Do you remember changing for gym with other girls in elementary school? Does a residue of trauma cling to you like it does me? I have a confession to make: I am used to hiding my body. Imperfection lurks beneath my clothes. My curves are not entirely symmetrical; my skin […]

What do you do when the world crashes down, horribly and unfairly, around you? Ginny Owens asks this question in her book Singing in the Dark. She notes: Instead of giving our pain over to God, we shut out the noise of what is wrong and broken. We turn to […]

I always feel a little lost at Christmas. “Christmas!” You say, “The kids just went back to school! Mothers everywhere are weeping over their empty nests [me included]… Why are you bringing up Christmas?” Well, I’m thinking ahead. Did you know that Advent begins in November? That’s only two months […]

A few days ago I went to a farm store for carrots and there were so many tulip bouquets at the checkout a rustic interior now seemed bohemian. What is the appropriate response to a cashier who ends your transaction with the words, “Happy Mother’s Day!”? I am a mother […]

I’m not a poetry person, but every now and then I bump into a poem that I understand (rare) and love (even rarer). Here’s one I came across a few days ago – I hope you like it as much as I do!   The spoken word Has always been sanctified […]

Breaking from my usual end-of-the-week posting pattern, I thought I’d share with you, today, memories of a personal Valentine’s Day disaster and lessons learned from said disaster. We’d been married less than a year and ranting, for days, about the perils of unfettered capitalism in general and, more specifically, the […]

What is the thing you are most afraid of? Do you mentally spin endless versions of a scary future – slow, sad reels about a world not quite right, or maybe horribly wrong? Where are you in these projections? Off to the side, crying? Alone? Unloved? Hurt? If you were […]

Years ago I thought giving security items to my new baby was a bad idea. They offered only temporary comfort, and eventually that teddy bear or pacifier would have to be pried from the reluctant clasp of my little girl, who’d grown too old for such things. One year, on […]

Sadness at Christmas. It’s something we all struggle with. Lost loved ones. Less than perfect holiday plans. I think twinkling lights and beautiful carols lift our hearts, but they sometimes also stir bittersweet feelings in us. A few years back, I was captivated by a few paragraphs in a book […]

Omicron. Anti-vaxxers. Masks. Distanced visits. Empty workplaces. Closed businesses. Banned travel. Cancelled church services. Unethical clothing industry. Harmful pesticides. Pipelines. Colony collapse disorder. I could go on. Unrest. Anxiety. Fear. Sadness. Do you have your own list of words? Triggers? Fears? Do they sometimes shout louder than hope? They do […]