What makes a picture a favorite? Sometimes it’s startling vibrancy of color. Sometimes it’s tender sentiment. Sometimes it’s the response it evokes, from laughter to sadness to awe. And sometimes it’s the story it tells. The picture I am using here is somebody in my extended family on a very proud day. At this time [...]
Some of you may have read a feature I had on the blog for about a year called Mama Says. (And if you haven’t, it’s all still there.) My mother has said many wise and hilarious things over the years. Recently while helping her move I came across a binder labeled “Things to Keep Forever. [...]
“Every cloud has a silver lining.” I am not fond of that expression. It’s a little trite, as if a small thing that goes right somehow trumps the big things that go wrong. Don’t get me wrong. I can think of plenty of situations in my life when I experienced unexpected blessing. But I think [...]
I’m visiting at my sister’s for a couple of weeks. It’s a thousand miles from where I live on more than one level. The agenda for the trip is to help with the complex task of settling my mother into a new living situation. Until now, she has lived independently or in her own home [...]
I like to tell stories and often do in this spot on my blog—filed under “Lens on Life.” Small moments, routine events, a few words of conversation from the everyday can lift us from the ordinary to a surpassing wonder about this beautiful thing we call life. By putting the lens on life, my life [...]
Recently an urgent, stressful family situation snatched me out of town abruptly and bumped me through several states. That trip backed right up against a planned business trip. I ended up being away from home for three straight weeks. Believe me, I was ready to go home. I was in a rental car following signs [...]
On the Monday after Easter, mothers wonder what they will do with all those dyed hardboiled eggs. Grandma, who gave the kids piles of chocolate, has gone home. And in many churches, pastors are relieved to have the extra work of Holy Week behind them and turn their attention to what their next sermon series [...]
This is not the post I planned to write when I sketched out blog ideas recently. I intended to write about my heart’s connection to Holy Week, which begins this Palm Sunday morning. I was going to invite you to take my hand and step into the drama of Christ’s sacrifice with me, our spirits [...]
Spring allergies are smacking me in the face right now. Hard. Relentless. Merciless. I would take a deep breath if it were physically possible. Sometimes the most mundane things can knock you off your feet, literally and figuratively. Cough, sneeze, blow, sigh. So I’ve pulled out medications that I don’t need over the winter, and [...]
This is a once-upon-a-time story. Once upon a time, I owned a VCR. The decision to spend the money to buy our first such machine was no small event. Everybody we knew had one already. We’re not what you call early adopters either temperamentally or financially. But we got one and enjoyed the marvels of [...]
