In the past year I have tossed out, bought, and again tossed out more throw pillows than I ever imagined humanly possible. I had my rescue pup to thank for this uptick in pillow purchases and disposal. Hobbes was a sweet dog, but he suffered some trauma before coming to live with us, and he…
“How are you?” “I’m fine.” Why do we answer that question with “I’m fine”? Are we really? “Fine” is rarely a truthful answer to the question for me. I’m either great, or I’m really not. Sometimes a stranger is asking the question, and it might not make sense to alarm that person by going into…
“I’m standing on your balcony.” That’s what Ms. Beverly used to say to me. To be honest, I never figured out when she coined that phrase or why, but I knew exactly what she meant. She had my back. She was praying for me. She’d be cheering for me. She was in my corner. I’m…
So much out in the world seems ugly. I often wonder if that’s because our social media culture reveals more of the darkness or if there really is more darkness out there. Perhaps it’s both. We know the solution—Jesus. Love. Bringing the light into the darkness. We can all shine our lights from our own…
We are in a sweet season right now with our church. God has moved us to a diverse community where, for the first time in two decades, our family blends into the crowd. This diversity surrounds us even on Sunday mornings, still considered one of the most segregated times of the week. One of the…
The memory is still so vivid. Fresh out of the house after a week of the flu, with two toddlers straggling along, I made my way through a parking lot toward a playgroup on our new army post. I hadn’t met anyone, my husband was training, and I was a complete disaster. A complete disaster…