Gaining a heart of wisdom
Confession: We take a day off from school every year to decorate for Christmas. When everyone was small, it truly took all day. However, now that everyone is strong and competent, the boxes are out of the attic, and everything is festive in a matter of hours, and it's a good thing because the boys all… Continue reading M is for Manger — A Book Review
Robert Frost's thrush is not singing a solo in his invitation to lament, but is adding to the words of the prophet Jeremiah, and has now been joined by Soong-Chan Rah in Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times. In Frost's poem, the invitation is declined, and perhaps he had good reason, as he was "out… Continue reading “Come into the Dark and Lament”
I may possibly have rolled my eyes a teensy bit as I glanced at the 3x5 card from my pocket: "Sing praise to the Lord for He has done gloriously. Let this be made known in all the earth," Isaiah 12:5. It's not that I disbelieve the first clause; no, it's the scope of the… Continue reading Invitation to Adventure
I am a utilitarian knitter with mittens, dish cloths, and the occasional scarf as my only output, but even so, one of the things that is always in my sturdy, grab-and-go backpack is a pair of knitting needles holding my current knitting project. It may go for months untouched, but I value any time that… Continue reading For the Creative Soul
I really didn't think I needed this book. It was written for procrastinators, for people who need help in Taming the To-Do-List. If anything, I'm an "ante-crastinator," too faint-hearted to wait until the last minute, who goes into panic mode just thinking about the potential of going into panic mode. But then I read Glynnis… Continue reading Don’t Put It Off
Just this morning I penned gift number 4,013 into my gratitude journal where, for four years, I have been recording everyday blessings: candle light before dawn; everyone home for dinner; first apple pie from our very own tree. Eileen Spinelli has created a rhyming picture book that will set readers onto the path of remembering all… Continue reading Everyday Blessings
In a life time of reading, we make friends with a variety of authors, usually total strangers to us in real life, but nonetheless, known and beloved, because we have come to know them intimately through their books. In Writers to Read, Douglas Wilson invites his readers into the circle of friends he has formed… Continue reading 9 Names that Belong on Your Bookshelf
For me, it was a case of the right book at the right time when Girl Meets Change by Kristen Strong showed up in my mailbox. I am walking through a season of boys coming and boys going; setting the table each night with only four plates . . . or hearing that we may possibly need nine plates;… Continue reading Change: Friend or Enemy?
The prosperity gospel is deep in my bones -- not that I technically hold with any kind of "blab it and grab it" theology or the idea that God owes me a BMW. I do know better than that, but truly, I just want to be able to tell you that God has always answered… Continue reading Embrace the Detour
Two weeks into the Beatitudes with my Sunday School class, and my ear is finally becoming accustomed to the cadence of another Kingdom, one in which those who are meek and mournful are pronounced fortunate -- even happy. All of this is a fitting backdrop for reading Joshua Choonmin Kang's Spirituality of Gratitude. His collection… Continue reading The Language of Thanksgiving
Living Our Days 