Gaining a heart of wisdom
It has been said that "imagination" is the 21st-century equivalent to the scriptural word "heart," the center of emotion and intellect in biblical physiology. That may well be true, for many times it is my imagination that causes me to run aground in this following life. As if there were not enough stressful events going… Continue reading Is It Possible to Overcome Worry?
Whether it's feelings of inadequacy, parenting anxieties, or panic over the latest terrorist tactics in the news, the challenge to face down our fears and to move forward into new, healthful, and bold behaviors is a common thread for January writing and thinking. The problem, however, with this seasonal booster is that the need for… Continue reading Awakening Courage in Community
Because I'm a planner, I carry a planner, but the truth is that my planner carries me. All pristine and un-besmirched, the 2017 edition holds out the promise of glorious accomplishment and blessed organization in a life that often feels like spinning plates and chaos management. Shannan Martin started her marriage and motherhood in much… Continue reading The Freedom is in the Falling
Finally, about ten years ago, the light began to dawn, and you can't imagine how disappointed I was. I realized that parenting is not a cause and effect proposition. It's not a vending machine in which I insert my actions (seizing teachable moments, training in character, consistency in discipline) and then am rewarded by equal and… Continue reading Grateful Parents: Grateful Kids
In my gratitude journal, you will not find the words "back pain" or "dead air conditioner in the mini-van." And even though I have read (and re-read) the Beatitudes, I am in a season of mourning deeply over the advancing dementia of a dear friend -- and I'm not feeling the least bit blessed by… Continue reading Ten Thousand Truths
Living near the coast of Maine and worshiping in a small fishing village, I've spent some idyllic moments on the deck of a friend's lobster boat and marveled at the treasures (the beautiful and the ugly) that come tumbling out of a lobster trap. I've skirted the perimeter of a secluded island with four little… Continue reading Dramatic, Wild, and Wet
It must have seemed as if his life was over. At the age of fifteen, swept up in the aftermath of his country's demise, in a series of cruel blows, he was enslaved, deported eight hundred miles -- never to see his homeland again, stripped of his identity, and given a strange and foreign name.… Continue reading Move Heaven. Change Nations.
“These bean plants are a mess,” I muttered. “But, wow . . . lots of beans.” Our eleven rows of Providers (that’s the variety of green bean we always plant) had lived up to their name, but after four pickings, the plants looked tired, ransacked, plundered. They looked like us. I smile when I say… Continue reading Parenting Past the Mid-Point: More Thoughts from the Garden
The epigraph for Psalm 142 reads: “A contemplation of David. A prayer when he was in the cave.” How wonderful that David knew God could hear him from his gloomy hiding place. These thoughts, shared today, were written during the summer of 2014, at the beginning of my mum’s precipitous decline, and from my season… Continue reading A Prayer from the Cave
My grown-up boys have a particular smile that I see whenever they come to the house, and I start hauling food out of the refrigerator. It's a combination of, "She really can't help herself, can she?" and "Well . . . I might be persuaded to eat a sandwich." Even though I can't keep a… Continue reading “Mother” Is a Verb, Too
Living Our Days 