Susan Tenbarge: Tyler was just always special
It was a splendid June afternoon when Susan Tenbarge left her vegetable garden and took a seat at her wooden picnic table. A friendly cat joined her as she started talking about her oldest son, Tyler. He’s a seminarian studying for the priesthood for the Diocese of Evansville. He had been ord...Read full story »
Thursday, June 11, 2015
You'll know
My Grandma Murray made the best donuts. I didn’t get to see her very much when I was a young girl, but occasionally she and my grandpa would take a few Greyhound buses south from their home in northern Wisconsin to our home in Indianapolis. During those visits, she would head into our...Read full story »
Monday, June 01, 2015
Anticipation
I’m living in a state of anticipation, and it sure is fun. There’s going to be a visit soon from my son, his wife and their precious six-month-old son. They live in North Carolina, and I don’t get to see them enough. I know their visit is going to be wonderful. There’...Read full story »
Thursday, May 21, 2015
A tiny ambassador
My husband and I drove to Henderson, Ky., a few Friday nights ago to have dinner in a small restaurant there. As we headed south out of town — still on the Indiana side — I began to notice the massive amount of water that was covering the countryside on both sides of the h...Read full story »
Monday, May 04, 2015
Who me?
Well, it’s happened. I’ve been officially labeled “old.” It all started on Good Friday when I was walking across the parking lot at church. Two teenagers were on one side of me, and a delightful child was being carried in her grandfather’s arms on the other side...Read full story »
Monday, April 20, 2015
Our tapestries
Sometimes in the quiet times, when things aren’t going very well, an idea from the past helps a little bit. That happened to me recently. Things were kind of tough; and in the middle of the night I started thinking about “tapestries.” I was a young woman when I first heard...Read full story »
Thursday, April 09, 2015
In the hand of God
Sometimes when I’m heading into a difficult situation — a situation that could have a really bad outcome — I think about my Uncle Arvey. He was probably one of the smartest men that I knew when I was a kid. He was an engineer, and he was very clinical and very rational and very an...Read full story »
Monday, March 16, 2015
Just a little bit
Have you ever heard something that was so foreign to you that it took your breath away? Have you ever heard something so jarring that it resurrected itself and nudged you years after you first heard it? I’ve worked for The Message for 30 years. For the first 28 years, I was a staff wri...Read full story »
Monday, February 23, 2015
Decade by decade
A while ago, my husband and I drove up the road and traveled back a few decades in time. We spent the weekend at our college campus, the place where we met and fell in love. Whenever I go back there, I’m always searching for ghosts. I’m so hopeful of seeing people around every co...Read full story »
Monday, February 09, 2015
On being mindful
The first time that I heard the term “mindfulness” I also heard the word “bubbles.” Mindfulness means having an intentional focus on the present moment. The person who was explaining mindfulness to me suggested that I could learn this practice by doing something as si...Read full story »
Monday, January 26, 2015
