God provides a way out of fear
If I were to ask this general question, “What are you afraid of?” How many differing answers would there be? Or would there be only variations of a few answers?
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Humanity is traveling this journey together
All kinds of people ride the train. Mickey is a black man in his forties who sat across the aisle on my recent Amtrak trip to Salinas, California. He was attending his uncle’s funeral in Oakland, his uncle being like a brother as they were near in age. He hadn’t …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Redemption story is alive with victory, God's promise
This week is the beginning of the 40 days of Lent that precede Easter. It is, for Christians, a time for remembering the sacrifices Jesus made on behalf of the world.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Trek by train brings about a lot of love, appreciation
It happened like this. My 92-year-old uncle — my mother’s younger brother — lives in Salinas, California. The last family I have from my parents’ generation. He, of course, is a big 49ers football fan. I am not.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
We are all braver, stronger and smarter than we know
My profound apologies Eclipse — the Seattle city bus riding dog. You are not a he, you are a she! I happened to look at your story again after writing about you and realized my mistake.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
It's time for us to be more like Eclipse
Did you see the story this week of Eclipse the dog? Seems he hopped the bus himself when his owner took too long finishing his cigarette. Rode to the downtown Seattle dog park where the driver let him off, and he had a blast meeting fellow canine friends.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Mourning the loss of all lost in tragedy
When I lived in Pasadena, California, in a retirement community caring for my elderly aunt I met Bonnie — somewhere in her 80s. She’d worked as a nurse overseas in medical missions. One day she told me a story.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
King's convictions changed this country for the better
I just finished a Pulitzer Prize book — “The Known World” — set in pre-Civil War days in Virginia. The practice of slavery is vividly and viciously portrayed, even when “nice” things are happening. Because nothing nice can come from one person’s “ownership” of another. Or when one race lords …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Lights glow with warmth, caring
When you live up high with a view you can track goings on that might surprise the people being “spied” upon. Kind of like that nosy neighbor peering out the window in the early morning dark. And lights tell the story.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Look for the abundance, beauty that is all around
What is it about starting a new year that seems so difficult? Would it be easier in a warmer, sunnier clime? Seasonal affective disorder — or SAD — descends like a heavy blanket on some people.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
The inspiring story of the world most famous bear
Not everybody knows this story. I didn’t. Even if it’s familiar what a heart-warmer to start the New Year.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Mary's song is one longing to be sung
“Hey Mary, I want a song of praise to God, too.”
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 5 YEARS, 12 MONTHS AGO
When we are welcoming to others, we bless God
I’d like to revisit a statement from a couple weeks ago in Jesus’ depiction of the kingdom of God and His emphasis on kindness to others. He mentions being welcoming toward a stranger. What is it to offer welcome to another? Maybe it’s easier to explain it by what it’s …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS AGO
Light shines in darkness, offering us hope
“North of Hope” — a memoir I’ve just finished — is one of the bravest stories I’ve ever read. The author, a former Army attack helicopter pilot — and scuba diver and sky diver and mountain climber, is obviously not one to back away from a challenge.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS AGO
The more that we give, the more that we get in return
How to cut through all the holiday razzle-dazzle and end up satisfied is something most of us wish for. Thanksgiving used to be a little simpler than it’s become. I have friends who will begin Black Friday shopping Thursday evening, sleeping a few hours in their car that night — …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS AGO
Thoughts on grieving, rejoicing and doing justice to both things
Last week at the close of Veteran’s Day — as I reflected on the day — it suddenly seemed extraordinary, as often happens when gratitude comes flooding in. It was a good day and I wrote it down for printing.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS AGO
Things to be thankful for easy to spot
Here’s how Veterans Day this year turned out. An old man died. And he was a friend of my father’s. So I attended his memorial at a church in Newport. He was a World War II veteran. The service started on 11-11 right at 11 a.m. It was the most …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
We can honor veterans by using freedoms carefully
Veteran’s Day brings images of freedom — and thoughts of the people who in some way have made our freedom possible — in the United States and in support of freedom around the world. I can’t fully appreciate what servicemen and women have done — and continue to do — …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
The best therapy can be found in man's best friend
