Week 11 - Ruby's Kitchen Table

Watercolor of a farmhouse windowsill at dusk with a closed Bible and reading glasses, a lit lamp casting warm light, and a sunset sky with fireflies beyond the trees.

Sunday Letter

Sunday Evening

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful." — Colossians 3:15 It is Sunday evening and the first week of August is behind me. I am in the chair by the lamp and

Watercolor of a church pew with an open hymnal and a paper fan, stained glass light falling across the wood, with the pulpit and ceiling fan of a small sanctuary beyond.

devotional

At Trinity

"O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on

Watercolor of an empty Sunday school room in summer with folding chairs along the wall, a tin of crayons on a small table, a bookshelf, and sunlight streaming through the window.

devotional

The folder

"Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." — Matthew 19:14 There is a folder in the filing cabinet at the church office that I will pull out in a week

Watercolor of a garden row at dawn with dew-covered tomato vines heavy with ripe fruit, a dirt path between stakes, and misty hills in the distance.

devotional

Everything is ripe

"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground." — Hosea 10:12 Everything is ripe at the same time and nobody asked me if I was ready. I went out at six this morning because six is the window. By eight the heat has settled

Watercolor of a chipped enamel bowl of shelled butter beans on a weathered porch step, with dried bean pods beside it and a sunlit yard beyond.

devotional

What my mother used to say

"Better is a dinner of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it." — Proverbs 15:17 My mother used to say that August is not a month for starting things. She said it the way she said most things, which was plainly, while doing

Watercolor of a farmhouse kitchen during canning season, with a steaming pot on the stove, empty mason jars, fresh tomatoes on a cutting board, and a curtained window.

devotional

Standing next to

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." — Isaiah 49:15 The smell of tomatoes cooking down is a smell that takes me back to a specific kitchen and

Watercolor of a foil-covered casserole dish on a farmhouse kitchen counter beside car keys and a folded dish towel, with a farmhouse sink and sunlit window beyond.

devotional

Someone took it to me

"He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds." — Psalm 147:3 Edna called this morning and told me that the woman's husband died. Last Thursday. She did not say it gently because Edna does not say things gently. She said it the way you say

Watercolor overhead view of a kitchen table with an open Bible, a journal and pen, a steaming cup of coffee, reading glasses, and a brass lamp in early morning light.

devotional

The coffee was ready

"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer." — Romans 12:12 The coffee was ready before I was this morning, which happens sometimes when the timer does its job and I do not do mine. I sat down and the kitchen was still dark and the