There is a whole lot of unseen upkeep in life. Changing sheets, mowing lawn, washing laundry, servicing the car, making meals, planning groceries, unplugging drains, buying supplies, fixing broken appliances, all that unseen upkeep of daily life. It’s tiring. It’s monotonous. It’s necessary. It never ends, does it? Yet, if I don’t do the dull […]
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A friend recently phoned me and began our conversation with, “Are you bored now that you are retired?” My four children are in various throes of raising our grandchildren. I watch them and remember their seasons. I title them like book chapters I’ve read, from Stormy Beginnings to Umbilical Cord Rip-Tide. I wonder if it […]
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You know the type, right? The one who must correct every statement another makes. Someone who can wax eloquent on just about everything, and does. That person. The one who knows it all. The person who makes everyone else around feel as if they know nothing. Oh, ya, I’m pretty sure you’ve met that person […]
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Sunshine bright with glory bathed our tiny backyard. Blue sky beckoned. Winter months had been long for our four-year-old son, and he was ready for play. “If you need me, I’ll call you,” he shouted a split second before the screen door banged behind him. Its echo slammed inside my head. I plopped down with […]
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I’m not good with directions. I never could find where we were on that big paper Rand McNally map, so when the first GPS came out, I considered it to be a marriage saver. Until I realized how terribly bad I am with technology. I mean lost is lost. When the kids were little and […]
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She sat in front of me, a crumpled mess. Words halted and poured again like the start and go of a sputtering fountain. Lines furrowed her forehead. They drew the portrait of a weary soul. My heart twisted with her paradox of stories from cross cultural ministry, both uplifting and exhausting. Paul, the missionary, faced […]
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I’m so excited to share with you something from my daughter Charity. As a result of a mass on her brain stem when she was twenty-six, Charity lives with incomplete-quadriplegia. She wrote the post below. I think Charity’s words from a power chair will touch your hearts and you will remember them in whatever struggles […]
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I checked again to make sure the blue passport lay in my palm. Lines of weary travelers stretched long behind and in front of us. In tightly clasped fists, passports of green, maroon, and brown blurred with our shuffling. They were irreplaceable identifications of citizenships from around the globe. We shoved suitcases with a knee, pulled […]
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I found the crayon-drawn picture lying on a chair, during my hurry-and-pick-up-the-house-cleaning. Time tightened before guests arrived, and the house reflected the chaos of muddy shoes and thrown pillows. I’d read its message on Mother’s Day, when my grandson handed it to me, but I needed it more today. This day, when I deserved it […]
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A message on my phone encouraged me to contact a certain Margaret. It seems she wants to recruit me for a job. I have great potential to earn an amazing amount of money. In fact, my name has repeatedly come to her company’s attention. Perhaps you have received a similar text. It’s a scam. This […]
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