Beating Burn-Out and Burning Long
It floods and crashes, this wall of raindrops thundering and crescendo-ing around us. This is the second sheet of water this afternoon, long roaring showers that drift in my open windows, batter the leaves, and rush in tiny tsunamis down the side of the road. Photo: DeShaun Craddock, Creative Commons, cc license Water soaks into…
Creating a Home in Life’s Chaos
Standing in line on a Minneapolis street in 2006, we started crying. Wiping tears off our cheeks, we laughed self-consciously. “It doesn’t feel right to be here without Mom, Dad and Jeremy, huh?” I said. My sister nodded. Photo: Carolyn Pinke Fifteen years earlier in war-torn West Africa, our family of five lived in a…
Korean Octopus, and You, and Me
“Whoa, octopus! Let’s get some.” He’s peering in past a frosted glass window to a ten-inch package of purple tentacled octopus legs coiled tightly, their suction cups pointed out at us. In an international Asian grocery store with green tea popsicles and dried mango slices, I love that seven year old Daniel is brave and…
The Call on Line Two
It started last Monday night, but I didn’t have the courage to say anything until Tuesday. Well, Wednesday, honestly, if you count non-husband people. Because I whispered it to him Tuesday morning, the shy awkward news about an embarrassing uncomfortable pain. Photo: Flavia, Flickr user And you don’t want to know. Just nod and murmur…
On their First Days Back to School
Photo: cx33000, Flickr user, Creative Commons cc license An imperceptible noise wakes me and I turn. Red digital numbers gleam 6:44 am and I am grateful, Thanks for waking me up, God. I slip quietly out of bed, wanting to hug and pray for John on his first day back to school. Yellow kitchen light…
My Embarrassed Confession as a Neighbor
We’ve moved twice in three years, which is not normal for us. In both homes, we set down roots, spread our plants and dreams across the yards, and planted fruit bushes that require longevity. In our last house, a square two-story yellow home fronted by purple maples, four pine trees in a row, and…
When Conflicts Creep in Between Christians…
I love that he accounted for conflict. Photo: Ed Yourdon, Creative Commons, cc license My french press Mahogany beans coffee was chilling in the fridge, and the sweetened condensed milk can’s metal edges were already cool. I was heading out the door in thirty minutes for a women and kids weekly Park Play-date. I needed…
How To Hold Summer Long
“Have you checked yours yet, Mom?” he asks from downstairs, laughing as I am struck temporarily deaf by the dishwasher’s hums below me and do not reply. “Oh! I thought you were talking to Dad,” I bumble and grin. “Yes, I walk out each morning and eat the reddest tomatoes!” I exclaim. “I’ll have more…
The Stranger at McDonald’s
Red and blue tube slides curved around the ceiling like sinuous snakes, and clubbed green helicopter blades whirled overhead. Kids scrambled up slippery slides, crawled through plastic tunnels, and emerged grinning on the floor, hair standing tall with static electricity. Two brown-eyed children with curly black hair stepped apprehensively closer to the indoor playset, their…
A Verse that Can Carve New Meaning into You and Me
It was like tearing up a Rembrandt. Okay, not a Rembrandt, but still. Painted by Rembrandt van Rijn, photographed by flikr user freeparking, Creative Commons, cc license With several flicking hand waves, her eraser eradicated half her drawing. The intricately-sketched figure of a woman was now gone. “It’s all right, Mom,” she laughed. “I can…