Hey friends, I hope you all had a really good weekend. I have a small gift that John and I made for a retreat we did a couple weeks ago. It’s a spiritual exercise using the four points of the compass. I thought you might like to use it for Lent this year. I’m going…
Over the weekend I read Kelly Corrigan’s book, Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say. I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down. I finished the last half sitting in the urgent care with Lucas, who hurt his foot. (He’s fine.) She had this one chapter that was so…
I rang in this New Year sober and happy. Not a single drop of alcohol. It wasn’t that I planned to go through New Years without drinking anything, but since turning forty in August it seems wise to do this year differently than other years. I’ve written a couple of times about my long and…
I suspect that by looking at the picture of our home on Lake Joy, people make assumptions. Most of those assumptions would be true. In response to an Instagram post, one of my dear friends wrote that it’s a magical home. She’s right. It is one of the most magical places I’ve ever lived. Nearly…
The season of Advent is almost upon us. It begins this Sunday, December 3, and goes four weeks, culminating on Christmas Eve. Then, on Christmas Day we move to a twelve-day season called Christmas-tide. I’m new to the church calendar. I grew up in a church that hardly acknowledged the liturgical year. It has been…
For the last several days my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds have been saturated with women and even some men from all over the world posting #Me too on their personal pages. This began as a silent way to affirm, validate, and acknowledge the prevalence of sexual harassment all around the world. What started as…
The Fall equinox came and went several days ago and I’m still not finished with my novel edit. I was hoping to send it off to my agent a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still a few weeks out. Editing is deep creative work and at this stage in my book’s life, it’s sheer…
My children spent most of today out of the house. I’m under the weather with a head cold from all the airplane travel, and John is back at work tending to the things of Fuller theological seminary. I have taken Sudafed every four hours. I also sip on ice water, while editing my novel, which…
Yesterday, I tripped and fell out by our wood shed. I decided to mow the front lawn before John came home hoping to surprise him. It was late in the afternoon, about five-thirty. Earlier, I edited my novel, and at the peak of the afternoon I met a friend in town for coffee. My coffee…
Yesterday was summer solstice. Just as we notice the turning of a season, it’s also nice to take stock of how we’re changing and growing. So, I thought it might be fun to write down a few of the things I’m learning. Here goes: It’s easy to misunderstand people on social media, particularly Facebook. The…
