HILARY HAMBLIN

My senior year in college I was editor of our college newspaper. You know, the old days, when they printed the things on paper. Anyway. One of our reporters was a non traditional student. (Side note: I’m now very near the age she was then and I thought she was old. HA! I also had no idea then how much courage and work it took for her to go back to school. Now back to the story.) Our newspaper advisor, “Wild Bill” Sorrells, had a reputation of being so hard students often left

Last night I lay in the bed staring through the darkness at the wall. The knot in my stomach turned and grew. I’d allowed my child to make a decision alone earlier in the day. It wasn’t a life-or-death decision but it was a decision that could affect the future for all of us. My mind flew back to an interview I had with a young woman a few years ago. She had applied for a job with my company and I was moving through the list of interview questions with her. I asked her where

Growing up my twin sister and I would roll our eyes at my mamaw who thought we should live our lives in tandem. We joked if it were up to her we’d be living in twin houses right next door to each other. Now that she’s lived 400 miles away for the last seventeen years, we’re starting to think maybe our mamaw’s idea wasn’t so crazy. As it is, whenever someone finds out I have a twin sister they tend to ask the same line of questions over and over again. If they don’t ask, I kno

I've been studying a little bit of Acts this week and last night read through the end of chapter four, where Peter and John return from their first incarceration for spreading the Gospel. They immediately go back to their newly formed group of Christians and told them what happened. Then they prayed. They start by recounting what God promised (a Savior who would be killed) and what He delivered (a Savior who was killed) and then they prayed for themselves. As I read that pray

This morning I asked him to run away to Cancun with me. Fourteen years ago we were on a plane bound for the sun and sand of Mexico. Our first trip alone. Our first trip as husband and wife. Less than 24 hours after the "I dos", we were escaping life to celebrate our new marriage. A lot of days since then I wished we could escape life. We've had a great 14 years, but I won't lie and say it's been easy. Yesterday we both thought sadly of the marriages over the last year that di

We once received a check from God. More than once really, but the once stands out in my mind. In the early years of our marriage, we tried to hide the fact that we were broke. We both worked but Josh was still in school and we were paying college tuition and bills and trying to set up house. I budgeted $25 a week for our grocery shopping which meant coffee creamer was a luxury we could not afford. We could eat for 2 days on $2 thanks to coupons for Tuna Helper. And my mama wo

Psalm 46 For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song. 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c] 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not f

Psalm 16:5-6 5 Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. When my husband and I first married, he was still in college and we were both working different hours. Looking back, I imagine the first years of our married life were a lot like many others first years. We were growing up, learning to live on our own, making decisions as a couple and paying our o

Yep. That’s what Christian media tells us. Maybe they are right. But I know two things: I am a live-your-faith-everyday-Christian and I really really enjoy Halloween. As a kid my sisters and I dressed up and my mom would drive us around to the houses of people she knew and wait on us in the car as we begged, er, asked for candy. I distinctly remember a dear woman who was my grandmother’s best friend. Ms. Carr didn’t have any grandchildren and even at a young age I knew she lo

Yesterday a big storm passed through our area. The local meteorologist has talked about the coming bad weather for days. Schools who were not already out for Columbus Day let out early. My kids and I took shelter in the basement of my husband’s work. Everyone was watching the line of storms pass through neighboring states waiting for it to hit. Just six months ago a monster storm slammed a tornado into our area damaging homes and businesses and terrifying a whole lot of us. W