Gaining a heart of wisdom
In my senior year of college, I took an English elective on the writings of C.S.Lewis. The professor, Dr. Kaye, was ebullient, effervescent, and contagious in her love for the Oxford don who spun words into gold. Her instructions for the final exam were simple but ominous: simply bring a pen and plenty of paper.… Continue reading Lessons from C.S.Lewis: Becoming Fully Human
Some stories leave a reader short of breath, muscles stiffened, dreading to turn the page because of the unavoidable outcome of the narrative arc. Katherine Clark's story began on a routine Friday, volunteering at her son's school. However, when she rounded the playground equipment in a schoolyard game of tag, one of the children bounded… Continue reading Where Tragedy Intersects with Truth
Some of my happiest mothering memories are set in a blue mini-van on the open road as our family traveled cross country for five weeks back in the summer of 2010. With very few distractions, our time together was focused on the beauty around us and the many sights we all shared for the first… Continue reading Happy Mother’s Day!
Knocking twenty-two years’ worth of dust off a resume stretches the definition of “creative writing” to its limit. After giving my time away for two decades, could I convince even myself that my skills are marketable? Was I still capable of holding my own in the workforce? The questions hung in the air like a challenge. At… Continue reading Taming Anxiety Over the Unknown
In 1914, when Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as a national holiday to celebrate mothers, there's no way he could have predicted the century of retail hoopla and family angst that would ride on the coattails of his intention to simply honor mothers and their role in the family.… Continue reading A Collection of Books for a Grace-Filled Mother’s Day
I heard her footsteps on the stairs one night — jolted out of a sound sleep and into the familiar world of worry. Step, click, pause. The foot, the cane, the balance check. Exhaling in the dark, I realized . . . no. I had been dreaming. She’s not here anymore. She’s walking in safety… Continue reading Caregiving: Wisdom for the Sandwich Generation
When a committee of five gathered to draft the Declaration of Independence, it was Thomas Jefferson's pen that framed the colonies' complaints against England. Then, taking their own quills in hand, his colleagues made 43 changes to the document, and when it was presented to Congress, they made an additional forty-plus edits. Learning that Thomas… Continue reading Musings: April 2018
She assumed a humble expression, but the look in her eyes said plenty. This was a great accomplishment. A moment. She held my gaze, and then allowed the smile in her blue eyes to spread to her entire face as she did it again: My granddaughter stood up in my lap. In Chapter 4 of Orthodoxy,… Continue reading The Miracle of Humanity (and Fairy Tales for Grown Ups)
Consider is a word that pops up all over the place in Scripture, and was even on the lips of Jesus as he invited a crowd gathered on a hillside to "consider the lilies of the field." For most of us, there's hardly an area of our lives that would not profit from a dose… Continue reading Intentional Parenting with a Vision for Your Family
Welcome the peaceful signs of this new season by Beating your swords into plowshares. Then go till up a garden! Beat those blades back into swords again And do battle against an ensnaring sin. Don't be anxious about What is coming or What might come. Pick a bouquet just for today's table. Turn regret on… Continue reading Welcome a New Season of Peaceful Change
Living Our Days 