Ruby Hayes - Ruby's Kitchen Table (Page 2)

A small vegetable garden at the end of the season: an empty bean trellis, sagging tomato plants and spent zinnias, with flat pasture beyond.

The zinnias have earned it

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease." — Genesis 8:22 The garden after Labor Day is a different place than the garden before it. Nothing happened on Monday. The plants do not know about

Early morning light falling in a long band across a worn kitchen floor from an open back door, a rag rug and a pair of shoes beside it.

The prayer got shorter

"The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective." — James 5:16 I have been praying a different way since the light changed and I did not decide to do it. That is the part I keep turning over. I did not sit down one morning in August

A glass of iced tea on a farmhouse porch rail, the gravel driveway running down to a county road and open farmland beyond.

The smoke came over the fields

"How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!" — Psalm 133:1 Labor Day, and the town has gone quiet in the particular way it goes quiet on a Monday that is not a Monday. The hardware store is closed. The bank is closed.

Watercolor of a farmhouse living room at night with a cushioned armchair, a lit floor lamp, a glass of water and a closed Bible on a side table, a braided rug, and a dark window.

Sunday Evening

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." — Romans 15:13 It is Sunday evening and September has started. The week was a quiet one. Monday I sat

Watercolor of a screened porch with a sleeping dog on the floor, a wicker chair, a glass of water on the railing, the screen door ajar, and a vegetable garden and fields beyond.

The first Sunday

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever." — Psalm 107:1 The first Sunday of September and the pews were fuller than they have been since June. Not full. Trinity does not get full except at Easter and Christmas and

Watercolor close-up of an open Bible with worn edges on a wooden table beside a brass lamp and a coffee mug, with soft light from a window.

They that wait

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." — Isaiah 40:31 Saturday morning and the Bible was open to Isaiah. I did not

Watercolor view through a farmhouse window with sheer curtains and a potted plant, looking down the gravel drive to a yellow school bus on the road and blue mountains beyond.

The school buses

"Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." — 1 Samuel 3:10 The school buses are back. I saw three of them this morning from the kitchen window, yellow and slow on the road past the house, stopping at corners where children were standing with backpacks and new shoes

Watercolor of rows of sealed mason jars of canned tomatoes on a kitchen counter beside fresh heirloom tomatoes, a copper canning pot, and a sunlit window.

Fourteen jars

"I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD." — Psalm 104:33-34 The kitchen counter has fourteen jars on it and

Watercolor of worn leather boots on a brick sidewalk in a small town, with fallen autumn leaves, storefronts, a church steeple, and blue mountains in the distance.

I will be at the store

"My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." — Exodus 33:14 I was thinking this morning about my father and the first day of school. He walked me. Every September, every year, from kindergarten through fifth grade, my father walked me down Oak Street

Watercolor close-up of a half-finished cup of coffee and a cordless telephone on a wooden counter beside a striped dish towel and a curtained window.

September first

"Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." — Galatians 6:2 Dan called this morning at seven-fifteen, the way he does on Tuesdays. I was already up. I had already had my coffee and read my verses and

Watercolor of a farmhouse kitchen through an open doorway with an open Bible and mug on the table, a brass lamp, cream cabinets, and a curtained window showing a pink sky.

The silence was the prayer

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words." — Romans 8:26 The last morning of August and the coffee is hot and the Bible is open

Watercolor of a farmhouse living room at sunset with a green wingback chair, a closed book, a lit lamp on a side table, a woodstove, bookshelves, and sunset through an open window.

Sunday Letter

Sunday Evening

"Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." — 1 Peter 5:7 It is Sunday evening and August is almost over. I am in the chair by the lamp and the windows are open and the air tonight has a different quality than it did