Instead of Shopping
I know it sounds strange, but one of my favorite activities since moving to Pennsylvania involves walking the woods in search of shed deer antlers. The deer in our woods shed their antlers right around this time, so it’s fun to hunt for them. Shed Deer Antler They blend right into the forest floor–like some […]
An Ode to the Gentle Semicolon
I’m sitting in my office at this very moment to print out a grammar exam for my students. I normally just check for grammatical understanding within their papers, but this semester, I decided to formally assess and reward in an exam format. Lucky them. Different sections carry different weights. Writing a sentence with a semicolon, […]
The Thistle Self
I’m standing before a bowl of artichokes. I have no idea what to do with them. Forget it! This is too much work. I remember that an artichoke, as a kind of thistle, repels everything in nature. No one comes near a thistle; it’s too dangerous and painful. But there’s a great, soft heart […]
What You Really Want
I’m vacuuming. I’m in the worst mood as I think about the day ahead (laundry, dishes, cleaning), so I beg God to send me relief from all this work. Just then, the power goes out in our neighborhood. I throw myself onto the bed. “Oh, great! I can’t even vacuum now because the power went […]
No, You Go First
Early this morning, I’m driving to campus for a meeting. I’m half awake, and the day hardly shimmers with beauty in the drizzle. I come to a four-way stop sign at the exact same time another car reaches it. The driver, an older man, points to me and waves. “You go first!” he mouths and […]
Bravery and Kindness: What it Takes to Be Together
I’m asking the children in my neighborhood what role they play and have played in building our neighborhood community. I’m also interviewing them about what makes it hard to form communities. I realize that every single member matters–even the toddlers–when it comes to creating a neighborhood. These little ones have wisdom I can glean. […]
Little Cabin in the Woods
Solitude and silence both require faith. You sit down for the day in a cozy little cabin by a big mountain, and you have to believe certain things: You must have faith that stillness constitutes its own form of productivity. You must have faith that the real you–and all her honest and unspoken thoughts–won’t terrify […]
Better, Greater, or Otherwise Different
Today, is a special day. It’s going to better than, greater than, or otherwise different from all the others. That’s what special means: better, greater, or otherwise different. When life catches up to me in a collision of stress, uncertainty, or exhaustion, I truly need a special day to recharge. Do you? Otherwise different for […]
“Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” Oswald Chambers
This morning I remember Oswald Chamber’s quote that “prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.” I think of all the ways God draws people into prayer. It’s not only beauty and celebration, but also confusion and suffering. What if everything I experience functions as God’s bait to reel […]
When I Searched for Just One Beautiful Thing
We leave the house to walk and search for something beautiful. “Tell me when you see it,” I say, camera in hand. My oldest says it’s good I have her along; children see better, hear better, and feel better than adults. “It’s because we are closer to things. We are shorter and smaller and listen […]