Pencil in His Hand: A Mother's Journal of Stories, Thoughts, and Poems.

Photo: Wren Meinberg. Unsplash Rosie's Story. Episode Five Rosie snuggled down into her covers while Minnie stirred then re-arranged herself as only a comfortable cat can do. It was winter in the Cape, but it was also Saturday morning. Rosie felt happy down to her toes. There'd be no cold walk to the bus stop and no annoying school. She was free for the day, and she knew exactly how she was going to start it off. Rosie reached for the mystery novel on her bedside table and settled in for a long read. Then, in what felt like mere minutes, she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door. Rosie's mother entered the room. She wore a pretty apron and a bandana over her thick, dark hair. She perched on the edge of Rosie's bed and smiled. "That looks like a good book, but you'll need to put it down for a bit. You have chores to do, and we need to go to confession later on, OK?" Rosie groaned from behind her book. "But it's Saturday, Mom. Can't I just stay...

  Should Christians Only Read The Bible? I should imagine, that if you're anything like me, you would like to have a definite answer to this question.  Serious, diligent Christians who sincerely wish to serve God and to love Him with all of their hearts, souls, and minds, do in fact ask this and many other questions to do with daily Christian living. So, should Christians whose desire is to please God only read their Bibles? (Aside from recipes, messages, lists, instructions, and essential documents, that is.) Must they pass by all of the tempting covers of a myriad Christian novels and non-fiction books? My perhaps unsatisfactory answer, is "perhaps." Now, you may feel disatisfied with this, but hear me out. I say "perhaps" because I really can't tell you what to read or not to read. That is the job of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, you may need to fast from light reading in order to spend more time in God's Word. You may even have to say no to the writin...

Rosie's Story. Episode Four   Photo: Nate DeWaele. Unsplash Rosie's Story. Episode Four Rosie sat at her father's feet. He'd just gotten home from work and his usual large red mug of tea sat waiting on his side table. The small table held familiar items that her father seemed to treasure: a crossword  puzzle book, a thesaurus, a collection of lotto cards, as well as an assortment of pens. "How was school, Rosie? Did you learn anything useful today?" Daddy's eyes twinkled as he took a sip of tea. Rosie smiled back. This was one of her favourite times of the day. "We learned about dinosaurs. That was fun." "And useful too." Rosie's father tapped her on the head with his pen. "Dinosaurs help us understand evolution. And you never know when you might find one in a crossword puzzle. Can you spell diplodocus?" "Dip-lo-do-cus."Rosie spelled the word out for him. "My little bookworm."He ruffled her hair before ...

  Photo: Luca Upper. Unsplash Happy The secret of a happy life: must keep my eyes on You Place You at the centre of all I am and do Idols I'm dismantling the high places I'm smashing all the poles casting evil idols on the burning coals I cannot make them pretty give them place in my life for all they have to offer is dark, death, and strife My idols may be nice and even very good but I knock them from their places for they stand  where once You stood *** Copyright: Alison Lawrence

  Photo: Sandy Millar. Unsplash Rosie's Story. Episode Three "Goodnight, goodnight." The greeting rang cheerily through the house as Rosie pulled her pink blanket up under her chin. Her orange and white cat, Minnie, turned around several times before settling down alongside Rosie. Her purrs grew louder and more content as Rosie stroked her. Unlike her owner, she fell asleep with ease: Rosie's mind kept going back to the stupid thing she'd done earlier. In a fit of jealousy and rage, she'd knocked Cherry's angel figurine off of the bedside table. She had one of her own, but it was smaller, and not her favourite colour. If only Mom had thought to give her the pink one. Why did Cherry have to get the nicer one just because she was older? Cherry had cried of course, and she'd received lots of attention and hugs, while Dad quickly glued the angel back together. She, on the other hand, had been sent sternly to her room and had had to go without pudding. ...

  Photo: Matt Seymour. Unsplash Death's Plea. A Poem How many pause the roundabout to think about death; their own; the finality, the unexpectedness of death: one minute you're here, the next, gone Not even your shadow remains as they search and mourn surviving on memories Gone. Just gone. Will you pause to think about death, your own, its inevitability? Will you pause the roundabout? Death can be your  doorway to an eternity in Heaven if only you'll trust in Jesus, God's Son whose own death saves you too. *** Copyright: Alison Lawrence 🙏🙏🙏🩷🩷🩷  

Photo: Jon Callow. Unsplash   Episode Two Rosie's Story. Episode Two Rosie couldn't get enough of the "great out doors" as her parents called it. Whether she was at the beach, the botanical gardens or at the park, each outing was filled with delight. With awe. "Cherry, come over here." Rosie was crouching precariously on the edge of a rockpool. "A starfish! Look at his squidgy legs!" Cherry raced over and crouched near Rosie. "Five. It has five legs." She smiled. Together, they identified several more wonders before it was time to head over to the beach umbrella for lunch and more sunblock. For all of her love for nature, Rosie was a true bookworm, and with  her long brown braids and freckles, she looked the part. Cherry, on the other hand, was an outgoing redhead who never seemed to sit still. It was Rosie who often had to be coaxed out of the book world she'd wondered into.  Rosie's favourite mode of travel was the tired old arm...