by Brenda L. Yoder | Apr 27, 2023 | Life, Parenting
I sat on my porch swing taking in the day I hoped would never end. The sun was on its way down behind the trees. The flowers were bright and a breeze was on my cheek. Another Sunday was gone, another week came to an end. So predictable, yet so different. Up until then...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Jan 22, 2023 | Faith, Life
Not without design does God make the music of our lives. John Ruskin Saver of Things On December 31, 2022, I finished up the last stitch on an heirloom quilt I’ve worked on since April 2020 during the pandemic shutdown. It is for our first grandchild. The...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Sep 1, 2022 | Life
We were at a movie theater when a phone call changed the trajectory of our evening. One of those phone calls when the world seems to crash in around you, and the only choice you have at the moment is to sink or swim. Have you received those phone calls, the...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Feb 10, 2022 | Life
“Mrs. Yoder, you have tears in your eyes,” my 4th grade students said. “Yes, they are happy tears,” I said. “You guys made my heart happy” and I made a little symbol with my hands over my heart. “You...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Nov 19, 2021 | Life
I’m afraid, she said. I’m anxious something will go wrong. Will you pray with me? Though I knew Moriah’s fears were unlikely to be realized, I hesitated to persuade her otherwise. What she needed in the moment wasn’t a “you’ll be...
by Brenda L. Yoder | Aug 6, 2021 | Life
Through the years, community has meant different things to me. I live in the community in which I was raised. There’s safety and familiarity in knowing those around you, in others knowing where you’ve been and to whom you belong. I experienced community when my child...
