Deep and Wide: Book Reviews

It was the summer of 1992. We lived in Hong Kong, but I still worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines.  I took nine months off a year and commuted to Chicago to fly the busy summer months.   I often stayed with good friends, Bruce and Louise Plagman.  The Christmas tree was not up in the summer.  I just like this picture of them. One particularly pleasant day we were invited to a barbecue at a friend of theirs. His name was Fred. He served the best brisket and ribs I’d ever had. But his BBQ sauce was off the charts. This excited me very much because my husband and I feel strongly that there are a few recipes you should have the best of. Like: the best guacamole, the best salsa, and the best barbecue sauce ...  among others. We were always on the hunt for them.  And, thanks to Fred, I knocked one off our list. It was an epic meal and that’s why I remember the year (to be honest … it could have been ...

In the featured post, I tell the story of when my five-year old granddaughter, Ellie, discovers she can ask Siri any question she wants. Unfortunately, she learned she could ask , but not necessarily get the answer she hoped for. Tough lessons of childhood.  But her first question to Siri —w hat does God look like? — has been percolating in my mind. What DOES  God Look Like? Genesis tells us we are created in his image. The Hebrew word for ‘ image ’ is tselem and translates: an outline or representation of an original. Like our shadow outlines us, the original, we outline God. Following this ‘bunny trail’ … outline means line that shows shape. Shape means: the external form or appearance characteristic of someone or something We are the external, the outside form of God with his appearance characteristics. Huh? Immanuel … God With Us It has always been interesting to me that there is no physical description of Jesus. A babe, ...

My writing and forever friend, CeCe Benningfield, recently lost her courageous four-year battle with breast cancer. Forty-seven years young, she leaves behind a devoted husband, Joe, and five children from elementary school to college.   CeCe To me, she was an inspiration. She wrote three books in the last few years while fighting a grave illness and caring for her family and their many activities. She had a passion for story that cancer could not steal from her. Thinking of what CeCe was going through often kept my "butt in the chair" and my hands on the keyboard.  I don't know why the good die young. She was good. As a teacher, she inspired countless students to do their best and find their path. She even adopted one of her students who had been in foster care her entire life. She brought her home and gave her a family. CeCe went home to Jesus thinking of us. This is an edited excerpt from a letter she sent to family and friends. It was read at her f...