I’ll admit I wondered. Can it be Christmas if there is no bread pudding? Will we feel the awesome joy & delight & anticipation if we have few decorations and no family and neighbor-friends. If we don’t attend a Christmas Eve candlelight service? If I have no piano? Without parties and shopping and glowing fireplace, [...]
* In the interest of full disclosure, most of this post is me reflecting what I gleaned this weekend from the fantastic speakers. The last portion, in particular, is credited to Josh Harris’ talk, “Forgiven to Forgive” available for download soon. (get ready…this might feel like a sermon…) In a quiet hotel room in Reston, [...]
We’re on the road, destined for rest by the sea, and we’ve looked forward to this for so long. In seven hours more (at 2:10 AM, according to our friend GPS) we’ll arrive at a quiet beach spot and one week of splendidly simple choices like: Flip-flops or bare feet? Pool or ocean? Turkey or [...]
Little Samuel points to the “boo boo” on his forearm, scrunches up his face and says: It stings, Mom. Feel it. I don’t understand as he presses his wound against my forearm, holds it there. His eyes fix upward on mine, searching: “Can you feel that sting, Mom?” Oh. I realize. He believes he can [...]
My favorites are 6-year-old skirts from TJ Maxx, one of which has a gaping hole in the top layer, soft t-shirts, and a dress from Old Navy whose elastic is stretched to the point of irrelevance. I’d wear them every day if I could get away with it. (I nearly do.) The idea is to [...]
Masterpiece is incredibly close to my heart. I was once a very lonely teenager, despite being in the middle of a large and loving family. Although I didn't yet identify myself as being an "artist," I didn't identify with other established groups at school, either. I didn't play a sport and was pretty shy–didn't volunteer [...]
Yesterday I shared a brand-spanking new song with our church body, Christ Our Hope. It's called "Everything Moves But You"–I had written about the elusive quality of our dreams and all the things we want more of. Later in the afternoon, I drove to Durham and had the extreme pleasure of making music with Wade [...]
It can be found in wide open spaces. And cherry-pink blossoms. Steepled logs… Spontaneous motion… You can wash your hands in it. And whisper-share it. Find reminders. Carry it home.
Maybe your list is shorter. The things you have to constantly retrain your mind to believe. My friend Vaneetha once said to me that we need to stop listening to ourselves and start talking to ourselves, which was revolutionary to me and linked arms with two other ideas I’d recently heard: I can change the way [...]
“All things are possible for those who believe [in Him].” Mark 9:23 Were you encouraged to imagine the possibilities? Did they hold a mirror to the brilliance of God in you, take you to the window and project onto the night sky the potential impact your particular Creator-infused you-ness would have on this world? [...]
