Read and Be Inspired: 8-Year-Old Dresses Up as Her Greatest Insecurity
My friend calls from Texas to update me on her life and children. She shares this incredible story and gives me permission to share it (and the photos) with you. Her sweet daughter has had to wear hearing aids these past few years. This little girl doesn’t want anybody talking about them; she hides her […]
So You Could See It Better
I leave my classroom today, and I see purple berries. In a simple moment of gratitude, I thank God for stark landscapes in late autumn that serve to showcase color I might have missed otherwise. I might have missed these, but today, I couldn’t possibly. All seems stark and bland on purpose; it might just […]
Dirty Kitchens and Unmade Beds
Today, I write for three hours straight. I don’t empty the dishwasher, make beds, or think about what I’m going to make for dinner. Something has to fall by the wayside to make room for art. I remember Annie Dillard’s wonderful quote about writing. She writes: “Let the grass die. I let almost all […]
What Gets Set in Motion
I love putting things in my crock pot, leaving for campus, and returning hours later to dinner. The crock pot performs this secret work all day–that secret ministry–while I go about my regular life. I set it in motion, and it continues all day long. You set things in motion in the morning, and they […]
Miriam’s Tambourine: The Song You Would Sing
This morning I read in Exodus 15:20: “Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: ‘Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted’.” Something about this woman challenges me today. She takes up a tambourine and […]
Maybe Today
All day, I have that feeling that something amazing is just about to happen. It actually doesn’t matter if something does happen; it’s the feeling that I love. It’s hope that maybe today, something. I’m not sure what. It could be anything: Maybe today, I’ll find a new friend. Maybe today, I’ll hear from a […]
Go Now, Write It on a Scroll as an Everlasting Witness
This morning, I consider the strange call to . . . blog. Blogging? What a weird little genre of writing! I remember in Isaiah 30:8 that simple command to “Go now, write it on a scroll so that in days to come it may be an everlasting witness.” I know this command was specifically for […]
“Oh, Good! You’re Exactly Where I Want You to Be.”
This morning, I rock in my old rocking chair as I read a verse from Colossians 2 about having “all the fullness” of God inside of me. I’m thinking about any empty place and the promise that I’m actually full. I’m just rocking and thinking, tapping my chin, and I hear my youngest calling out […]
Hold Unswervingly
The word “unswervingly” occurs only once in the whole Bible. It’s in Hebrews 10:23, my theme verse for my new birthday journal. I write this on the first page: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.” I chose this verse because of all the ways I have […]
“You Told Me Once, and I Took Note.”
This morning, a friend delivers a little birthday gift to me relating to the small details. She remembered the particular kind of coffee I love, the fun kind of socks I wear, the bright nail polish I put on my toes, and even the kind of pen I love to use best of all when […]