Thirteen years ago this month, I woke up in a hotel room alone, unemployed, unsure, and frustrated. The toilet didn’t flush properly (yes, it overflowed) and the hot water had been shut off (no shower for you). My husband had gotten up before the sun so that he could plow roads of ice and snow […]
Uncategorized
Finding the Oasis
Everyone knows what an oasis is (we picture lush palms and fruit and aqua waters), but do you know what makes it especially restorative and beautiful is that it’s found in arid places. In other words, the oasis is defined as such because it’s surrounded by the contrasting dry desert. We too, like sojourners in […]
Unraveling Depression’s Patterns
In a recent Hallmark movie, carefree and confident Annie asked the main character Harold to look in the mirror and state 5 things that he liked about himself. Awkwardly and with some embarrassment, he couldn’t come up with one. His response scared his “life coach” so that she started addressing his lack of self-confidence. Now, […]
21 Ways to Recirculate Respect in Our Culture This Year
Last year brought out the ugly in people. Make no mistake, those putrid waters already lurked below the surface, but all restraint was thrown off as people ridiculed, shamed, trolled and blasted people over differing opinions and perspectives. Whether the topic involves COVID, politics, religion, or parenting, we need to regain a sense of maturity […]
Being Female isn’t a Feeling
“It is a naïve sort of feminism that insists that women prove their ability to do all the things that men do. This is a distortion and a travesty. Men have never sought to prove that they can do all the things women do. Why subject women to purely masculine criteria? Women can and ought […]
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It
In recent dialogue with a friend, who happens to have grown children, she related to me a conversation she had with her daughter about politics, culture, and the world in which we now find ourselves. Her daughter told her mom, “I am just going to keep doing what I know to do. Love my husband, […]
Do You Miss Connecting with People Too?
Today I had the rare privilege to meet another precious mom friend and together we indulged by swimming in an indoor pool with our kids. The kids laughed and played and wore themselves out and I got to share heart-to-heart connection with a soul sister. What an incredible treat it was–blessed us in mind, body, […]
When Christmas Feels Like a War Zone
For all the fans of “It’s A Wonderful Life” and Jimmy Stewart . . . Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in “The Philadelphia Story,” Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to […]
When Worship Songs Become More about Me Than God
Back in the early nineties, traditional churches started transitioning from the hymnal to what we termed praise choruses: “As the Deer,” “Shine, Jesus, Shine,” “Jesus, Lover of my Soul,” “Awesome God,” “Lord, I lift Your Name on High,” and more pop into my mind. We added these songs gradually, because many Southern Baptists struggled with […]
Getting Your Kids to Think Deeper
The things my children say–and I in response to them–would never have crossed my imagination prior to having offspring of my own. You just can’t believe the quirky quips they toss….without even trying. At lunch time last week, my youngest–and most talkative–assessed the items on his plate. “What is this orange thing here?”My response: “Um, […]