Pull Through
I find myself talking to a woman who has suffered through chronic pain and fatigue for most of her life. She tells me all the ways she’s adapted; mostly, she’s learned to rest well and accept her limitations. This means she doesn’t live the way others live. This means she lives with the acute reality […]
Why the Wilderness?
My husband reminds me of Deuteronomy 8 this morning, in particular this part beginning in verse 2: Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his […]
Turkey Leftovers? Easy Turkey Pot Pie
I love easy and fast, so here you go: You get two ready-to-bake pie crusts from the grocery store and put one of the crusts in a pie pan. Mix two cups of chopped leftover turkey, a can of cream of chicken soup (or mushroom or celery), a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (or a […]
Lost on the Way
Today we walk to school with a little boy who has never seen the snow. He moved this year from Texas, and today is his very first day seeing, tasting, and touching snow. Seeing the morning snow through his eyes fills us with wonder again. It’s amazing to think about: fluffy flakes of white fall […]
Just Write and See What Happens
Today, I ask my students to describe their childhood backyard. It’s a lesson on setting. I don’t give any instruction other than to use as much sensory detail as possible. “Just write and see what happens. See what your brain does with this.” I’m fascinated by the results. Students write about things they don’t expect: […]
My Two Favorite Games to Play with Young Children
My two favorite games to play with my children are Memory and Jenga. During the holidays, it relaxes us all to just sit and play games. After all the doing and going, I love sitting down in the living room–amid all the holiday decorations and smells of pine and baking things–and play games. I used […]
Catch
This morning I read a verse I don’t remember reading ever in my life. Deuteronomy 33:27 offers this wonderful promise: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” I try to imagine God’s everlasting arms underneath me. Even if I fall (or am falling), the everlasting arms are underneath me. They […]
Downhills
It’s arduous: We’re driving up the mountain to go hiking, and my youngest tells us all how much she loves chugging uphill in the car. “It’s because the uphills mean the downhills later.” She knows it’s a fast, twisty thrill ride downhill. The arduous task affords us all the ease and joy later. There’s something […]
Impressive
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to stop trying to impress people all the time? Wouldn’t the holidays be so easy if the motivation behind our behavior was genuine love and not a desire to impress? Recently, my friend and I laughed about all the things we fear folks finding out about us. We carefully construct ourselves […]
Strayed
Sometimes, characters in novels take on lives of their own. They do things that deviate from the originally storyline. It might be a small detail (the time of day, a food she eats, a piece of clothing she wears), but it ripples through the story. Sometimes, this small change easily folds back into the story, […]