“Go Where Your Best Prayers Take You”–Frederick Buechner
I’m mulling over Buchner’s strange little quote: “Go where your best prayers take you.” I’m walking in the unusually warm and dark morning air, and I’m wondering what my “best prayers” are. What are my best prayers? What could possibly constitute the best prayer for our lives? All day, I’ve been thinking. And then this: Galatians 2:20: […]
A Symbol of Affection
Way back in 1998– years before marriage and children–I read about a mother who had the best relationship with her teenage daughters in a book called A Woman After God’s Own Heart, by Elizabeth George. The image in this story affected me so deeply that I carried it in my heart all these years and […]
Undecorating Again
This time last year, I wrote about how much I love undecorating the house after the holidays. The old post appears in my Facebook feed. I read it again as I’m sitting in my minivan beside the sledding hill. I’m grading the responses of students to the writing prompt: What is your dream career? It’s […]
I Never Think It Will Work
I operate in the default state of forthcoming disappointment whenever I approach the campus parking deck. I always assume my electronic transponder won’t work to raise the arm to let me into the deck. I have memories. I have memories of cars honking and attendants coming to manually save me because my transponder fails. So […]
They Are Not There
I find a new quote from Dwight L. Moody: “All the devil’s mountains are mountains of smoke; when you come up to them, they are not there.” I consider that mountainous obstacles vanish in light of God’s overcoming power.
Perpetual Miracle
I’m reading a sermon by Charles Spurgeon, delivered in 1856 at New Park Street Chapel in Southwark. The lines make me rejoice over divine mercy all over again. As I think about the guarding power of Christ’s righteousness and the simultaneous indwelling sin that still operates, I find myself amazed at what it means to be saved from […]
On Their Terms
My cat, Merlin, rarely interacts with me. But lately, he brings me this little mouse on a string for me to bounce around. He stays by my side, batting and pawing, and meowing with what seems like joy (who can tell with Merlin?) I love the interaction so much, and have so longed for this […]
Morning Pep Talk
I’ve told you before that some of my neighbors say I have the spiritual gift of “pep.” Pep refers to high energy, liveliness, and high spirits. It’s true: God did give me pep. My youngest daughter still invites me to walk her down the hill to middle school each day, and she loves my “Morning […]
Because Writing Helps
I love writing because it helps me make sense of my life. It stakes my experiences to the ground where I can examine them and turn them toward the best light. Writing brings what’s inside to the outside, and here, memories don’t strangle or mock. They stay imprisoned in sentences I control, now made small […]
Celebrating the First “F”
My daughters used to ask me all the time what I would do if they came home with an “F” on a test. They were terrified of failing a quiz or an exam. I began to say: “Well, I’d ask what you didn’t understand on the test, and then I’d celebrate that you’re not perfect.” […]