Posts
I Am
Sometimes I have trouble believing in God. It can happen suddenly, in one of those horrendous moments that leave me questioning: if God is in control of everything, then why did he let this happen? If he is a loving and personal God, then how could he let this happen? But more often than not,…
Associations
Every time I eat a banana, I think of my dog. This isn’t quite as strange as it sounds, really. My dog loves bananas, and I always give her the bottom tip when I’m eating one. This habit formed so automatically that I don’t even realize I am doing it until I am someplace without…
Obedience
I recently volunteered at a canine obedience trial. Some dogs and handlers make it look so easy! They move around the ring at the judge’s command, the dog’s head never moving more than an inch from the handler’s side. And yet, the biggest test of obedience often comes not during the intricate heelwork, but during…
Laptop Lessons
Someone once said you never know that God is all you need until God is all you have. I tested this theory recently during a business trip to Moscow. When I stepped off the plane, I was dragging my suitcase in one hand and clutching the business card of someone I had never met in…
Lazy
Picture this: you’re sitting at the kitchen table and need a paper towel from the roll on the counter. Rather than simply stand up and take the one step to reach it, you try to stretch from where you are. Why get up if you don’t have to? Only you can’t…quite…reach… So you scoot the…
Speeding
I have received two speeding tickets in my life. (According to Murphy’s Law, I suppose I should add the caveat “so far.”) The first one was well deserved. I was driving back from a conference in Connecticut to my apartment in western New York. I’d stopped to visit my parents and left way too late. …
Vacation
I gleaned a bit of wisdom recently from one of those “Take This Quiz” articles stamped in the midst of a check-out line tabloid. The quiz wanted me to guess when the greatest benefit of a vacation was realized. Before? During? Immediately after? Having recently returned from a vacation, I can tell you the answer…
Word Shower
Have you ever been walking along the road on a blistering summer day and been overtaken quite suddenly by a cloudburst of rain? There is hardly a cloud in the sky big enough to dictate a rain shower, but here it is, giant drops of rain splashing down all around you, barely strong enough to…
Do It
I am a total Harry Potter fan. I have read every book (multiple times) and frequently find myself pondering one brilliantly penned scene or another. Recently, I found myself contemplating the complexity of a scene at the end of book three. A swarm of dementors are descending upon Harry and his friends, ready to deliver…
Leave It
One of the first commands I ever taught my puppy was “Leave it!” Like a toddler’s newfound use of the word “no,” “Leave it!” quickly became an echoing refrain. Leave the garbage, leave my shoes, leave the cord to my cell phone… It wasn’t long before she knew what it meant. Acting accordingly, however, was…
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Meet Janet!
Janet Beagle, PhD is the founder of The Mustard Patch. She divides her time between the Midwest and New England, and if she’s not writing, she’s probably out hiking with her 2-and 4-footed friends.