Faith
Showing Up
Sometime ago a friend called me. She was freaking out because a friend of hers was having a really rough time. He was at church cleaning, and he’d called her needing to talk. Apparently he was in very bad shape emotionally. She called. “What do I say to him? I’m afraid I’m going to say…
How Did We Get Here?
It’s the question we all dance around. The one we sometimes want to ask but don’t. The one we dread being asked. The one we know the person’s dying to ask us when we tell them why our spouse doesn’t share our faith. “Did you know he wasn’t a Christian when you married him?” (I…
When You Hit a Brick Wall
No, this isn’t about finding the right insurance. If I’d hit a brick wall literally, I probably wouldn’t be writing this and definitely I would be dealing with insurance. But I am speaking metaphorically about hitting a brick wall. As much as you might like the wall to give and you be able to keep…
Being Eli
In the book of Samuel we hear the story of the call of Samuel. The boy is asleep in the temple with the Holy of Holies while Eli, Samuel’s mentor is asleep elsewhere. When I was young, I always pictured myself as Samuel and wondered would I hear God if He called me. Recently I…
The Devil and the Angel
I screwed up again. And amazingly, I felt entitled to. (Insert yucky “ew” sound here, please.) So here’s how it played out. Months ago I agreed to let go of our cleaning service, because we had to cut costs. Now if you’re a busy mom (If? Yeah, I heard that snicker.), sometimes that can be…
The Marks of Marriage
Time again, I run across some interesting patterns in marriage. Just recently I spoke to a woman whose marriage suddenly ended after 14 years to her surprise. My heart broke for her and my alert bells went off as I found another piece to the pattern. I’m not an expert, but I put my observations…
Inspired by the Great Oudoors
Chrysanthemum, King, Emperor of Autumn, who will rule while you sleep? (from Siri Mitchell’s Moon Over Tokyo) I love October. I’m starting to think it might be my favorite month of the year. Finally, a reprieve from our hot, sticky Georgia summer. Nearly every week, I’ve joined other photo-snapping parents on field trips to farms,…
Call me crazy!
People think I’m crazy … seriously they do. I can’t tell them about all the book ideas I have or possible projects coming down the pipeline … otherwise they’ll start hyperventaling. People may wonder why I write. Is it to get famous? No way. Because I enjoy living by one crazy deadline to another? Uh,…
Ever Faithful
For many years of my life, I wanted to be successful. I put a lot of effort into that endeavor. I worked and worked and worked. If I joined an organization, I had to be president because I wanted the organization to be successful and I wanted to be seen as a success in the…
Piece by Piece
Usually when I write a post, I find a picture after the fact to suit what I’ve written. But this time the picture came first. I love this image because it speaks of how we give away pieces of our heart, how we can walk around with gaps and holes (sometimes literally!) in our hearts,…