Fold ’em
My four children were all between the ages of two and five.
Simply venturing out into the world required the equipment (and courage) of Seal Team 6. Armed with diaper bags, snacks, toys, books and what little remaining patience I could muster, I’d run only the most critical errands. I’d select the grocery cart that resembled a Hummer, buckle everybody in and try not to take out entire end-cap displays as I whipped around corners. Read More
Feet
I’ve spent the week walking in Job’s sandals as I prepared to teach his story to two classrooms of high schoolers. (Check out Launch Ministries Christian release time Bible classes.) It’s a tough book to immerse one’s self in, so I’ve been on the hunt for some levity. Perhaps you, too, will get a giggle out of this snippet of my life from days gone by. (If you need another laugh, check out one of my most popular posts ever here.)
My second daughter has two different sized feet. Yes, this is common, but hers are dramatically different sizes. Prior to moving to Boise where Nordstrom is conspicuously absent, I was willing to shell out the extra bucks to buy her shoes there because they’ll sell you two different sized shoes as one pair — as long as the feet measure more than 1.5 sizes different. And hers did. Read More
Body Building: Considering the impact of ‘choice’ on community
Is ‘choice’ good for us?
Within some generalized parameters, we are given the privilege and pleasure of choosing many aspects of our lives. We choose where we live, where our children go to school and where we go to church. We choose our friends and even our leisure activities.
The positive side of this dynamic is that we can make sound investments in real estate (financial stewardship), provide academic opportunity (stewardship of talent) and be spurred on in our faith by those with whom we share doctrinal positions. Read More
Where else can I go?
Following God is anything but easy.
Every day seems to bring news of tragic events. In recent days, it’s struck closer to my circles in the forms of the kidnapping and murder of an elementary student, and the suicide of an eighth grader. I looked at my own eighth grader through tear-filled eyes, thankful for her every breath. I recalled the scare we had this time last year with my younger daughter and was moved again to gratitude. The happenings of the last week have touched me deeply because of their proximity, but injustices the world over paralyze me with their enormity and pervasiveness. Evil seems rampant and I’m tempted to question both the goodness and power of God. Read More
Sidewalk-chalk Sermon
Children bring to life their surroundings.
I love watching kids ride circles endlessly on their bikes around the cul-de-sac. I’m tickled when our basketball hoop gets lots of attention and I enjoy the late night squeals of kids on a trampoline. Today, I smiled when I saw chalk had decorated a driveway and adjacent sidewalk as I walked down the street. Reluctant to tread on the artistic renditions, I stepped to walk on the side as I passed. Then I slowed and finally stopped to take it in.
Name that Dollar
What if every dollar we earned had a name on it?
In the sixth chapter of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, Jen Hatmaker defined consumerism as spending money on our own desires. Charity, by contrast, she depicted as a river of dollars selflessly sent towards the needs of others.
As I considered the benefits of a spending fast, I realized how utterly disconnected I am from my money. Yes, I budget our money and search carefully for high value purchases as a matter of stewardship. I pay for my goods and services with a debit card, not credit. But the simple fact that I lay plastic on the counter, not cash, has created an imperceptible buffer between me and the monies I spend. I sign the little sheet of slick, white register tape for the sum of my purchase without the effort — or thought — of counting out the dollars necessary to complete the transaction. Read More
Sticky Note Prayers: Lessons in Perseverance
I couldn’t quite decide if it was obnoxious or darling.
My daughter just turned 11. She’s normally the hardest of my children to buy for as her tastes change frequently. This year, she had very definitive ideas about what she wanted. And she let us know:
I found a small yellow sticky note on my laptop screen one morning: “Mama, can I please have bunk beds for my birthday. It doesn’t cost money, it only costs time.” Read More
Whose (by)line is it, anyway?
It was mine. All mine.
As a ghost writer, I don’t get the byline in the publication. And I’m okay with that: I do the writing, but the client is the subject-matter expert without whom I couldn’t write the article. Last week, however, I had been offered the byline for an article to be published in a nationally recognized magazine whose publication reaches 40,000 people. This is an uncommon honor for a ghost writer, and I was tickled pink.
The editor asked for my headshot; I sent it. My bio was requested; I submitted it. The writing was done, shipped off for publication. Read More
Keep out. Come in.
Are privacy and authenticity mutually exclusive?
The call for authenticity has taken up residence in yet another forum. It’s no longer the mantra just of small groups and friendship; now blog posts and Facebook status updates are required to contain some degree of personal drama to qualify the writer as being ‘real.’ It appears there’s no venue in which privacy is deemed appropriate or even important. Read More
Caution: Men at Worship
Grungy clothes. Sweaty brows. Dusty feet. How did this manual labor constitute a church service?
Church looked a little different this weekend. Our ‘Sunday best’ involved work gloves, hats and rolled-up sleeves. Our congregation took to the hills for a little old fashioned work.
We ambled our way up the hill and put our shoulders into the effort. I watched my children and husband find their groove and settled into my own. My body engaged in its task and my mind began to muse. The lessons were plentiful… Read More
