by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 24, 2017 | Bethlehem, birth, Christ, Christmas, December, Jesus, Joseph, manger, Mary, Nativity, short story
I rubbed my swollen stomach and grimaced as my foot slipped on a loose stone in the road. Dust swirled around my sandals and clung to my clothing. The crowd of people traveling with us grew with each mile. Surely that meant we were nearing our destination. By sheer...
by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 22, 2017 | Christmas, December, hospital, newborn, NICU, nurse, short story
Christmas Eve. Sure enough, not a creature was stirring, but that was because it was 11:00 pm in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Parkland Memorial Health Center and the little ones were too sick to be active. McKendra Gordon sank into an empty swivel chair at...
by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 19, 2017 | books, Christmas, Christmas Carol, December, library, short story, words
The library had a different kind of quiet today. Emma could feel the holiday spirit just under the surface in the youngsters who jostled past her desk on their way to the children’s department. Christmas was only 3 weeks away, and the town was bursting with holiday...
by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 18, 2017 | Christmas, December, farms., mason jar. teachers, Midwest, missions, short story, traditions
(an old-fashioned tale of the season)It started quite simply, as many times these things do. A quart of soup in a Mason canning jar seems such an insignificant thing but don’t try to say that to a little farming community in the Midwest. They won’t hear you. They...
by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 16, 2017 | angel, Christmas, December, Jesus, Mary, short story
My name is Mary. When I was born, there were many girls with this name. And just like my name was common, so was everything else about me. I had the same dark eyes and hair of my people, olive skin, and a nose just the least bit prominent. As I grew up, my stature was...
by Valorie Quesenberry | Dec 15, 2017 | barns, Christmas, cookie cutter, cookies, December, farmhouse, grandmothers, short story
As Catherine took the cheap, tin cookie cutters from their jar, she remembered the story. She always did when she made Christmas cookies with Grandma Kitty’s cutters. It was a story passed down for 2 generations — from mother to daughter while they shaped stars...
