Whew, I was Anne of Green Gables there for a bit, in the depths of despair. The world shut down, I moved to teach online school overnight, and an unwelcome fear and cynical hopelessness snuck up on me. As Anne says of despair, “It’s a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. When you try to eat a…
Saturday is always grocery day. In the morning, I go to the pantry with my cell phone and start filling in my three Google Keep lists with what we need from Costco, the grocery store, and the department store. Then I go out to the garage, where we keep paper products (a more valuable commodity…
I called one of the seniors from my Spanish class yesterday. Once I had explained that she wasn’t in trouble and we had a laugh about it, I said, “I’m sorry. I just called to say I’m sorry.” The end of senior year is when a student is supposed to be enjoying all of the…
I’m tempted to use the word “flabbergasted,” except I don’t think the cool kids are saying that these days. It describes how I felt on January 1st of this year, when I began my new role as women’s ministry director for our church and began another challenging project that I’m not at liberty to talk…
I propped my stockinged feet up on the coffee table at our friend’s house, as our small group settled in for Thursday Bible study. We had a good discussion about feet on coffee tables and my friend let us know how nice this table was compared to the old one that all three of her…
Last night I quit. “I decided I’m not going to be women’s ministry director,” I said to Matt, from my flopped position on the couch. “Okay,” he said. “Is there anything else you’d like to quit?” “Nah, that’s good for now,” I answered. I made this announcement days before hosting my first event at church…
While I pushed a snow shovel on a sunny winter morning, I watched a vehicle pull up on the street and stop. Two men in dress clothes got out and walked toward one house in the neighborhood, and two women in dress clothes got out and started walking in my direction. I knew who they…
I was interviewed by a small Christian television program several years ago, and the man started talking about burnout. He wondered what my thoughts were on how we could make our lives less busy. “Well,” I answered, “I don’t think God intends to make our lives less busy. Really, if we’re following God, he’s going…
The guys were bent over puzzle pieces at the kitchen table, and we girls were enjoying the cozy evening, Christmas tree lights, and a Hallmark movie, when we saw headlights in the driveway. I peeked out the front window, to scope out the unexpected guest, and saw an elderly woman got out of her car….
There’s a bull dog inside of me. If you tell me I can’t do something, game on. Inwardly I will cross my arms and say, “Oh yeah? You don’t think I can do this? We’ll see about that.” This tenacity and strong-willed determination serves me well. Sometimes. But lately I’ve been doing some serious praying…
Almost a dozen years since my trip to Uganda, and that young man I met is still messaging me on Facebook, asking how my husband and children are, asking how our church is doing, asking how can he pray for me today. We go back and forth. I have prayed for his daughter who has…
A robust Christmas cactus fills the garden window above our kitchen sink, and right now the end of every stem has a growing bud that soon will open into a spectacular array of delicate, pink blossoms. This cycle of blooming repeats several times during the year, and while we scrub dirty pots after dinner, we…
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