Gaining a heart of wisdom
Those who shake their family tree may be pelted with details they’d rather not know. The blight I encountered in my particular grove was cancer—multiple varieties, hereditary strains. Suddenly I feel a deep kinship with the unending parade of friends and acquaintances who are hearing the word cancer breathed into the air of clinical spaces. I’m thankful… Continue reading 5 Books that Breathe Faith into the Cancer Journey
Three-hole punched and organized into a shiny new notebook, my teaching notes were ready to go. The call had come, I had done the long work of study and heart preparation – and I was terrified. Tiny voices of doubt nibbled away at my confidence: “You’re such a spiritual lightweight! Nothing you can discern from… Continue reading Follow Your Calling in Spite of Your Fear
“Wait a minute, ” I interrupted. “Read that again. Is that really in Isaiah?” My husband and I are reading through the Bible again this year — together and out loud. Aside from the challenge of actually being in the same room (or the same vehicle) at the same time for this daily discipline and delight,… Continue reading Can Busy Mums Really Find Time to Spend with God? (Part 2)
Life has a way of expanding to fill the available space. Little League games used to occupy Saturday mornings with hours of sunshine (and mosquitoes) and with chatting on the bleachers with other mums. However, a quick glance around my house reveals our family has aged out of that particular American institution. We’ve moved on,… Continue reading Living in the Wide Open Spaces
Long lashes against his pale cheeks, my youngest son was sleeping soundly despite the beeping and whirring backdrop of the children’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The ambulance ride, the endless testing and probing, and the grim diagnosis were secondary now to my boy’s constant pain, his fear, and the question marks that persisted hour after… Continue reading Declaration of Dependence
Sunlight slanted through the passenger-side window, and a light breeze lifted the pages of the Bible that was propped against the steering wheel to make room for the notebook in my lap. Middle school band practice always lasted 45 minutes -- not long enough to bother going home. And since the older children were all… Continue reading Can Busy Mums Really Find Time to Spend with God? (Part 1)
"What's your family's favorite movie?" my friend Melanie asked me. She was working on a post about great family-friendly movies to watch over the summer. Would I choose a movie and write a review for her to share with her readers?" Of course, I would! Cue the popcorn-scented memories of boys in pajamas, four abreast… Continue reading Amazing Summer Movies for Families to Enjoy
For all its challenges, moving into a fixer-upper six days before the birth of my oldest son was what set my face like a flint in this direction: We will not wait for perfection. We will welcome the world into our home. Hanging off the northeast corner of the U.S. mainland, we’re not on the… Continue reading Around the Table. Around the World
Here on this country hill, I see my neighbors from a distance. The stillness and solitude are a bonus, but there are times when I think it would be nice to look up from my weeding and see a friendly face over the garden fence, to compare notes on ripening tomatoes and Japanese beetles, and… Continue reading Visiting Over the Garden Fence
For years I celebrated Easter as if it were a stand-alone holiday, singing "Up from the Grave He Arose" without giving much thought to the horror of the Dying or the silence of the Dead. Providentially, my early efforts to incarnate and to enliven an invisible God in the hearts of four sweet boys found a way into the obtuse heart of… Continue reading One Weekend in History – For Ruby Magazine
Living Our Days 