Judith Hall Simon's Blog

How do we put God first? Is that what Ruth was doing when Andy proposed? She didn’t run into his arms and let him smother her with thank-you kisses. No. She had conditions. Two of them. Number one: She was a 10-percenter. Andy figured giving 10 percent of their income to God through the church […]

“Pick a hymn,” the music minister would sometimes say to the congregation. Whenever he did, my heart leaped for joy. Those Sunday evenings, we would sing only the first stanza of each request so that as many hymns as possible could be squeezed in before the sermon. Here’s a sampling:             “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”            […]

It was a profound statement. It would have been profound from anyone’s lips, let alone those of a four-year-old. In the moment I recorded his words on a scrap of paper and then buried them in a file folder. They slept there safely for more than fifty years until my eyes disturbed them: “When someone […]

Recently, I had to substitute for buttermilk in a recipe. A tablespoon of vinegar in a cup of regular milk took its place. “If you can’t toot, substitute,” Mama used to say. Is that why she sang songs at the top of her lungs while hanging out the wash? Her dream had been to be […]

One request before he left for college. I was happy to do it as I led my son to the basement and set up the ironing board. Then I showed him how to put water in the steam iron and turn it on. He set the iron down on a shirt collar, and I laughed. […]

I start wondering when a preacher writes or says, “Pride goes before a fall.” I wonder if he has read the Bible. I wonder if he has read Proverbs in the Bible. I wonder if he has read the sixteenth chapter of Proverbs. I wonder if he has read Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, […]

How many times have you heard it: God first, others second, yourself last? That is not what Jesus said. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your […]

Ursula didn’t like it one bit. Not one bit. Every night it was the same thing. And tonight she would do something about it. Throughout the entire day she had stirred every flaming word. Her husband would hear all of it the very second he hung his pants on the bedpost again. But the unexpected […]

My mother-in-law-to-be had no idea what that fruit cocktail with one cherry meant to me. In my deprived childhood, fruit cocktail—or anything sweet, for that matter—was a rare respite. Mama always divided the treat equally for my three brothers and me, making sure each serving included a cherry. (As I remember, there were only four […]

  No toilet paper! What to do? If only I had checked first. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand (Isaiah 41:10 NIV). Oh, I see some! There, […]