I am sick, isolated, feeling hopeless. The world tells me I am unwanted, unloved, worse; unneeded. That I am useless, a drain on society’s resources, on my caring husband’s time. A waste of space and breath. It does not say these things out loud or in full, but nevertheless I feel the hot breath of…
“But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’. Anything beyond these is of evil” (Matthew 5:37 NASB). This year, I cut my hair (dramatically). I changed my name (both professionally and among family). I honored myself with a gift, in the form of a declaration of independence that I had desired for more…
Dear Reader, When my grandson was born and I was helping his mom during those first days of motherhood, I hung out at their apartment with her so she wouldn’t be alone while my son was at work. I didn’t have much to do when she and the baby were napping–which was often–so I binge…
I love musicals. As a young single mom, I spent many rainy afternoons snuggled close with my oldest daughter as we watched “singing and dancing” movies like “Newsies,” “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and ”The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Many films simply stirred joy, but “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” carried all my favorite story ingredients: an underdog, an unlikely…
Rain drove me to the desert. Years of rain, actually. I’d grown up under gray Midwestern skies that lasted weeks in a row during winter and spring. And fall. Recess was soggy grass and slick playgrounds, a purple raincoat and foggy glasses. At fourteen, we moved to the sunshine state where humidity would collect in…
A few years back, I accompanied my twin daughters along with the rest of their grade school class on a field trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I had plans to explore and engage in hands-on experiences, so when we were immediately ushered into the auditorium to watch a 3D film about…
My husband has many way-of-life habits and practices that help him to stay focused, organized and productive. I have very few of those habits. But I do have some way-of-life practices that keep me following close and hard after Jesus. I would love to tell you these practices have been easy for me, but I’m…
I sit mulling over my to-do list for the day. Wash two loads of laundry. Hem daughter’s dress pants for her internship. Buy gift for nephew’s birthday and teleport back two days ago to get it in the mail to him on time. The usual stuff. My pen is still poised over the paper when…
Have you ever met someone and thought: this person will certainly go places! While in college, many of my fellow students impressed me with their talent. But one particular classmate made me sit up and take notice. We both majored in music and sang in the same choir, but this woman also had theatrical talent….
Sitting in the sand, I buried my 5-year-old eyes in my knees. I wasn’t hurt, but I was embarrassed that I had fallen. My trainer tried helping me up, but I wanted to wait for my mom to climb through the wooden, split-rail fence. When she got to me, she said, “You have to fall…
There’s a pile in my closet: a skirt too small, a shirt too stained, pants too worn. They wait, expectantly, for a transformation, for deft scissors and clever thread, a re-imagination of grace. But I hang in the moment between the death of the old and the…