Gaining a heart of wisdom
I've been keeping a sentence journal since last spring, part spiritual discipline and part occupational therapy. I'm losing my handwriting thanks to Parkinson's disease, and scrawling a coherent sentence in legible script every morning is one way of pushing back. During November, I'll be expanding the practice by listing three things I'm thankful for. Keeping… Continue reading Thanks For The Good Gifts I Never Thought Of Asking For
Over the years, I've had an uneasy relationship with exercise and fitness. Uncoordinated and awkward in high school, I was a varsity-level creator of legitimate reasons to be excused from gym class. In college, to fulfill the mandatory two physical education credits, I took First Aid and Intro to Golf, both guaranteed to keep me… Continue reading Are You Exercising For All The Right Reasons?
September is my birthday month, and I plan to celebrate! The coming of birthdays really didn't trouble me at all until I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease three years ago. Now it feels as if PD has its thumb on the scale, hastening the aging process and slowing me down in ways I haven't authorized.… Continue reading Wisdom for Flourishing in the Third Third of Your Life
The sun shone warm on my back, and my youngest granddaughter's eyes were nearly closed as I gently pushed the swing. Playground mayhem surrounded us, but we were wrapped in the quiet of a sunny summer afternoon. The grandmotherly privilege of one-on-one time with a toddler requires an intense commitment to being present in the… Continue reading Walking and Waiting in the Way of Wisdom
A pair of seven-pound weights is part of my everyday exercise routine. I realize that's not a very impressive-sounding load, but I definitely notice the difference between them and my very cute pink five-pounders. I also notice (with some alarm) the difference between my weights and the growing heft of the two granddaughters who most… Continue reading A Look at My Not Very Impressive Training Regimen
Standing on one foot, I counted seconds and looked out the kitchen window. A downy woodpecker paused in drilling for his breakfast, almost as if he sensed my gaze, and the leaves around him glistened with the morning's heavy dew. My mind-numbing morning exercise routine has made me an avid observer of the world outside… Continue reading Your Extraordinary Life is the Life You Have Been Given
The gardening life is full of surprises. It yields good surprises like volunteer tomato plants that show up among the squashes from last year's random self-seeding—and bad surprises such as the utter gluttony of one woodchuck who feels entitled to our green bean plants. This year's best gardening surprise has been the unexpected results of… Continue reading God’s Joyful Surprise: The Gift of His Given Strength
Maybe I haven't been listening carefully, but I don't recall ever hearing someone say, "It was only after my huge success that I finally got my priorities straight. It was only after the big book deal and the first million in the bank that I cried out to God with sincerity." Isn't it true that… Continue reading The Gift of Grace that Grows from Our Challenges
I've been writing obliquely about my Parkinson's disease diagnosis for the past year or more, but today the story takes center stage in an interview with Lois Flowers. She asks probing questions that tease out the details of my story, but more than that—it's a conversation about what C.S. Lewis would have called The Problem… Continue reading Discovering the Love of God on the Pathway of Adversity
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?
Living Our Days 