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Upward!

When the question is about a preference between mountains or the ocean, mountains are my immediate choice every time. I loved the Smoky Mountains when I first saw them as

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Finding What is Lost

The missing item wasn’t important – nothing critical or sentimental, just a simple household tool that I found useful. The important thing about it was that it was lost, and

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Forward Into the Future

The project that had consumed most of a full week had been arduous, but not unpleasant, which was a pleasant surprise. I had hoped that cleaning out my office for

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Leaving a Legacy

The question has become a joke around Bethesda Workshops: “You mean THE MARNIE FERREE is going to be there?” I always find it ridiculous that I – the person who

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Winged Messengers

The wife in the coupleship who serve as Bethesda Workshops’ alumni directors, Shane Oakley, is an avid birdwatcher. She has the apps and binoculars, a great backyard full of birds,

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Being Well Revisited

Note: This blog was originally published a few years ago, yet my thoughts have returned to it often recently. I’m recycling it for this January offering in hopes it also

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Thankful for the Failings

Be assured that Facebook has some great postings that aren’t tied to what you just searched on Google. One of these is a creative, beautifully written, and thought-provoking page called

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Angels Among Us

Sometimes an ordinary happenstance takes on significant meaning. I regularly experience this when I’m hiking, as I see a hawk, a deer, a beautiful tree, or a cloud formation and

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Someone To Cheer for You

Being a GrandMarnie is one of the greatest joys of my life. I’d like to think that time spent together is fun to my grandkids and helpful to their parents,

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More Than a Pile of Brush

As part of a backyard improvement project, I hired a couple of guys to cut back some tall bushes, almost trees, that were overgrown and hanging out into the yard.

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Fire and Rain

Although it’s not yet summer in the meteorological sense, oppressive heat has settled into Middle Tennessee. I’ve been known to light a fire even when I must open the patio

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Reframe of the Hawks

For over two years MamaGod has consoled and delighted me with an unusual gift. It’s a regular happenstance I first experienced in early 2020, when something caught my eye as

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Of Roses and Thorns

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like a rollercoaster, except you don’t realize the huge jerking turns are coming, much less the stomach-dropping plunge. Yet this

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The Blue Scarf

A small park next to the library in my neighborhood has a statue that I’ve idly noticed for years. “The Readers” by artist Russell Faxon is a life size bronze

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Simple Thanksgiving Joys

When I moved out of the house I had occupied for almost 30 years, it was only the second time in my life I had lived alone. (The first was

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On Sixty-five

Today, May 4th, is my 65th birthday, and I’m feeling an internal pressure to share something profound. Instead, I’ll go for something real, which likely is the most insightful truth

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Easter Indeed!

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18, New International Version) Despite the promise and the pageantry of Easter (at least

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Shame Is a Killer

The tragic murder of eight people in Atlanta-area spas last week continues to ripple across the nation as people try to make sense of such a horrific act. My heart

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Twenty Dollars Multiplied

In July 2020, a stalwart man from the Middle Tennessee community was killed in a tragic accident. Ty was a respected, very successful businessman and a person of deep faith

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We Can Do Hard Things

On one of my long walks during the pandemic, I wound up at a high school’s athletic complex a couple of miles from my house. In addition to the football

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Blessing for the Longest Night

During this pandemic year of devastation and loss, words have failed me to write something meaningful for Christmas. The nights have felt so long for so many, including sometimes for

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