Gaining a heart of wisdom
Andrew loved my lemon pound cake muffins. He constructed fat sandwiches from the chopped vegetables and the sliced meat and cheese I had packed in a cooler for the twenty-mile journey by lobster boat to his grandparents' island cottage. "These are killer!" he declared, and as I thanked him, my hand rested on his shoulder… Continue reading Praying Parents and the Trauma of Addiction
Sunday Scripture The day I arm wrestled with one of my sons, it was apparent on which side of the table the real strength lay. Amused, he let me struggle for a bit--rather than flattening me in a heartbeat, which he could have easily done. I'm not the same girl who could once whoop all… Continue reading Looking for Strength in All the Right Places
They say adventure is what keeps us young. And going boldly into the unknown is the stuff family vacations are made of--as if life on the regular isn't full of enough risk to take your breath away on the average Tuesday. The Gold Camp Road winds its snow-covered way through the Front Range of the… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Winter 2019-20
A writing project has sent me digging for old journals. Stashed away in a box under my bed, they are a record, in smudged pencil and inky scrawl, of where I've wandered and how God's faithfulness, found in the rearview mirror, has pulled me back on course every single time. Who in the world was… Continue reading Just Because You Feel Lost Doesn’t Mean You Are
The number of plates on my dining room table had been a constant so dependable that I could set the table on auto-pilot. Often the number would swell to account for guests or shrink when one of us was visiting elsewhere. However, the ebb and flow always had a fixed point of return--until it didn't.… Continue reading How to Thrive After Your Kids Leave Home
Sunday Scripture We don’t know who he was because he didn’t sign his name. Was it fear that drove him to anonymity in an age of persecution? Or was it humility? Whoever wrote the letter we now refer to as “Hebrews” certainly knew the Old Testament scriptures, and in chapter eleven he’s connecting the dots… Continue reading Can I Walk by Faith if My Faith is Small?
Oblivious to the hum of classroom activity, I turned page after page as silent reading time flew by. In the fifth grade, I was riveted to the story arc of Helen Keller’s life. Only just barely old enough to fathom the complexity of getting an education without sight or hearing, my laser focus had found… Continue reading Enneagram Three: You Are More than What You Can Do
Sunday Scripture Last night, a full moon lit up the sky here on the hill as a three-dimensional bank of stars drew my eye upward into cold darkness. When daylight comes, evidence for a lavishly generous Creator arrives in living color. Even on a bleak February day, the evergreens stand out against a field of… Continue reading The Amazing Hope of Transformation
Sunday Scripture Every Sunday morning I hunker down at a low table with the four and five year olds at my church. Everyone wants a blue chair, and there's almost always a tussle about something, but eventually, we put the attendance stickers on the bulletin board and settle down to business. There are crayons and… Continue reading The Purposes of God Fulfilled in the Blue Chairs
Sunday Scripture After a long night of empty-net fishing, seven discouraged disciples turned their boat toward shore. The surprise of an early morning Jesus-sighting and the gift of an unexpected and bountiful catch turned their day upside down, and their shore-side picnic with Jesus is one of my favorite New Testament images. What's not to… Continue reading Breakfast for Your Body and the Bread of Life for Your Soul
Living Our Days 