Gaining a heart of wisdom
Every spring, property owners here in Maine cede our rights over to the blackfly population. With their serrated jaws and overwhelming numbers, they swarm by the hundreds, drawn by breath and body heat. I've seen them drive even the most determined souls back into the safety of home. When my four sons were all small… Continue reading Rest for the Weary and Hope for a New Season
Long ago and far away there were six men, wise indeed, but, alas, they were all without sight. An opinionated lot, every single one, in the course of their wanderings, they happened to meet an elephant standing squarely in the center of their path. Feeling duty-bound to report on his discovery, the first wise man… Continue reading A Fable About Beginning to Overcome Our Need to Be Right
“I want to keep it handy in case I need it,” she said, matter-of-factly. She wasn’t talking about a flashlight. Not a package of tissues. Not even a cell phone...(They hadn’t been invented in 1978.) She was talking about Isaiah 55. “I liked it,” she went on. “So I memorized it.” Come, all you who are… Continue reading Memorize the Mind of God and See Your Own Mind Changed
“Do you always read to your kids like that?” she queried. My friend was referring to my rendition of a Dr. Seuss classic delivered at tongue-twister speed from a rocking chair in the church nursery: “Would you like them in a house?Would you like them with a mouse?Would you eat them in a box?Would you… Continue reading How To Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Time When You’re Hardwired for Hurry
Roots and wings are the gifts Christian parents pass on to our children. We establish rules, give them responsibilities that build confidence and skill, and water those deep roots with lots of love and prayer, knowing that strengthening wings will soon carry our children away from home, out of reach of our influence and our… Continue reading Three Biblical Ways to Pray for Your Adult Children
Fleming Rutledge describes Advent as a "season that begins in darkness and ends in light." Certainly for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Light she writes about is "shed abroad in our hearts," but both ends of the day still make for challenging conditions if you crave sunlight for your power walk. Late autumn temperatures… Continue reading Heaven and Nature Sing, and You’re Invited to Join the Party
I stood today on the front deck, camera pointed upward, waiting for the wind to blow. The rain of colored leaves was more dramatic in person than in the video I was trying to make, but I know this particular beauty signals the beginning of the end: the end of a season of brightness and… Continue reading Your On-Ramp to Comfort and Joy for Seasons of Suffering
Are you ready? The holiday chain reaction has already begun with Christmas cards and huge inflatable Santas crowding out the pumpkins and the ghoulish costumes long before the back-to-school clearance bins have been packed away. A posture of resistance to the retail rush requires a better strategy, one with "expulsive power" to counteract the pressure… Continue reading The Expulsive Power of a Better Strategy for the Holiday Chain Reaction
Switching the microphone over to my left hand, I hooked my right thumb into my skirt pocket to still the trembling. My always-forgiving church family might have attributed the tremor to nerves--and it's even more likely they didn't notice it at all. But I noticed it, and while I find this symptom of Parkinson's disease… Continue reading Celebrate Grace and Gratitude on the Coat Tails of Mourning
Armed with passwords and last year’s tax forms, we gathered at the dining room table with my youngest son and his new wife. They had asked for help in the annual ritual of completing the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which college students must submit in order to qualify for scholarships of… Continue reading Mothering Ourselves Out of a Job: Launching Our Children into Adulthood with Joy
Living Our Days 