There’s nothing like a good dog story to bring out the best in people. Not long ago I stopped by Newport Hospital and was surprised to see a “multi-ethnic” dog about the size of a lab, mostly black with a graying muzzle and a distinctive one dark, one light eye. …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
The witness in the sky is faithful
Last week my husband and I were married 48 years — which doesn’t make us as old as it sounds. We married young at 19 and 20. Our simple country wedding was on a beautiful autumn afternoon in the little A-frame church on Kalispell Bay at Priest Lake.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
Every day has a beach that is filled with unlimited potential
“What is your super power?” is a popular question these days. When my teen grandson asked what super power I wanted I said the ability to talk to animals. Which he thought was wasted unless I used it to control the animals — get them to do what I wanted.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Talking about it needs to be more than a library program
It’s a bit of a damp day out the window. Autumn oranges and yellows mix with the steady evergreens. A mountain jay swoops between feeders.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Being wealthy is not about the Benjamins
A young man named Timothy back in Bible times instructs those who are “rich in this present world” to “be generous and ready to share….” A couple of family members were recently the recipients of some unique generosity.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Joy is available every day of the year to all of us
For three summers I sold for Great Harvest Bread Company at farmers’ markets in the Minneapolis metro area. Later in the season — some market schedules ran through October — if it was an early set up it would still be dark when I arrived at the bakery to load …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
The utter beauty of a God-made story
Amid natural disasters and discords and tragedies seeming to rise from every direction I know a story. It’s a good story that doesn’t get told often enough. A story shrouded in mystery, yet visible as the rising sun.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
Surprises in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Alaska continues to surprise.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
No one ever forgets their time spent in Alaska
I could be seriously writing only I have not one, not two, but three grands at my elbows spying on me. Therefore my thoughts are not exactly my own. Smile. Terry and I are on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula visiting our daughter Brenda and family — five children in all — …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 3 MONTHS AGO
Truth confronts, never trashes, anyone else
Trash talk. Don’t you love it? It adds so much to the day … energizes the spirit, makes you feel so good, whether you’re on the dishing or receiving end.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
Anniversary sparks many thoughts and memories
I knew a woman born at home in Minnesota on a hot September day — record breaking hot — back in 1922. The house with the big front porch sat on Oak Street in a pretty little town. It wasn’t screened. She told me later that was her idea of …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
The places and people worth revisting
Here’s a limerick I made up about a tiny Alaskan community named Whittier, located less than an hour from Anchorage on Prince William Sound. In the old days you couldn’t drive there so we rode the train through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, and planned our return for a train …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 4 MONTHS AGO
God offers message of hope, truth, love
The latest Spider-Man movie has a character who says, “People, they need to believe. And nowadays, they’ll believe anything.” It was not Peter Parker’s line, but it stuck.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Once upon a brief winter's night 50 years ago
It’s been years. Fifty, in fact, this New Year’s Eve.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Together, we are 50, one nation under God
I, America, am not getting any younger.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO
Even when you have nothing, you can still give
I heard a story recently from the woman who was there. It’s a good story. It took place in Africa where this woman, Mary, worked for over 50 years.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Determination, genes and icing on the page
It’s not every day you can meet a New York Times bestselling author in North Idaho’s literary neck of the woods.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Wren teaches lessons of feistiness, cheer
Look up House Wren and you’ll get this description, “A plain brown bird with an effervescent voice.” Effervescent — “vivacious and enthusiastic.” “Cheery” and “perky” are in there, too. These qualities irritate some people, however I’ve always thought joy a healthier choice than gloomy and glum. Not that Eeyore isn’t …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
There are many ways to be there when we are needed
Last week I spoke of Lt. Col. John McCrae, author of the poem “In Flanders Fields.” A physician, he went “where he was needed most” — to the trenches of World War I to care for the wounded and dying. Before that in his medical practice he cared for a …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
McCrae went where needed
Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae from Canada. Who is he? He wrote a haunting poem in World War I still recited in Memorial Day ceremonies. It begins, “In Flanders Fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses row on row….”
