Salvaging the Meaningful from the Messy and Mundane
I wasn't with her, and I am not with him. But I am lucky enough to have friends and family on both sides of this spectrum who keep me informed on the emotional climate around lots of issues, including the election - and my Facebook feed has felt so dichotomous for the last two days... Continue Reading →
What if I could sort my thoughts and worries and put them away - like so many t-shirts from a suitcase at the end of a trip?
Dear Syrian Refugees, I want you to know that I am still praying for you. My heart still hurts when I think about you. I think of you often... so my heart hurts often. It is so hard to believe that it has been almost 6 years since this crisis started. Almost the entire lifetime... Continue Reading →
I hadn't really read books in years. I was an English major in college, but after graduating I took a reading break. Magazines were fine, but books just didn't hold my attention. I think I was burned out. Then came marriage, and then kids, and pretty much the only books I opened were for the... Continue Reading →
There's not much worse than those little round, tasteless wafers that are often served for communion. When I eat one of those, I usually get at least briefly distracted from meditating on the great gift of Jesus' body, being broken for us, and my thoughts run more along the lines of, "Why did I even put this in... Continue Reading →
When we first started considering foster care, my first concern was about our own kids. How they would handle having "outsiders" in our home... how we would handle taking care of that many kids... Now, having done a couple stints with respite, I don't know how we would do it without them!
I recently watched my daughter's middlish-aged ballet teacher (she isn't much older than me, so I really don't want to call her middle-aged... but how else you would describe us? We aren't exactly young'uns....) as she moved so gracefully across the dance floor to a worship song, performing for all of us parents and students in... Continue Reading →
"Mommy, I had an accident!!" Strip the 4-year old, put her clothes and the rug in the washing machine, and put the 4-year old in the bathtub. Get out the mop. While mopping up the "accident", decide to keep going and mop up some other nearby rooms. Check back on the 4-year old. Discover that... Continue Reading →
If you read my last post, then you may be a little peeved with me for leaving you hanging. Sorry about that. Well, not really. There's just so much to say that I couldn't imagine trying to fit it all into one readable post. Forgive me! So, without further ado, here is our latest invitation: to take foster... Continue Reading →
There have been several pivotal moments in my life where I was unexpectedly invited into some crazy adventure. I felt a divine tapping on my shoulder to try something or go in a direction that I hadn't anticipated or prepared for. Saying yes to those invitations was always hard - and always worth it. It... Continue Reading →
I recently went to my Hindu friend's house for lunch. As we were heading out the door, my daughter decided to put a sticker on her forehead so that she could look more like my friend. When I pointed it out to my friend, she immediately offered both of my daughters some of her bindis -... Continue Reading →
I got a little peek into a political time capsule when we moved into our house a few years ago, which we bought from the original owners. They left several old bins, tubes, and flyers hidden in crannies around the house, and one day we found old flyer for a local mayor from the 1970's hidden... Continue Reading →
"I want you to imagine for a moment that when you wake up tomorrow, all of the water-related fixtures and appliances have been removed from your home. The sinks, toilets, bathtubs, and showers are gone. Dishwasher, washing machine, garden hoses, sprinklers - all gone. [...] At first, you would be irritated by the minor inconvenience... Continue Reading →
It just so happened that I ended up reading two very distinct and yet very parallel books at the same time last month. One was a library book that I just happened to pick up, and one was an audiobook that had been recommended to me. The parallel messages of two books created quite a... Continue Reading →
Walking through parking lots and grocery stores with kids in tow almost always elicits some comment from a stranger. "You've got your hands full!" (Uh... I guess? Thanks?) and "Are they twins?" (No... they are two years apart...) are the most common. But when I get the "Enjoy this time! It'll be gone before you... Continue Reading →
