The rain has ceased, and the green plants look aglow in the dim light. In the midst of springtime, a mystery is drifting down, settling around us, like mist. It is whispering the “magic deeper still” Aslan spoke of in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe . . . the magic that began before […]
Tag Archives: Christianity
Selah: a pause during which to reflect I experienced Selah last Thursday—both the definition above and the two-year-old girl version. My lifelong friend was moving, so I had the privilege of watching her wispy-curled, rosebud-mouthed, Shirley Temple look-a-like, Selah! Keeping a two-year-old put my normal productivity on pause. We played with the nesting doll and […]
I tried to memorize him before he left and again when he returned. After a weekend of zooming down country roads on a rented motorcycle, John came home refreshed. We sat in the white rocking chairs on the back patio, and he told me stories about his trip . . . one fairly close call, […]
A group of us gathered, having spent more than a decade apart, to pray for our friend. Almost strangers, because of the stretch of years, we sat on her living room rug and began to pray. I was scared—scared of the shock of sadness from seeing my friend so frail, wearing a wig. Scared of […]
The last day of February is here, full of buds and birdsong. Before I plunge into the beauty of spring, I want to remember, with a grateful heart, the blessings of January and February. My littlest boy, who prayed for snow, running in the falling flakes and thanking God! The margin of January, waiting to […]
My sister, Amy, is a cosmetologist. She once had a boss at a barber shop who daily criticized the women who worked there. “You should wear more make-up,” he’d tell one. “You really need to dye your hair,” he’d tell another. Venting, one of Amy’s coworkers said, “He thinks his opinion is fact!” With that […]
I have been re-reading an uplifting little book called Simple Pleasures. Today, I experienced one of my own. After a day of focused homeschooling that lasted until 4, the piano beckoned me. How rarely I give in to life’s supreme pleasures! I let myself get distracted by errands, chores, screens, fatigue. A few months ago, […]
The last time I was truly, blissfully happy was when I was writing a letter. It made me feel like Fay Wade, the dear elderly woman who mentored me in my faith when I was in middle school. She wrote me encouragements inside cards with old-fashioned florals on the front. Her penmanship complemented the cards. […]
The first time I heard “Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton, when I was just a girl, it struck me so deeply I began to cry. I ran downstairs, with urgency, to tell my mother how much I loved her. Do you remember that song? Dolly’s family was poor, so someone dropped off a […]
The hummingbirds have flown south, but their work here is done. This is home. We’ve been eating and sleeping, crying and dancing in this 1920’s cottage for only a year and five months, but it has already started to feel like my second body. There is a hint of a threat that my family, too, […]
A Children's Book World 