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Enjoy area's peace, but honor those who got here first
North Idaho is the best. I frame the day my father accepted a pastor position in Priest River and we moved from Spokane. Born in Twin Falls, this Idaho girl got to return to my home state. Married life carried me away for 40-some years, but Terry and I are …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
The many joys that can be found in a 'story safari'
I call it going on “story safari.” Striking up conversations with others — exchanging stories.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Alaska's mix of people a very special thing
Our local library’s reading group discussion on the “The Great Alone” — a novel set in Alaska — took me back to the 14 years (1984-98) our family lived there. I wouldn’t do it again, but I’m glad I did it once.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Learning my father's tale & growing up
She doesn’t go into crime details, but the new book out, “A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming,” does portray the horrors of a young woman learning her father isn’t at all who she thought he was. The man who treated her lovingly, who she looked …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
God is patient, persistent
Our daughter’s over in Israel right now. Encountered a few snags boarding her plane in Anchorage. For one thing she tested positive for gun powder on her shoes. The reason being she owns a shooting range in Alaska — where she and her husband give firearms instruction. This led to …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
From ashes, greatness
Two hundred and ten years ago — February 12, 1809 — a son was born to Nancy and Thomas Lincoln in Kentucky. No one would remember this if his name hadn’t been Abraham, and he hadn’t become America’s revered sixteenth President.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
God's diamonds are scattered far and wide
Everything in this story really happened. It wasn’t this time of year which is exactly why it’s a good story for January. At least if you have a hard time embracing this deep winter month like I do. I think bears have the right idea — hole up and avoid …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 6 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Always be thankful, kind and filled with genuine gratitude
We sit three-in-a-row along Highway 2 — the communities of Sandpoint, Priest River, and Newport — having, according to the 2017 census, a population total of 12,341. What if they were not there? Substitute a city more than twice their combined size gone up in flames — and you’ve got …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
Sometimes you have to ask the tough 'whys'
Some people retreat to the garage. Others to the gym or the wide outdoors. You’ll find my sister-in-law in her “she shed” quilting. Plenty of people crank up the music. There are all kinds of outlets for mulling over problems.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 1 MONTH AGO
Sometimes we have to look beyond the immediate horizon
Fall equinox has arrived. Six months until the spring version. Daylight in a box. Shrinking into a corner come winter solstice and bursting out again in its summer counterpart.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Jesus calls us away from the temptations
There is a huge following in our society of things angelic. One can find representations of angels just about anywhere. They are especially popular at Christmas as part of the story of Jesus — appearing to shepherds to announce His birth. The Bible depicts angels as messengers of God.
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 2 MONTHS AGO
Encouragement brings forth 'more'
A movie sponsored a while back at the Newport Roxy — “Neither Wolf Nor Dog” — in conjunction with the Kalispel Tribe depicts an elderly Native American man whose eyesight is dimming. Yet traversing a field he points out a buffalo to his companion. “How did you see that?” the …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
The conscience crossroads is a battleground you can win
What would you do — if a child you had legally adopted so far as you knew — showed an uncanny resemblance to a photo on a missing child card that arrived in your mail? This is the central theme in the novel “Look Again” — the upcoming reading group …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Sooner or later, spring's warmth will arrive in community
So it snowed again today. Fine — if it were February. But the wheel has turned a couple of notches. It’s supposed to be April. Nature throwing off its winter wrap — climbing out of hibernation — opening the drapes — lifting the blinds. Whatever needs doing to let in …
BONNER COUNTY DAILY BEE | UPDATED 7 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
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