Carrots are the New Roses
It's Valentine's Day, and I'm sharing a story of friendship. Really, though, I'm telling you that carrots are the new roses, and I want to give 250 South African orphans and vulnerable children a garden. A garden! Of course, I can't do it on my own. But Valentine's Day is just the day for acknowledging that I am not alone, and you are not...
Days of Broken Glass
Last week, I wrote a few words in praise of The Slow Life. And you responded. So many of you said you live in just the same way. Or try to. Or want to. And I was pleased. Maybe even a little smug in my self-satisfaction. And then ice blew in on the wind, and I learned something: my vision of the good, slow life is highly dependent on hot...
The Slow Life
I worry a great deal about the shape of my days. This worry is a symptom of privilege. It means I have choices. For the most part, my days are not ruled by desperate necessity. Instead, each one of my days unrolls like a red carpet. It is a carpet woven with hundreds of tiny choices. First, what should I feed the baby for breakfast? Next,...
So Close to Home
I grew up without winter. For the most part, at least. Winters in central Texas were brown and chilly, but you never knew when it might hit eighty degrees. In December, we never bothered to ask for a white Christmas. Instead, I would secretly pray that it wouldn’t be so warm we’d need the air conditioner. Even at eight years old, I found air...
Returning to God in Winter (Or, Why it Hurts to Rest)
In late December, the seed and nursery catalogs began arriving. I dove in. When I came up for air, I tried to remind myself I was planning a vegetable plot, not an eight-hundred square foot formal rose garden. It is easy to get a little lost in a pile of seed catalogs. These are the days for rest, both for you and your garden. Unless you live...
These Farmhouse Bookshelves (Kitchen Edition)
Last weekend, on facebook, I promised you a peek at the bookshelves in my kitchen. That's right, I said, BOOKSHELVES IN MY KITCHEN. Yes, I have all-caps feelings about the bookshelves in my kitchen. I don't care all that much about granite countertops or stainlesss steel appliances, but I love having a built-in bookcase for my cookbooks. Here...