Life is like blackberry bushes in the summer. There is an abundance of delectable fruit to be picked off the vine but you have to get past the thorns first. The berries are indeed worth the thorns, but just watch out for them. Life is like putting fertilizer in the garden. We regularly get crap …
Tonight as I was getting ready for bed, I was thinking about what it is like to step out in faith, to prepare your heart, your life, for something that you hope will happen but don’t know for sure if it will. It is like that moment when a trapeez artist lets go of their …
This is one of those posts where I share an experience and ask the questions without really giving much in the way of answers. I was at church tonight, (imagine youngish adults sitting in a large circle), when we were discussing Matthew 18 and forgiveness. I was intrigued, Jordan had pointed out how the parable …
Life is a lot like sand art. You think life is going to be one image and with a turn of God’s hand, he transforms it into something quite different. Same sand, same hands, new picture. It keeps on changing from one wonder to another. We don’t always understand what God is transforming life into, …
I had an interesting question asked of me tonight. A friend observed that the Quakers have invested a great deal in me with all I have been involved with among them. (THANK YOU!!!) Having only been in the Quaker church for three years, my friend wanted to know if I was committed to them, if …
Deanna asked me how I would be spending my Friday night if she wasn’t down here visiting. I told her I would probably be home working on my computer or taking photos of the My Fair Lady cast hanging out in their dressing room. She said she would be napping/defuzzing her afghan. “No wonder we’re …
The Oregon State Fair is currently in full swing here in Salem. It is one of those events I remember going to as long as I’ve been alive. Though they try to bring in new things to see and do every year, I love some of the standbys. You can still find scones in the …
I wrote the following as a report on the Wholeness and Diversity Conference I attended last March. Enjoy! Being born and raised in the Northwest, I haven’t been exposed to a great deal of diversity in my life. Living an hour away from the Pacific Ocean, this area has only been settled by the white …
As I walked around the Oregon State Fair today, I was reminded of a phrase I learned from William P. Young, author of The Shack. “It’s an observation, not a value statement.” What that means is when I say something, I am merely stating something I sense or see, it is not about your value …
After finishing at the fair, neither Randy nor I felt like spending our evenings at home by ourselves so we decided to go somewhere. But where? It had been a warm afternoon at the fair so a place with water became a requirement. I wanted to go to a mountain lake but we didn’t have …
