Frog!

When the machinist was a boy, his grandfather told him about a tiny ceramic frog kept in a pocket at Dachau, the old man’s silent prayer to God that he not be forgotten.

Upon retirement, the machinist took up woodcarving, producing pocket-sized figures of frogs in remembrance of his grandfather’s ordeal.

One day, someone mentioned the frog was a symbol of liberation.

“Oy vey,” he said. “Is that what this is about?”

Thematically, my novels are about discipline, calling, stewardship, covenant, and moral formation over time.