By Nancy Patrick I do not spend the entire month of December watching Christmas movies, but I do enjoy an occasional sit-down with a classic holiday story. One of those is Home Alone 2 (1992), the successful sequel to the hilarious Home Alone (1990). As implied by the titles, the movies tell the hugely exaggerated stories of a little boy

By NANCY PATRICK The fall season can summon various emotions; some are happy emotions while others reflect darker, threatening fears of an uncertain future. I confess that many of the world’s crises have stirred those more somber feelings in my own heart. Brandon Hudson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Abilene, recently provided small notebooks to his congregants, encouraging us

By NANCY PATRICK I have written before about my brain’s inability to relax. I think a lot about the ironies, complexities, injustices, and undecipherable events of life. You know the kinds of things to which I refer—family of origin, nationality, race, intelligence, opportunity, and gender. Because a greater power than humanity has determined these factors, we can never know answers.

By NANCY PATRICK I recently rewatched the movie The Book of Eli starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. Filmed in New Mexico in 2009, the movie presents a thoughtful dystopian view of a possible future for the world. This dismal, dangerous, and hopeless society bases its premise on the idea that something catastrophic had happened that destroyed a good world,

By NANCY PATRICK September traditionally correlates to the beginning of new school years. The Sunday before school starts, my church recognizes teachers and other school personnel for their contributions to families as well as society in general.  For many years, I proudly stood with my colleagues because I felt called to my teaching career—it didn’t seem like a job. I

By NANCY PATRICK My pastor, Brandon Hudson, at First Baptist Church Abilene has recently preached a series of sermons based on Jesus’ parables. He always projects on the wall a thoughtful quote at the end of his sermons as he sits down to give us time to read and digest the message.  Jesus used parables as teaching tools to help

By NANCY PATRICK What a hodgepodge a family creates! Grandparents—parents—aunts and uncles—cousins—siblings. As a child, I had seven cousins on my mom’s side and ten on my dad’s side. Both sets of grandparents lived within a few miles of each other in rural Arkansas. Interestingly, all my mom’s siblings remained in Arkansas while my dad and all his siblings moved

By NANCY PATRICK I am currently reading novel fifteen in Louise Penny’s series featuring main character Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté of Quebec, Armand Gamache. By this time in the series, Gamache has cleaned up a corrupt police force as well as the Sûreté’s academy that graduated immoral, inhumane, and power-hungry officers.  Inspector Gamache maintains his integrity throughout the series.

By NANCY PATRICK People have many opinions about pets—cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, snakes, and even iguanas. I’m not judging anyone for preferring one over the other, but I love dogs. During my childhood, my family had at one time or another all those animals except snakes and iguanas. As an adult, my first pet was a sweet little Chihuahua named