My Hometown USA

  Justice, Mercy and the Christian Woman’s Response This comes from my heart as someone who has no direct connection to Lindsay Clancy, her family, her trial or its non-verdict. I keep coming back to this: As Christians, and particularly as Christian women, we do not have to choose between justice and compassion. Both should be our path. We have reached a toxic empathy state. Three precious children lost their lives. That truth should never get swallowed up by arguments, theories, social-media sleuths and too much speculation. Those children matter. Justice for their deaths matters. I also don’t think we should casually pronounce judgment on the mind and soul of a woman who was clearly broken and struggling with serious mental-health issues before this tragedy ever happened. If Lindsay Clancy knowingly and deliberately murdered her children while understanding exactly what she was doing, then she deserves punishment. Personally, I have a difficult time getting p...

Judas Faked it!  Are you? We all probably think we can pick a fake Christian out of a lineup…we assume their lives may not live up to their religious vocabulary. But Fake Christians know when to say “Amen.” They have mastered the concerned church nod. Their “Praise the Lord” rolls off the tongue before you can even finish telling them what happened.  They cook a heavenly banana pudding at the potluck. But not all fakes can be pointed out.  Such as in art, it may take a keen, trained eye to spot the differences. I could point out some mega church pastors I would call wolves in sheep’s clothing but that’s another subject. Of course, I should be careful about appointing myself chairman of the Heavenly Admissions Committee. I cannot see whose heart is authentic.  People who call themselves Christian and act un-Christlike are more prolific these days. But that doesn’t give us the right to accuse every person of “NOT” being a Christian when they say something w...

Do Birthdays Expire? The Birthdays They Left Behind Birthdays can be fun—something to look forward to—or something to resent because they seem to come around faster than the extended-warranty calls about your car. Some birthday celebrations are extensive and complicated, involving decorations, dinner reservations and a cake that requires structural engineering. Others amount to a Facebook notification and a thumbs-up from somebody you went to high school with but haven’t spoken to since 1981. But what is the norm when the person is no longer celebrating birthdays? What do we do when someone we love has passed on? What, exactly, is the etiquette for dead folks’ birthdays? As a former newspaper person, I remember when families would pay for an advertisement wishing a deceased loved one a happy birthday. At the time, it felt a little cringey to me. Did the afterlife still receive the local newspaper? And if so, was delivery included with a heavenly subscription? Now we have social media. ...

 Joy When Life Isn’t Joyful We throw the word joy around pretty casually. Coffee brings me joy. A good hair day brings me joy. Finding money in a coat pocket I haven’t worn since last winter brings me great joy. But biblical joy is something deeper. Happiness usually depends on what is happening around us. Joy depends on what we know to be true about God. And that is good news, because what is happening around us can change before lunch. One Facebook post, one unexpected bill, one aggravating person, or one red light when you are already late—and suddenly all that happiness you had at 8:00 a.m. has packed a bag and left town. Psalm 16:11 says: “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” That means real joy isn’t found in perfect circumstances. It is found in the presence of God. In John 15:11, Jesus said He wanted His joy to remain in us and for our joy to be full. Notice He didn’t say, “I hope everything goes your way.” He didn’t say, “May nobody annoy you today.” He didn’t even say...

  Don’t Wait for the Funeral Flowers for the Living My 40x2 +3-year-old mother recently made a request that was unusual—even for her. She wanted to know what we would I say at her funeral. This was not because she had received bad news from the doctor or had any plans to leave us soon. She is feeling the pressure of the countdown. Apparently, Mom was simply curious about her reviews. Mary Jim has always enjoyed being the center of attention, and evidently she sees no reason a funeral should be any different. She wants to know what will be said. And honestly, she has a point. Why do we wait until someone dies to gather in a room and tell wonderful stories about them? We spend time writing down all the things we loved, admired and will miss—and then read them aloud when the guest of honor is the only person who cannot hear them. We fill the church with flowers after they are gone, when we could have handed them a bouquet while they were still here to enjoy it. Alt...

 Just a Spoonful of Sugar Take two aspirins and Google whatever ails you. There is certainly no shortage of medical advice to go around. And by the way, all that singing and dancing about how “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” failed to mention that sugar may be part of the reason we need the medicine in the first place. Mary Poppins never warned us about insulin resistance. Let me clearly state that I am not qualified to give medical advice. My medical knowledge is like a kitchen sponge: It has absorbed random tidbits from everywhere, and occasionally I squeeze them back out whether anyone asked for them or not. I have no medical training, nor have I ever played a doctor on television. I have, however, watched television doctors. (I will never be a patient on Grey's Anatomy...you can die with hiccups on that show!) I have watched YouTube health experts. I have read health articles, studied supplement labels and, for a while, even followed the advice of Suzanne Somers...