I can't believe it was just a few short weeks ago that my thoughts drifted towards a close family friend, Pastor Brooks, and I felt prodded to write about him and share his influence on my life with all of you in this post: Great is Your Reward Today, he has passed away. Only his legacy remains on earth, while he is celebrating in Heaven with his dear wife. When I heard the news this morning, I went straight to the piano, opened the dusty, rarely used hymnal on my shelf, and opened it to page 775, "Sweet Beulah Land."  I decided to record it on my computer. It's nearly 6 pm, and I haven't stopped to eat. I just wanted to play this for him. Tears of sadness are mixed with tears of joy as I think of him and his true love together again. He missed her so much and I know in my heart, he was ready to go. I can hear him singing this song. Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. Press play to hear my recording of ...

A ribbon of gray pavement ran through the deep woods, holding back the thicket of bare tree branches that grabbed at it and tried to swallow it up. It was closed off to cars, allowing mothers pushing strollers, dog-walkers, and runners like me to have the path to ourselves. Only today, I was its only visitor, or so I thought.  Down the straight path, in the early morning darkness, I noticed silhouettes ahead of me. It looked like...dogs. A pack of dogs in the woods? I had just seen the "The Grey" the previous night, a movie about man-eating wolves in Alaska, and suddenly slowed my pace. I squinted. Not wild dogs, greyhounds! I could tell now that their lines were slender and sleek, and for a moment, I rationalized that there was a dog park just a mile up the road. A greyhound lover must be out walking with their dogs and let them off the leash. I jogged forward and all of the sudden, through the shadows cast by the rising sun behind the trees, I saw a spec of white on o...