The Gift Always Coming
This morning, I read Henri Nouwen’s thoughts on prayer in his book Turn My Mourning Into Dancing. A few of my English professor friends are reading this book together. I read this with joy: “When we pray we admit that we don’t know what God is going to do, but remember that we will never […]
The Golden Autumn
I wait all year for the blue sky, the golden leaves, and the perfect autumn weather to crunch in the falling leaves.
Acceptance
I’m learning to accept reality and not push against what I cannot change. It’s liberating. For example, I deeply value efficiency. But when you have a kidney stone and a stent in place, it’s not going to be a quick process. There’s surgery to remove the stone and then, a week or so later, another […]
I Can’t Do Anything Today
The Italian Mama tells me this lesson that it took her 10 years to learn: “Don’t push yourself. You need to rest to recover. It’s a hard lesson to learn.” Recover! Rest! Don’t push! After this past surgery and while I await the next one to remove this enormous kidney stone, I’m on this couch. […]
My Writing Day Turned Into a Night and Day at the Hospital
My plans for a beautiful writing day ended at 1:00 AM when an 8 mm kidney stone announced itself. What followed? Pain! Pain till the ER gave me relief. Then a scan, then surgery to place a stent. Now, I wait to make sure there’s no infection, and then another surgery. The day is almost […]
How to Plan a Writing Day
When a writing deadline approaches, you might want to think about planning writing days. I tell students to plan a writing day like it’s an event. You need everything you would need at any other event including a chosen location and special food and music. When you’re at your scheduled event, you do the thing you’re […]
Learning New Things About Writing
As you know, I love grammar. After teaching writing for 25 years, you’d think I would know everything about writing. You’d think I’d become bored. Well, I don’t. And I love that I don’t. There’s always more to learn about the craft of good writing. It makes writing and teaching writing continually exciting. This year, […]
Doing Nice Things for Strangers
It feels good to do nice things for strangers. Try it! Think about intentional kindness to strangers as a way to live with flair. If the day feels boring or purposeless to you, you can set your mind to find strangers to bless. I love the challenge of it. I love imagining what I’ll do. […]
God Acts on What He Hears
I’m reading The Listening Life by Adam McHugh. In one chapter, McHugh talks about God as always listening and acting on what He hears. God doesn’t listen and ignore. God doesn’t listen and forget. God listens and acts. He’s already responding right now to what you’ve asked in prayer. Consider Psalm 37:5: Commit your way […]
Far Too Small
Yesterday, I read the lyrics to “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (written by Isaac Watts in 1707). This verse captured my heart: Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Think of it: If you had […]