Gaining a heart of wisdom
With the right book and enough time, reading becomes a form of transportation, a deep river that carries me along in the current of words, characters, and ideas. Simply looking at the cover or hearing the title of certain favorite books evokes a place and a time and even remembered dialogue as if I had… Continue reading Have We Lost the Essential Practice of Deep Reading?
Every fall, when the school buses begin their appointed rounds and the very uttermost edges of the maple leaves begin to curl, I’m pulled into a scene from a beloved book – a college campus and a narrative arc that spans a generation’s worth of sorrow and rejoicing. I’m pulled into the longing for a… Continue reading Stories Shape Our Faith and Heighten Our Joy in Every Season
If I learned anything at all from twenty-one years of homeschooling it is this: the daunting, two-inch-thick school book is managed in daily assignments, one lesson at a time over the course of an entire school year. If we persevere, we will be able to say in June, “We did it!” Thirty summers and thirty… Continue reading What Story Do You Want to Be Able to Tell?
What verbs have defined your days of autumn in 2019? There's always something happening in this busy life under the sun, even if it's only talking or thinking--a couple of seriously under-rated verbs, in my opinion. Here at the end of November, I'm looking forward to celebrating around gratitude and pumpkin pie while taking one… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Autumn 2019
"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you." (I Thessalonians 5:1) Paul's words come embedded with a warning to the church--sort of a, "It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway" message regarding a certain watchfulness and an inspired willingness to live in the present… Continue reading Concerning the Times and the Seasons: Summer 2019
“Nine chapters, one hundred fifty two pages—how hard can this be?” I thought, as I loaded a well-known Christian classic onto my Kindle. Slogging through chapter two, reality began to set in. I had always been an avid reader but felt a need to be more intentional in my reading choices. The holes in my… Continue reading Reaching Out for the Adjacent Possible
I never leave the house without a book . . . BUT one busy Wednesday when an unexpected medical appointment pushed an already derailed schedule even further off track, I jumped into the driver's seat of our car, headed down the bumpy hill of our driveway, and only then realized the horrible truth. In my… Continue reading Reading as a Way of Life
In my small, sleepy hometown, the day the Bookmobile parked across the road from Clowater's Market was nothing short of breathtaking. I recall no scheduled rhythm or advance warning, but somehow word reached us, and I pedaled my bike down Route 1 with an empty book bag slung over the handle bars. Filling the bag… Continue reading How Is Your Reading Impacting Your Life?
My favorite hoe was a gift from a friend. Its blade is just the right size for scooping up the dirt to support a growing plant or for upending the roots of pesky weeds. While it's making a difference in the lay of the land and the weed-to-wanted-plant-ratio in my garden, its familiar feel in… Continue reading Musings: June 2018
Holidays and reading go hand in hand, not only because books heighten our enjoyment of the celebration, but also because, through stories, we pass along the Truth and the significance of the holiday. This Easter, I hope you'll take some time to read the account of resurrection found in Scripture first of all. Then, if… Continue reading Fill Your Easter Basket with Books
Living Our Days 