Author: Kerri Tracht
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Dirty Feet and Clean Souls
“Wash your feet before you get into bed.” If your childhood was anything like mine, you heard these words many times. We didn’t get baths every night. And in the summertime when we swam and played in the sprinkler right up until sunset, I suppose my grandmother, then my mother, may have thought…
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FOMO, FONE, And Things That Never Change
“Hey Mom! What are you chewing?!” My 10-year-old grandson shouted the length of the resort pool to my daughter-in-law who sat in the shade of an umbrella next to me. “Gum.” She replied. I laughed. We had crashed their beach vacation and were watching the kids play in the pool while we rested from the heat.…
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Tick Tock, the Clock Won’t Stop
“I feel very melancholy. And I can’t shake it.” These words from my friend came over the phone as we were discussing the memorial service we both had attended earlier in the day. The service was for a 96-year-old man who had been our pastor years before when we were both much younger. Neither…
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Approaching With Boldness
“Excuse me, do you have any spare money, change, anything?” It’s not the first time I’ve heard that. We get it all the time, outside grocery stores, at intersections written on signs, and at gas stations. What was odd was the location this time. Between a visit to a physician’s office and a stop in…
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A Veteran, A Hat, and the Loneliness of Memories
“You’re wearing my favorite hat.” The elderly gentleman to whom I addressed this comment reached up and touched the brim of his Vietnam Veteran’s cap and gave me a nod as he placed his slightly shaking hands on the handle of his Costco shopping cart. “My dad had one just like it. If he…
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Unchanging Truth of Change
I was given this article that I wrote for our church newspaper in November of 2002. Over 22 years later, it is interesting to look back and see where God has brought us, and yes, the changes that have been wrought in our lives. The truths remain, however the situations have changed. Changes I was…
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Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
I have trust issues. I say this a lot. It comes up when I’m driving, for instance. Especially on the interstate. Here where I live people have an aversion to turn signals. As if alerting people to their intention to suddenly dart into your lane at 75-80 mph is an invasion of their privacy. They…
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“Just Plant Your Feet and Pull”
We put a stupid amount of money into sod to cover the drain field for our upcoming house that we are building. It’s a requirement of the county we live in. I suppose there is a good reason for it–something like not letting all that dirt we also paid a lot of money for…
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Time, Choices, and Soft Hearted Biker Dudes
“I ain’t never getting married.” John and I were sitting at our local barbecue joint (yes, joint is the appropriate term here) waiting for our order to be delivered to our table. I heard the employees talking behind the counter and the youngest of them, probably late teens to early twenties, was emphatic while…
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Fifteen Minutes Alone With Jesus
“What would you ask Jesus if you were riding in the car with Him? Just you and Him?” I asked this question of my eleven-year-old grandson while driving alone with him. I have always liked to ask random questions of my kids and now my grandchildren while they were held captive in the passenger…