It was the end of a long day in which frustrating events had strung together like beads on a necklace, an ugly mismatched necklace I'd only be wearing in a fashion nightmare. We were having cereal for dinner. In the midst of sternly voicing frustration over something child-related, I spilled the ... read more
Why is there an empty baking powder container with a straw in it sitting in my fridge?…and other questions you ask when you live with small children.
Why does it smell like onion grass in my daughter’s bedroom? Who broke my headband? Why are my piano keys sticky? Where is my spatula? Who wiped all these boogies on the wall?...and who will clean them up? If you have children, or have been around children, you know that anything is a toy. And ... read more
The Urge to Kick
Just three years ago I was doing this same thing, going up the stairs to reprimand a child who was supposed to be napping. Then, my sweet daughter. Now, my well-natured son. But instead of napping, pounding. Thunderous, wall-knocking thudding. And me, attempting to think, trying to grab a moment of ... read more
Ashes to Ashes
"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down," goes the final line of Ring Around the Rosy, a popular nursery rhyme. How innocently we sung that while swinging around in a circle and falling down. But what does "ashes, ashes we all fall down" really mean? It's about the Bubonic plague. The "ring around the rosy" ... read more
Can You Hear the Singing of God?
When he tells me that he loves me, his blue eyes a breaking dam, I receive it. I knew it already, from the expressions on his face, and his love-laden actions. It’s when he tells me that I’m beautiful that I falter. To be loveable and to be beautiful are not synonymous. He stands tall, closer to me ... read more
Expecting Grace
Yesterday morning we watched a hawk perched in a tree across the street. From our position in the front window, in the first light of a gray day, amongst the gray trees of winter, its gray form seemed merely another branch. It flew from tree to ground and back to tree where it sat motionless. It was ... read more
Revelation
"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Isaiah 55:8-9 "Jesus replied, 'Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not ... read more