I’ve just come from a long walk in the summer heat (be thankful you can’t smell me). Mark and I were running errands, and he suddenly remembered he needed to be somewhere soon. I wanted to head home. When we got to the end of the main thoroughfare to our neighborhood I said, “You can drop me off at the corner, and I’ll walk. I was planning to ...
God, we remember that day seventeen years ago as if it just happened. We remember the moment we first heard the news. We remember the images blazing across our TV screen and hearts. We remember those we lost. We remember the heroes. Today, we remember all of this too: You are in control no matter what happens. Coming together makes us ...
I walk the aisles of an unfamiliar grocery store in the town where we’re vacationing. It’s strange how places have their scents — this one is sunscreen and mangoes and salt. I pass the deli and the cereal aisle, the ice cream coolers, and the rows of egg cartons. Eventually, I find the school supply section. It’s small, as if such pursuits in a ...
I’ve had a week filled with awkward. It happens. First, I went to a women’s event where I hardly knew anyone. I stood in the foyer picking at a plate of pasta while my heart almost pounded out of my chest. I attempted to make small talk. I went to the bathroom three times in forty-five minutes just to hide. I occasionally stared at my phone so ...
I licked the peanut butter frosting around the entire rim of a cookie sandwich. I did this in the car, shamelessly, at a stoplight on my way home from a prayer meeting. Because I am human. And this is the sort of thing humans, even when they know better, sometimes do. I am not advocating this behavior. Someone once told me if you can’t be an ...
I attend a tea party in the fellowship hall of a small town church about an hour from my home. This is where my parents had their wedding reception, where my grandparents had their fiftieth anniversary party, where my great-grandparents held hands in the pews. Today the tables are covered in white linen and each place setting includes a vintage ...
I’ll celebrate my daughter’s birthday tomorrow. This might seem like a fairly ordinary occurrence. But it’s not to me. Because this is the girl God gave us after almost a decade of infertility. You can read our story here, but the short version is we met when Lovelle was twenty, she became ours at twenty-one, and tomorrow she will blow out ...
I sit across from a friend who knows me well. We’ve walked together for more than a decade. My eyes are tear-filled as I look at her and say, “I messed up.” I tell her of how I have failed in an area that has been an off-and-on battle in my life for years. We all have one, don’t we? I call it our “Signature Struggle.” It’s the choice or habit or ...
Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came, stood there, and ...
Confession: Sometimes I have a bad attitude at the holidays (please tell me I’m not the only one). I want peace on earth but then I wind up feeling tempted to run over people with my shopping cart when they’re rude. I want to spread cheer but then I get PMS and just want to spread chocolate on every surface I can find. I want to shine brightly like ...
