Gaining a heart of wisdom
As one who lives by a list, I have come to appreciate the satisfaction of a neat column of check marks at the end of a day, the faithful reminder to pray or to do or to go, and the convenience of a resource close at hand: "Didn't we buy slippers for her last Christmas?"… Continue reading Your New Life Beyond the To-Do List
"What would you like to do?" he asked. My good and faithful husband had hired a babysitter for our four sons (Combat pay!), and we were driving away from the house, the cavernous mini-van feeling empty and oddly quiet. "Good question," I thought, "What would I like to do?" As a homeschooling mum, church woman, maker of beds and… Continue reading 4 Ways to Boost Your Self-Care Quotient
In my small, sleepy hometown, the day the Bookmobile parked across the road from Clowater's Market was nothing short of breathtaking. I recall no scheduled rhythm or advance warning, but somehow word reached us, and I pedaled my bike down Route 1 with an empty book bag slung over the handle bars. Filling the bag… Continue reading How Is Your Reading Impacting Your Life?
Part of the delight of spending time with my tiny grandson is that he takes nothing for granted. Nothing. “Bam, why bubble pop?” “Because you stood on it.” “Why?” Well, good question. Why, indeed, but our conversations routinely run on in this vein of relentless curiosity. They move forward not because “Bam” comes up with… Continue reading The Importance of Becoming Curious at Mid-life and Beyond
One true gift of God is the tension of struggle: challenges that come out of nowhere just when you think the coast is clear; the demon Comparison that threatens to anchor you always in the Desert of Lack; besetting sins that cycle and re-cycle in a life that resembles an on-going game of Whack-a-Mole. Up… Continue reading Musings: August 2018
Last summer, sitting on a rocky beach with family all around, I noticed a small white shell among the scramble of stones and shards of driftwood. Soon I had collected a handful, all pure white and perfectly whorled, the former dwelling place for some diminutive, absentee mollusk. For a few days, I carried them around… Continue reading The Ancient Way of Praying Made New
I am, by nature, a do-er, but one of my favorite, long-time friends can "squander" an entire afternoon over tea and conversation without batting a remorseful eyelash. When we were both in the trenches of parenting toddlers, we twirled long phone cords, and I heard her sleep-deprived voice say, "Sometimes I just sit on the… Continue reading It’s Time to Stop Comparing and Start Rejoicing
Time has a way of eroding the sharp edges of a story. Details become foggy and the setting becomes indistinct. Fully alive, three-dimensional characters may lose their identity in stereotype, becoming mere placeholders in their own story. This was the case for Lucy Walter, the heroine in Elizabeth Goudge's Child from the Sea. Born in… Continue reading How Do Stories Increase Your Empathy for Others?
For one short season of our parenting journey, my husband and I felt as if we were hanging onto the reins of a runaway horse. Daily battles over curfews and negotiations around boundary lines had taken the place of warm conversation and laughter around the table, and we mourned the loss as we searched for… Continue reading Praying the Words of Jesus for Your Teen
He placed one hand on the door frame, shifted his weight to one foot, and then placed the other small boot toe-down on the floor. Looking at his dad, he checked his hand position and then assumed the facial expression he deemed appropriate to the occasion, a conversation among "the guys." My grandson's imitation of… Continue reading 10 Ways to Reflect God’s Character
Living Our Days 