To be alone with me You went up on a tree ~Sufjan Stevens, To Be Alone With You When my brother died I looked for him everywhere. I knew without a doubt that his faith had become sight and now he’d seen the King. I know where he is. Left here on the faltering gray … Continue reading Grief and glimpses of glory
Bombs and gunfire and fear. Fridays are fun days and Paris is that place, that place that conjures love and food and romance and wine and wistful getaways. This twisted Friday the 13th tore a hole in the heart of that city and those of us across the ocean who sat mesmerized. It was not … Continue reading No discernment in the dark
"All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful." ~Flannery O'Connor I felt small, and not the good kind of small. Not the kind that meant the black you wore was flattering and the muffin top was less visible. This was purely the less visible kind. The kind where … Continue reading Pity parties and answered prayers
“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:8-9 When I was in college, I fell in love. The … Continue reading Love letters
I didn’t plan to have a fifth child. Actually that is true of the fourth as well. Regardless, it is symptomatic of an underlying idea that I think I am actually in control of something which is pretty funny in and of itself. That fourth child, that fifth, remind me of the Ephesians 3 prayer … Continue reading These aren’t the little things
“I do not know You God because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside.” ~Flannery O’Connor This is the ‘i’ society. iPhone. iHome. iCar. iFood. While Apple may take credit for the little ‘i’ naming phenomenon, it has more than caught on. Most likely this is because the ultimate little … Continue reading I am in the way
I look for tidy answers to tiring days. Those long days, moments discouraging seem to run me down, even during what should be sabbath rest. It’s as if attacks are more prevalent when we’ve celebrated worship, rejoiced in The Victory. I can run down lists of all the ways the kids are awry and how … Continue reading The thorn isn’t leaving
“Super ladies? They’re always trying to tell you their secret identity...think it’ll strengthen the relationship or something like that. I say, 'Girl, I don’t wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that. I mean, you tell me you’re uh Super, Mega, Ultra Lighting Babe, that’s alright with me. I’m good...I’m good.'" ~Frozone, … Continue reading Secret identity
Early morning hours in frozen February, the thunderous rhythms of a hovering helicopter shake our home. The sound made us believe the chopper landing pad could be our deck. Weary we woke and through the cold under the blankets, bleary-eyed, we asked why? The day and evening prior had been equally unusual between transformers that … Continue reading Power outage
I was recently thwarted by my four-year-old son. He is the last of five kids, the only one not yet in school. Our days include Star Wars light saber battles, picnics on the deck, running errands, work at church, walks, and a decent amount of snuggling. We frequently engage in outdoing one another in an … Continue reading Thwarted!
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