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Soap Bubbles, Prayer Fragments and the Glory of Childhood

I remember reading Kathleen Norris’ slim volume called The Quotidian Mysteries, where she talks about washing dishes as an entrance into the holy. And reading Ann Voskamp and her contemplation of the views outside of her kitchen window as moments of experiencing the goodness of God that she would number as gifts. It all felt…

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Entering into God’s Joy Through Celebration

My husband and I had the honor of officiating our eldest son’s wedding this summer. After the ceremony, all one hundred guests gathered under an enormous tent in our front yard where tables laden with hundreds of sunflowers and cosmos, heaps of perfectly prepared barbecue, and ice cold root beers awaited them. We toasted, feasted,…

5 Things Parents Don’t Need to Feel Guilty About and Why

First of all, I don’t know why the new issue of Parenting Magazine seems to show up in my mailbox once a month.  I suspect there is a mom out there who has judged me the worst mother in the state of Florida and has taken me on as a mercy ministry. She probably sponsored my subscription hoping the articles will…

6 Questions Graduates Are Asking: how life transitions raise questions about our identity

Tis the season – graduation invites are dropping in my mailbox like flies on watermelon juice, so I am re-visiting some of my previous thoughts on the season. (This year, our third child, second daughter is graduating from college — and getting married 3 weeks later, and moving, and starting a new job….! So, once…

Hoosier Red

A reflection on taking our first son to college Indiana University Orientation A hot weekend in roasted granite wandering the ivory tower of Southern Indiana red. Hoosier Red. Red faces with beads of sweat streaming down alongside sideburns still coming in. Red cheeks blazing with melting hot passion inside, waiting to bust out. Waiting to…

Bluebonnet Girl

College visits come, a prerequisite to growing up, while garden tea parties fade as seasons extinguish alongside summer camps, baby ballet slippers, reading logs, and AP tests. The future is wide open on I-35 north. Open handed sky, arching this Texas highway with a ribboned morning of March mist, unveiling sun glinting streams upon cattle…

Camping Angels

The first smile, the first tooth, the first steps, the first word. As a new parent, these are the wonderful, magical moments you anticipate and cherish as your first child grows—forever etched in your memory like a frozen slice of time and place. But there’s one “first”, I’m sure you will agree, that you would…

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Why We Need the Courage to Admit When We’re Wrong

It’s hard to admit when we’ve done something wrong and hurt another person in the process. Really hard. In fact, it’s easier to point our finger at another source than to own up to our role in the matter. Have you ever noticed this tendency in yourself? You know you’ve got to apologize because it’s…