I’m not known for pristine countertops anyway, but if you make it a Friday afternoon and mix in a wedding reception craft, papers to grade, a few lunch boxes from the boy, and a stack of bills, it’s an end-of-the-week disaster. So there’s that preacher man of mine with bachelor party gift in hand. Let’s put this somewhere where I… Read More
Missing Something?
This was the nightmare –that my girl came down the aisle wearing one of my mother’s slips and a bathrobe. I quickly yanked her into the seat next to mine and said, What are you doing? Where’s your dress? She said she had gotten it dirty and had ruined it trying to get the dirt out. I spent the rest… Read More
You Know We Can’t Fake This
Number one is when that boy of mine stumbles down the stairs in the morning, to eat a bowl of cereal in his sleep –my first encounter with another human being for this day. I say, Good Morning, nice and easy, because I always remember Solomon’s advice, “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,… Read More
The Proper Length of Quiet Time for Busy Working Women
My daughter just drove away for college (swallow big lump in throat), and two weeks until she returns for Christmas break seems long. Separation is painful. I have been suffering the same kind of separation pain from God. The long quiet times I enjoyed with him this summer, coffee in hand, have turned into a few verses read over a… Read More
If You’re at the End of Giving Yourself
Last night I needed to write a blog post to you, but instead I sat and snuggled on the couch with my man, and we watched a few inspiring YouTube videos. To his credit (and it’s his birthday today, by the way), he endured not one but two wedding proposal videos, with my head tucked into his shoulder, and maybe, just maybe, some… Read More
You Want to Have a Sweet Time with God
In the stillness of the early morning, with snow gently falling, I tenderly laid my Bible in front of the advent candles and reached for the matches. Lighting candle one and candle two with great reverence, I prepared to meditate on a verse of Scripture and spend some moments in prayer. After dousing the match in some water, I threw… Read More
Before You Swing Your Legs off the Bed
It’s 4:27 a.m., and I’m wide awake. Ridiculous. My brain yawns and stretches before I do. It has a cup of coffee –black. Then when it’s wide awake, with all the worries and to-do lists spread out and ready to go, it wakes up my body. So at 4:27 I wake up with a start and crash into all… Read More
Try This Place to Get Close to God
I recently discovered the ethereal fact that in Ireland there are historical geographic sites called thin places. You can take a tour of them –sacred natural landscapes where the distance between this world and heaven are said to be thin. Where God seems closer. This was a fascinating concept but not practical, for a woman who was worrying about having grocery… Read More
Does Your Public Life Match Your Private Devotions?
I had an 8:00 class in college. On that day, I would crack open the bathroom door to shed a tiny bit of light into the dorm room, so I could get dressed without waking my roommate. Because I’m OCD about certain things, I’ve always arranged my socks by color in the drawer, so I thought I was doing okay in dressing… Read More