Gaining a heart of wisdom
My son called with a question, and (for a change) the call was actually for me. (I don't do home renovation or car repair questions.) He had been raking blueberries and had settled down to pick them over, removing the unripe berries, leaves, and stems. It's slow and painstaking work. "How clean do you get… Continue reading Think About What You Want to See on Your Plate
Robert Frost tells the story1 of a young girl, tiny and fierce, who followed her brother into the woods to pick wild grapes. Pulling down the tops of flexible white birch trees, he with his boyish heft was able to pick fruit from vines at the very top of the forest. The trouble started when… Continue reading Hope for a Parent’s Heart as Kids Leave the Nest
The sun shone warm on my back, and my youngest granddaughter's eyes were nearly closed as I gently pushed the swing. Playground mayhem surrounded us, but we were wrapped in the quiet of a sunny summer afternoon. The grandmotherly privilege of one-on-one time with a toddler requires an intense commitment to being present in the… Continue reading Walking and Waiting in the Way of Wisdom
I spent my late teens and early twenties agonizing over the mystery of my true calling. Looking back, I now see that I was laboring under the mistaken notion that there was a very specific dot I should be standing on, some combination of my abilities and God's will that would put me at the… Continue reading How to Know If You’ve Found Your True Calling
A pair of seven-pound weights is part of my everyday exercise routine. I realize that's not a very impressive-sounding load, but I definitely notice the difference between them and my very cute pink five-pounders. I also notice (with some alarm) the difference between my weights and the growing heft of the two granddaughters who most… Continue reading A Look at My Not Very Impressive Training Regimen
For a minute, I was puzzled. The bright blue Post-It Note in my planner had a phone number in my own spidery handwriting, along with the words "FIRST CALL" in bold capital letters. Realization landed first in the pit of my stomach. These were hospice contacts for our friend Jeanette, who passed away in our… Continue reading Let the Puzzling Path of Sorrow Lead You to Hope
In ways that are both mundane and catastrophic, life has a way of going off the rails. Everything from rain showers overlooked by the weather forecast to devastating diagnoses, all serve to remind us that we're not in control of our lives—at least not as much as we might wish. Whenever the unexpected happens, we're… Continue reading Is Your Theology Able To Handle The Unexpected?
If you've ever grown garlic, maybe you've noticed the curled, flowering shoot that appears once the top leaves are fully established. Gardeners recognize it as the "scape," and the scape needs to be snipped off to allow the plant's energy to remain focused underground in creating a big, beautiful garlic bulb for next winter's pizza… Continue reading Be Brave! Cut Off Everything that Isn’t Helpful
One of my kids has been digging holes, taking things apart, and fixing things since he was old enough to ask for a shovel. It's no surprise, then, to observe that he's Mr. Carburetor in the world of small engines (to which I do NOT have a passport) and works in a field that requires… Continue reading When Your Unique Calling Means Doing What You Can’t NOT Do
When King Solomon, confronted by two women who were claiming the same baby, pronounced, "Cut the baby in half!" how did he know that one of the women, the real mother, would rather give up her child than see him murdered? (1 Kings 3:16-28) When Samuel the prophet grabbed his sword and "hacked Agag to… Continue reading I Need More Wisdom! How Can I Grow in Godly Insight?
Living Our Days 