If It’s There
Today I cut up all the vegetables and begin making those after school snack platters. They do, in fact, eat what I put out.If it’s there, they eat it. I promise. Just put all the veggies out, and they will eat. Remember to include some novelties like pickles and artichoke hearts. I also know this: […]
Because I Want to Remember the Omelet He Made Me
A million tiny moments make up a marriage. Today we both worked mostly from home, and by 2:00 PM had neglected to eat lunch. “I will make us omelets!” he declares. Later, he calls me to the kitchen table where I find an omelet bursting with sautéed onion, bacon, cheese, salsa–everything my heart would want […]
Change the Subject
When somebody starts gossiping, change the subject.When somebody starts in with all the negativity, change the subject.When somebody starts speaking offensively or crudely, change the subject. But how? Just ask, “May I change the subject?” Don’t explain yourself. Don’t apologize. Just ask, and see what happens.
The Family Prayer Journal and Stones of Remembrance
I’ve always been fascinated and inspired by the account in Joshua 4 when Joshua tells the twelve Israelites–one from each tribe–to take a stone from the Jordan riverbed to build a memorial to God. We read this: “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?” then you shall […]
5 Minute Dinners
I once calculated that I’ll have made over 7,000 dinners by the time the first one leaves for college. Dinner is a big deal around here. The Italian Mama and I talked about how, with shopping, cooking, and then cleaning up, dinner is a three hour time commitment on most days. I want to move […]
Hidden Within the Pines
My daughter bikes around the neighborhood while I walk far behind. I’m looking for new bird nests. Together, we’ve found old ones from last year in the lilac and the low bushes. Every evening, we go in search of nests. She bikes; I walk. When I was a girl, I searched for bird nests all […]
I’m Held
My eyes land on Daniel 5:23 where Daniel describes the Lord as the “God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” How comforting to know this: God holds my life and all my ways in His hand. I’m settled here forever. I remember the words of Jesus in John 10:28 about […]
Ask for Hope
Sometimes I forget to ask God for hope. I can’t produce hope on my own. It’s supernatural. I ask, and God answers. It never originates within me. I offer weariness and despair, and God transforms these to hope. The prophets had to call hope to their minds. They had to replace the spirit of heaviness […]
Using All Your Old CDs as Mosaic Art
I’m about to discard hundreds of old CDs, but then I decide to see what folks do with all of them. I’ve found “Shattered Art,” for example, that makes me smile for so many reasons. Check out this list of amazing projects from your old CDs and DVDs. I would like to try the bird […]
Out of Your Mind
For those of us who overthink everything, who ruminate, who infuse everything with meaning–even toenails or pencils or acorns–and who insist on diagnosing and fully understanding our rapidly shifting internal states, I suggest getting out of the mind. Sort your sock drawer and do not make it an allegory about marriage. Weed the vegetable garden […]