Scripture - and fairy tales - tell us that it is in the ordinary where we can be surprised by meaning and significance. If we have eyes to see, then we might catch sight of subtle signs pointing to a deeper reality that transcends the narrow confines of the here and now. In this view lost binoculars occasion hints of the divine, and everything from Sudoku, sun-dried cotton sheets, piles of trash and garter snakes loose in the house mysteriously provide glimmers of hope in a broken world.

For 33 years Margie lived with her husband and children in an American Gothic Foursquare in Minnesota that their children christened "Toad Hall." During those years, Margie's eyes were finely tuned by the ancient wisdom of biblical seers and the everyday trials and challenges of life to see past the surface of things. Through her reflections, and with warmth and humor, she gifts us with reflections from her years in Toad Hall so that we, too, might see deeper layers of meaning. And when we learn to see the sacred in the ordinary, our pilgrimage begins to shine with expectation.