Where to Find Real Rest
I sat in my hairdresser’s chair this morning feeling too worn out for small talk. Summer days at home with four children will do that. She asked about my trip to Tuscany: “Did you bring home ideas for your writing?” “No,” I said. “Well, maybe,” I added. * What did I bring home from this spiritual retreat for writers? Two bottles of...
A Summer Manifesto
I wanted to write something about these long, summer days: how they are suddenly upon us, how they leave me laughing but also desperately trying to catch my breath. Then I did a little digging in my blog archives and realized I'd already written the post I was imagining. No need to reinvent the wheel, then. Summer is easy like that. In...
All Things New (A Springtime Giveaway)
Winter does not give up easily. Not this year, at least. For weeks now, winter has held on, as if digging icy claws deep into the frozen soil, deep into my heart, and deep into the whole wide world (yes, even in the southern hemisphere where warm winds blow but hearts still feel the chill of injustice or violence). When the thaw finally...
My Small Span of Ardent Life (A Guest Post)
Spring is for new life. I have twelve baby chickens and trays of green seedlings in my basement. I have a teetering stack of new books by my chair. One of those books is by Hilary Yancey. I've shared her beautiful words in this space before. She writes with rare wisdom and lyricism, and I look forward to digging into Forgiving God: A...
Here in the Valley of the Shadow of Death
On school “Career Day,” she sat at the back of the third-grade classroom. Her bright face was framed by two glittery barrettes. “What’s the funniest things you’ve ever written?” she asked. “The funniest?” I said. Quiet settled around us like a fog, filling up one second, then another. “To be honest, I tend to write about sad things....
A Winter Reset (and Giveaway)
Winter came early, settled in to stay, and shows no signs of an early leave-taking. By Friday, we will have counted forty days since Christmas. The strength of the sun has grown, but I do miss those cheerful days of twinkle-lights and candy canes. Still, I would not unwind time. Onward and upward. Spring beckons, though it is only a...
