Gaining a heart of wisdom
I settled down to work in my usual spot. The dining room table always provides a welcoming space for all my books and notes and an open Bible. With fingers on the keyboard, I was ready to write when a ping sounded from my phone, a reminder from an app that I hadn’t done a… Continue reading Three Strategies for Aligning Your Life with Your Convictions
Like beads on a string, our minutes slide by. Poor, cynical Solomon bemoaned the futility of it all, dismissing his significant accomplishments as a chasing after the wind. Author Annie Dillard speaks a better and more hopeful wisdom: How we live our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. The most common complaint about time… Continue reading 4 Habits for Managing Moments When Time Is Scarce
It’s been years since I opened or added to the baby memory books I created for each of my sons. They’re tucked away in a box somewhere, faithful records of first words, first steps, and my hopes and dreams for their precious lives. One inscription common to all four hangs in my memory because it… Continue reading Is It Possible to Live a Life Free of Regret?
The baby wakes up an hour early—the hour you had planned for quiet study and prayer.The teen driver totals your car on her way to a ballgame.The job interview seems to go so well that you let yourself hope, but the postion goes to another candidate. In ways that are both trivial and seismic, life… Continue reading How Can I Love My Given Life When It’s Not What I Had Planned?
Posted with thanks, unabashed hero worship, and apologies to the memory of E.B.White (7/11/1899 – 10/1/1985), author of Charlotte’s Web and other beloved tales. He wrote “Memorandum,” originally published in Harper’s Magazine in October of 1941 and then compiled into One Man’s Meat in 1942, along with numerous other exquisite essays from White’s writing life. Please celebrate with me the beauty of… Continue reading A Merry Memorandum and an Important Resource for Epiphany
Part Four: Carols I Want My Grandchildren to Know Christmas baking here in the Morin compound involves eleven different recipes. Most of the goodies are either carried or mailed offsite, and having a generous supply on hand makes party food, unexpected guests, and random gifting quite stress-free—even enjoyable. But looking at the list at the… Continue reading Overcome Christmas Discouragement by Remembering Your Powerful Why
(The voice of a grieving mother after Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents based on the biblical accounts in Matthew 2:16-18; Jeremiah 31:15; Isaiah 61:1-3) There was no angel appearance to my husband -- No timely warning granted for us to flee the danger and death of Herod's sword. Know that I, too, would have fled.… Continue reading The Christmas Story No One Wants to Talk About
Part Three: Carols I Want My Grandchildren to Know The word hope has been gutted by misuse to the point where it's a flimsy thing, a wish thrown out into the universe, a desire held close to one's heart. Christmas allows us to fill the word hope back up again with true biblical meaning. The… Continue reading Christmas Hope for the Fears of All the Years
I was sitting on the attic floor sorting through hand-me-downs when the phone rang, and a bridge began to crumble. Through tears, via a clunky cordless phone, my friend dropped the bomb. She and her family would be leaving our church—the church where our kids had misbehaved together and where she and I had moved… Continue reading Two Strategies for Navigating in a World of Temporary Connections
I had begun to picture cobwebs growing in the corners of my email inbox, and my impatience was rivaled only by my disappointment. After two years of watching my speaking ministry grow, the invitations suddenly stopped coming. Of course, I kept all my fraught feelings to myself. How could I share this particular sadness without… Continue reading Is There a Place for Ambition in the Life of a Christian Woman?
Living Our Days 