Author: maryanncrum

   There I sat, one little heifer among the herd, waiting to be called back for a mammogram.    And as I waited, I nearly worked myself up into a proper tizzy thinking about all the time and money I spend trying to keep my body from flying off the rails.    Screenings, tests, procedures,… Continue reading One Day God Will Fix It

   My five-year-old granddaughter has a new second-favorite toy to play with when she comes over to our house: my chin fat. (Her first favorite being my iPhone, of course.)    Who knew I had so much pinching and stretching fun hanging right here under my chin?    I suppose this could be a little insulting,… Continue reading Keeping It Real

   I appreciate wildlife better from afar.    I can coexist with undomesticated critters, but only if they respect my boundaries and interact with me completely on my terms.    Maybe you read the column I wrote awhile back about the “barking deer” that nearly launched me into full-on cardiac arrest as I sat out… Continue reading The Closer (to God), the Better

   Donna was the most fervent Elvis fan I’ve ever personally known. (Maybe even the only one.) I learned the hard way never to make fun of “the king” in her presence, although that was a challenge for me in the mid-’70s when Elvis was in his chubby, rhinestone decline.    Yes, Donna was quirky, to be… Continue reading Healing Reconnections

   Every time we travel to the San Francisco area to visit our son and his family, I wonder if I’ll be there when California breaks off and falls into the ocean.    When I was a kid, someone told me that California will inevitably one day slide into the sea when “the big one”—the… Continue reading Peace on the Ring of Fire

   When I’m here, I miss the ones who are there. And when I’m there, I miss the ones who are here.    Having grandchildren on opposite sides of the country just stinks.    Yes, here it comes—another obnoxious grandparent column. I can’t help myself—I have learned so very much about the heart of God through… Continue reading God Wants Us Near

   Many adventures—whether we choose them or they choose us—include a stretch when we feel miserably stuck between where we started and where we want to be.    Marathon runners talk about “hitting the wall,” but they’re certainly not the only ones who experience it.    The long journey of life is really a series… Continue reading Sunday’s Comin’!

   It was wonderfully, terribly, joyfully exhausting. And at the end of each day, my husband and I collapsed in our recliners and said, “How’d we ever do this all the time?”    Two of our grandkids, ages five and three, were staying with us for five days while my son and his wife were… Continue reading Grace For the Wild Ride

   I fear the foundations of civilization may truly be crumbling.    As if the antics of Justin Bieber, Vladimir Putin, and the performers on the Grammy Awards show weren’t proof enough, I recently encountered more up-close evidence of “de-civilization” right along the country road fronting our property: litter. Lots and lots of litter.    A… Continue reading Confessions of a Litterbug

   It’s unlikely that any of us around here will ever forget the week of Valentine’s Day 2014.    It’s old news by now, but I want to comment on the momentous events of that week anyway.    With a nod to songwriter Carole King, we felt “the earth move under our feet and the… Continue reading Lessons From the Quake