“What a delicious thing writing is. . .”
I ease a dusty Madame Bovary off of the bookshelf. I love this novel and decide to read it again. In the Foreword, I read how Gustave Flaubert felt about the act of writing. He writes in a letter, “What a delicious thing writing is–not to be you any more but to move through the […]
A Checklist for Writing
I love checklists. I even love them for my writing. Here’s a nice one I’m giving my students tomorrow. I want every sentence to shimmer. 1. Did I eliminate “to be” (am, is, are, was, were, has, have, seems, appears, exists, etc.) verbs and spice my writing with vivid verbs that create a mood? 2. […]
Well, You Have to Ask
Twice today, someone advises me to “ask God for wisdom.” By quoting James 1:5 (“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you), these folks implore me to simply ask and receive. God gives wisdom generously. God gives wisdom […]
Lounge About
I enjoy watching Jack lounge. It’s a hard life for a cat with one eye. He needs to lounge indeed. He finds the coziest spot and settles. He stretches out. He knows he’ll be fed in an hour. He’ll have fresh water and plenty of attention. Without a care, he can lounge. Perhaps we all […]
My Friend’s Awesome Family Night Strategy: Inhabiting Another Person’s Joy
My friend recently suggested a new way to enact “Friday Family Night.” (Thanks, Stephanie!) In her family, a different family member is totally in charge of family night each week. This person plans dinner, an outing, or whatever she wants for the night within whatever budget the family decides. Even the youngest member plans within […]
15 Questions to Avoid Burnout
This week, I lead a seminar on “burnout” for instructors. Ironically, I’d been feeling disengaged, exhausted, bored, and unmotivated myself. Sometimes, I have weeks when teaching and writing seem to have lost all meaning. I’m burned out. I decided to work through the same questions I ask graduate students and instructors this week, and by […]
I Hear Things Melting
All morning at my desk, I hear the drip, drip, dripping of melting snow and ice. We’re thawing, folks. Water trickles down the gutters and flows into great puddles. It’s a beautiful sound. I love to hear the work of thawing. Those icicles and snow banks stand no chance against this bright March sun. I […]
Goodnight Toes: A Tuck In Blessing
My daughters are too old for the “tuck in blessing” I performed when they were toddlers. Back then, they loved how I put each and every body part to sleep and then blessed it. I’d ask God to take those little feet to extraordinary places. I invoked a blessing over the knees so God might […]
Just Bring Flowers
With school canceled due to an impending snow storm, we stay warm inside and have a quiet day. It’s dreary. But then I observe my favorite flower–the Stargazer Lily– and my new favorite, Orange Ranunculus, in the bouquet a dear friend purchased for me last night. A bouquet of fresh cut flowers represents undeserved luxury […]
“Even if it’s the end, it’s just the beginning.”
Today my husband reminds me that when something ends, it’s really just the beginning. He’s talking about the hope of the gospel in the face of death. He’s even talking about the metaphorical deaths of dreams or careers or relationships. Endings are beginnings with Jesus. —————-Is something coming to an end for you?