The Open Door at the Manger

It was Christmas Eve, and the Hutchcraft family was acting out the Christmas story. Our daughter was Mary, with a towel draped over her head. Our oldest son was Joseph, bathrobe and all. Our then two-year-old son was the closest we could come to a baby, so he was in...

Strange Words For a Christmas Mom

Visiting people who are in the hospital – I’m guessing that’s not your favorite thing to do. A lot of times it’s hard to know what to say to the person; especially if their condition is serious. But there are some visits where it’s easy...

How Christmas Rightsizes the World

One of the amusing sides of Christmas is people shopping in departments they never otherwise shop in – generally clueless. Let me give you an example that I can relate to – men shopping in the ladies clothing department. Oh, we’re a mess. Now, if you...

The Christmas Knockout

Every day the people who broadcast the news to us have to decide what’s going to be big news and what’s going to be little news. The big news they talk about first. And the little news may not get mentioned at all. Unfortunately, there are often disasters...

Green Lights on the Rescue Road

I was speeding along the Interstate – legally speeding of course – and this van passed me. He pulled into the right lane and then he seemed to be maintaining a pretty consistent speed. For many miles, I ended up traveling behind him. I noticed there was...