters from the ground, safe navigation is dependent upon the skill of the balloon pilot but also upon other variable conditions such as wind. On occasion, there are balloon...

An Unbeatable Hand (Job Chapter 6)

Years ago a friend explained the game of Texas Hold’em to me.  There were conceptual reasons and metaphors to be considered in the context of the conversation at that time.  And they also said I would probably make a good poker player because I was really smart. In many tangible ways my brain does work somewhat like a poker player – but probably more like a chess player. I have high conceptual strengths in both games but one of my...