Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

We went to the movies for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic and saw “Dream Horse,” one of those British movies with quirky characters and a good story that gets critical acclaim from the few people who see it. It’s a true story about a small Welsh village where the people are just grinding along from day to day with not much happening to get excited about. That changes when a checker at the grocery store gets the idea to form a syndicate among the townspeople to buy a mare, breed it with a stallion that has racing blood, and raise a contender.

Continue reading “For the Hwyl of It”

From “Together: Thoughts and Stories About Living in Community”

“Who wants a Fudgsicle?” That’s what Dad asked enthusiastically from the kitchen on a visit with my parents. It was a familiar question, and I readily responded as I always have: “I do.”

When I was a kid it wasn’t unusual for Dad to stop at the neighborhood 7-Eleven to cash a check and pick up whatever else was needed. And more often than not, especially on Sunday nights after church, he’d come out of the store with all of that and a handful of Fudgsicles. In case you aren’t familiar, Fudgsicles are chocolate ice cream bars on a stick and once were sold individually in big floor freezers at convenience stores. Maybe they still are.

Continue reading “Love on a Stick”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

On a recent walk on one of Garland’s creek-side trails, a woman approached us quickly with a cell phone near her ear and a worried look on her face. She lowered her phone — she said she was on hold with the police — and she asked if we’d seen a driver’s license on the trail. She said it had come out of her pocket and she was retracing her steps to find it. We hadn’t seen it but we told her we’d watch for it as we continued walking. For the rest of our walk I was staring at the bland pavement and the grass beside the trail rather than enjoying the trees and blue sky above.

Continue reading “Be Yourself”