I’ve been quiet on the blog here for a few weeks, because the Lord and I have been in conference behind closed doors. The question I brought to the table was about my success as a writer, and by that I mean how many. In the professional writing world, everything revolves around how many. Publishers won’t give you the time… Read More
More Than Anything You Want to Be Known
Warning: Abnormally long blog post. 🙂 “Can I admit that it’s pretty cool to type your name into the Amazon search bar and have your book come up?” my husband said. I thought he should be able to enjoy that, since he has put up with my writer’s angst for four years now. My friend made us this awesome graphic:… Read More
The Best Condition in Which to Start A New Year
On Sunday night, I did perhaps one of the most admirable acts a human has ever done. It involved a waitress and an Applebee’s menu. “What can I get for you?” she said. “I would like the grilled salmon please,” I told her. Did you hear that? I ordered the low-calorie plate. It didn’t even come with any buttery mashed… Read More
Why Generosity Is A Gift to Yourself
I stood in a tiny supply closet many years ago, laboring to organize it once again. (Organizing closets is my super power. My kitchen floor hasn’t been mopped for…a while, but my clothes closet is perfection.) Anyway, I came to a box of scissors, and every one read “property of________” and had a teacher’s name written in permanent marker. In… Read More
What To Do with all that is Good in Your Life
The Lord asks Ezekiel (chapters 27 and 28) to take up a lament for Tyre, the famous Phoenician seaport on the Mediterranean coast. But the song of lament begins like this… Your domain was on the high seas; your builders brought your beauty to perfection. Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as soldiers in your army. They hung… Read More
On Being Hard To Offend
I could see the panic in her eyes the second after she pushed the cart. She could tell it was going to crash into my car, so in one of those slow-mo’s she attempted to catch it, without success. At the same time I was doing hand signals to try to get her to relax. Because really? If she were… Read More
On Relationship Failings
I spent all day in this beautiful lodge, listening to a professor from Wheaton College speak at our teacher in-service training, but I was taken off guard when he said something that answered a question I had been asking the Lord for a few weeks. My question: Why in the world does God often give us insight and wisdom about… Read More
Missing Something?
The nightmares have started earlier than I imagined they would. Still a month out, and I’ve already had two back-to-school dreams. My teacher friend says no matter how many years you’ve been at this job, you’ll still have the Oh no, I’m standing in front of my class and I forgot to wear a skirt nightmare. Exposed in front of… Read More
If You Need Help
The nice Costco man looked at me and said, Those 8-foot kayak boxes aren’t going to fit in this 4-foot truck bed. But I had already paid for the kayaks, and they don’t hold things for you at Costco. He kindly told me that they would hold onto them if I could come back with a bigger truck in the… Read More
Lessons from a Grouchy Ladybug
My children grew up with beautiful Eric Carle books in hand. I read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? to my daughter 387,000 times. Then there was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider. My kids grew up, but I did not. Thus, my childish enthusiasm when I pulled La Mariquita Malhumorada (The Grouchy Ladybug), by… Read More