(I found this draft for a blog post of mine while I was cleaning out some files. Enjoy!) “Need help?” Responding to that little voice, I turn around and see Amy sitting in the snow, her blue snowsuit keeping her 2 ½ year old body warm, her skies splayed out to one side. She is calmly looking […]
A few weeks ago there was a needle that broke the camel’s back. I had been thinking I was becoming addicted to checking Facebook or looking to see if anyone had sent me a text message, but one final phone call induced me to leave my phone off and in my desk drawer. I have
Just Say No to the Phone Read More »
My grandmother is dying. Normally, something so personal to my family would not come up in my public writing but I feel the need to write about it today. This afternoon, I sat by my grandmother’s chair holding her hand. I didn’t understand a word she said midst her groans and I don’t even know
Nowhere Else to Be Read More »
I reacted without even thinking – jumping up and down, squealing with delight, amazed someone had gone out of their way to do something that generous for me, that they had really heard me and did something about it. It all started two days before at a dinner party where several friends and I were
Tonight on NPR, there was a show on people being isolated. I loved a quote from it, “When hearts don’t have a place to break, they become harder.” The man’s words brought to my mind a scene that happened last Tuesday at Playback. Dena had told a story about some of her kids not being
Tell Me Your Story Read More »
“How does this come out of you?” This question was put to me by a friend who had bought my latest book, In the Wild Places. After reading it, she then called me and asked if she could come by and buy my other three books to read. Of course I invited her over and
How Does This Come Out of You? Read More »
It was a pleasure to write the 2013 QUIP Report on our conference in April. We talked a great deal about our future as an organization and the current struggles in the publishing world. Thus, instead of writing a report outlining the conference, I talked about the themes, the heart of our words. I wrote
The 2013 QUIP Report – Connecting Our Legacy to the Future Read More »
Last Sunday evening, Amy and I took a train trip together. It was her first time on a train and I was eager to share my favorite way to travel and taking her to her Nana’s for a sleepover was the perfect opportunity. I was so proud of her, carrying her sleeping bag and ticket
Through the Heart of God Read More »
I love decorating ― artistically designing a space ― making it beautiful for the person living there. However, I hadn’t redone it in my own home for years. In early adulthood, I chose the theme of lighthouses to remind me of what is real beyond where the ocean kisses the shore. As the title of
Clearing the Clutter: Now What? Read More »
This last Sunday I visited a church for the first time and unbeknownst to me beforehand, they used one of my poems for the call to worship. The poem the pastor selected was one that was originally written about a friend but as I sat there and listened to it being read aloud in the
The Golden Helmet of Mambrino Read More »
