Author Archives: joyocala

The Feast of Mary Magdalene is observed on July 22nd by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches.  Mary was a Jewish woman, who according to the four gospels, traveled with Jesus and his disciples. She was witness … Continue reading →

Are you old enough to remember a time when fast food restaurants did not exist? I am. How convenient they are for multitudes of folks, whether for their morning brew or a late-night snack. You don’t even have to get … Continue reading →

I’m a sucker for a good Hallmark movie. I’m not embarrassed to tell you that I’m almost always moved to tears, even though I know that the plot of every one of them is pretty much the same. Handsome boy … Continue reading →

It’s 9:00 on a Saturday morning and the telephone begins to ring. It’s never an emergency for which I am grateful. It is usually no one that I know. It is generally quite annoying. I have become indebted to Caller … Continue reading →

This devotion starts in the fantasy realm of Erin Morgenstern’s novel Night Circus. The protagonists are Celia, the illegitimate daughter of a magician whom he reluctantly raised when her mother committed suicide, and Marco, an orphan adopted by another magician. … Continue reading →

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the time I first heard the phrase “Love is contagious,” and the couple whose affection generated the comment. Today I’m writing about another example, Susan, who together with her family show how … Continue reading →

When teaching confirmation class, I began a custom of asking the students, usually in the grade range from 6th to 9th, what their “highs and lows” for the day were. I loved the variety of answers. They ran the gamut … Continue reading →

Any quirks in your household? I have one. It seems my washing machine is over-ambitious. When it finishes a load of laundry, it starts the cycle all over again, all by itself. I have about a 2 minute pause to … Continue reading →

This is not funny but cartoons and flippant jokes sometimes show spouses “listening” to one another but instead of the conversation, they are depicted as only hearing BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH. Sometimes my conversations with God are so swift, I … Continue reading →

I love a beautifully wrapped present. I really appreciate the giver’s efforts to coordinate wrapping paper and ribbons to enhance the surprise inside the package. Jesus knows that about me . . . He gift wraps every morning . . … Continue reading →