HILARY HAMBLIN

Coffee fresh from the Keurig wafts through the house. I study the box of chocolates my sister in law brought me earlier this week. One empty space already lies between the Sucre Dark and Chicory Caramel. In the other room my children chatter with the neighbor’s child about which ornament goes where on the tree. Outside decorations twinkle in the twilight. Thanksgiving wraps itself around me like a warm blanket fresh from the dryer. Seventeen years ago my parents loaded all my

I met Lynette in Belize on a mission trip. At the time I didn’t even know Belize had beaches and was a tourist destination. I went as part of a group serving at a boys home and teaching vacation Bible school in a nearby village. Lynette and her husband Mark lived on the campus and helped care for the boys who went to school there. Lynette and Mark were from our area and when they finished their time as missionaries they returned and started a small business. By that time I wa

You know that moment when someone says, “don’t I know you?”, and you panic because you’ve forgotten someone you’re supposed to know? Yeah, that happened to me a few weeks ago. Someone I knew as a friend of a friend was re-introduced to me. I hadn’t seen them in many, many years and had no idea where life had taken them. When I was introduced my first thought was, “wow, I didn’t expect your life to go there.” And it was a good thought. Please forgive me for being judgmental. I