“Mother, Please Be Tender with Me Today”

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford One morning my child said to me, “Mother, please be tender with me today.” Unusual request. What was behind it, I wondered. “I will be tender, I promise,” I answered. “Do you want to talk about it?” “No.” That day I...

The Universe Has Lost Its Soul of Loveliness

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford “The universe has lost its soul of loveliness,” George Romanes wrote as he wept. Why? Because he came to believe Darwin’s evolutionary theory was true. And if Darwin was right, then the Bible was wrong, and that...

Our Very Own Thirsty River Birch Tree

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford I’d never even seen a river birch until Walt and I moved to South Carolina. When I saw my first one, my heart was completely smitten! The patches of dusky pink bark that peeled off were big enough to write a love...

Why do good things happen to bad people

A Word of Encouragement from Elizabeth Rice Handford Why do good things happen to bad people? People more often ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” But it’s also important to find out why good things happen to bad people, because, obviously, they really...