Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I don’t know when or how 13 got flagged as a “bad luck” number, but I disagree completely. Especially this year and this week.

As this is being posted, LeAnn and I are on a quick overnight trip to celebrate our 13th anniversary. Nothing fancy, just someplace we’ve never been with some exploring, shopping, eating, hiking and resting. It’s a rare anniversary outing for us because in previous years we’ve had a swirl of other activities crowding the date.

Continue reading “Lucky, Blessed 13th”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I’ve seen it several times now: A woman walking down the street stops in front of our house, turns toward our door, raises her hand, makes upward waving motions, then turns and continues down the sidewalk. It’s unusual and a little bit unsettling, and it has me thinking about who she is and who we are and who we all are together.

On the one hand, it looks like she’s offering us a blessing. If so, then I welcome it and wonder what I can do in return. Perhaps run out to her with a bottle of cold water next time? But then in the dark corners of my imagination, I wonder if she’s casting a spell or a curse. But I don’t believe in such things, so I’ll stick with the blessing.

Continue reading “Blessings, Curses and Crazy Dreams”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“You’ve come out here at the hottest time of the day?” The man added a chuckle and a smirk to his question, which I took to mean “silly tourists.” We didn’t answer him as we walked past him and up the sandy hill, because we knew what we were doing. We were going to church for the second time that day.

Continue reading “Chapel and Cathedral”