It’s the Doing It That’s Hard
It’s the doing it that’s hard. Not the dreaming it — that comes easy. It’s the stepping up, picking up pen, shutting down facebook or the streaming movie, and setting aside the laundry expectations. Picking up pen or pulling close the keyboard, I type keystrokes, then words. Sentences follow, haltingly. Twilight falls, blushing in the…
Running in My Head Like a Memory
I have these verses that run through my mind. You probably have them too. They are the verses that I grab when my thoughts start to stray, or when sin habits rear up strong. They are the verses I whisper to myself while plunging hands into soapy dishwater, staring out the window. The verses I…
Need to See God? (He’s at a band concert)
“Hey, can anyone be me tomorrow night?” Her husband recovering from a kidney transplant and in the throes of frequent doctor visits, my friend flashed an email through space. She needed someone to attend a band concert with two of her children and to video-record the music. “While I can’t be you, I would be…
Helping Teens See Themselves (and Perhaps Helping You and Me too?)
I see it in their eyes sometimes.The quiet uncertainty that ripples out from quick side glances and downward gazes, to the way they walk and hold themselves some days. “Do you see me?” “Am I visible, beautiful, interesting?” This inner longing to be known, to be seen, to be captivating –we all wrestle with it,…
Camp David and a Danish
In an espresso-steaming coffee shop, all the tables are crowded. There are no vacancies except at the tall table in the corner. Three of us stagger ourselves respectfully amidst five close-proximity chairs, wielding our bags and books into puzzle-like-precision placements. A cheese danish tantalizes me from a wrapped paper bag, while Komodo Dragon coffee and…
Who Doesn’t Want More Joy and Energy?
In a flurry of pastel crepe paper, the pinata shattered and candy rained down on the four children. From the sidelines, we watched as they eagerly reached in to pick up glittering wrapped chocolates. New to pinatas, my four year old happily snatched an M&M’s packet and then came to me to open it. “Hey,…
Growing Daughters in Twilight
“Mom,” she laughs, as I slouch in the chair, gripping my burning throat. “Ouuuuuch!” I squeal and slink lower in my chair, waiting for the scalding tea to finish its course through my esophagus. “You look like a teen ager like that,” she grins, shaking her head at me, compassion lining her face also.…
Easter Thunders at Skeleton Head
Thunder breaks without warning at 4 am last night, like two semi trucks crashing and tumbling on the street outside our window. Startled awake, I lie in the dark and revel in the milder rumbles and lightning that follow. I wonder if this is what the earthquake sounded like to the startled Romans and Jews…
Underneath the Mom Hat… It Stirs
The sun sinks behind the bustling farm supply store to my right, and pink twilight stains treetops outside my deck window. A moment more and the pink is gone, with navy clouds tangling in the trees. Kenny G’s sax trills, and quiet settles over my home. Four-year old sleeps, my teens have disappeared downstairs, and…
People-Watching in Ancient Israel (And Seeing Myself)
Photographer Itamar Grinberg, Courtesy of Israel Tourism Photographer Dana Friedlander, Courtesy of Israel Tourism On a sleepy snowy morning this week, I cuddled under my covers for the last ten minutes of sleep. My husband had just slipped off to work, and my teens showered and dressed on their own. Cracking open the bedroom door,…