A few weeks before Advent began I saw an email from Jan Richardson about an online retreat she would be hosting during the four weeks leading up to Christmas. I considered it but decided to wait a little longer to make my decision. Then, a couple days later, a friend sent me a message asking … More Wandering in the Wilderness
Last week Christianne of Bookwifery hosted an Instagram challenge related to visibility and vulnerability. You can see the many posts by using this hashtag: #bookwiferyvisibilitychallenge. She hosted this challenge because of her own work on becoming more visible about the work she does in helping people discern whether they are ready to write a book, … More Visibility and Vulnerability
I knew it was around the time — maybe a few days before. I couldn’t remember the exact date that I was standing in Joann’s and received the call from my doctor. I’ve been waiting for those early blog posts to pop up in my Facebook memories. It will still be a few more days. … More Two Years Later
I remember sitting in the airport. I had already met a few people but more were beginning to gather. I made a conscious effort to pay attention to those moments. I remember thinking: I don’t know any of these people. Their faces are unfamiliar and those voices aren’t recognizable. But someday soon, I’ll know them … More Being an Observer of My Life
Writing is such an interesting process. Sometimes an event or experience brings me a particular insight that I want to write down. Sometimes I know right away what I want to write. Other times it has to marinate for a few days or even weeks before I’m ready to write. Often I’ll “write” in my … More They Don’t All Make It
Sometime after we bought our house four years ago – I can’t remember if it was in the fall or spring – I went to a friend’s house to get some hostas and lilies. She had an abundance of plants. So much so that after I dug out what I wanted, you couldn’t tell a … More It’s Hard to Let Go
Prior to arriving in Michigan for vacation last week, our just turned 3-year-old niece Ivy kept asking, “Are we at Michigan?” It is hard to explain the concept of “State” to little ones. Our oldest niece, Rosemary, who is almost 6, has an affinity for maps, so when we’re headed somewhere I tell her to … More Michigan is Over
I can hardly believe what happened today. I didn’t sleep well the past two nights. I was on vacation for the last week. Although I still went out for runs, I was eating differently, sleeping in a strange bed and overall just not in my normal routine. I usually have a big pasta dinner the … More I Did It Again
I saw a post from a Facebook friend the other day highlighting a new documentary coming out soon called Gray is the New Blonde. In the post she encourages women to stop dying their hair and embrace the natural beauty of the various shades of gray that we have been taught to cover up. Several … More Gray Hair Don’t Care (Oh wait…)
This is a blog I wrote, along with my colleagues, about our three pilgrimages this summer. In all of our Lake Institute on Faith & Giving courses, we refer to The Paradox of Generosity and in particular this quote from Christian Smith: “Generosity is the virtue of giving good things to others freely and abundantly. … More The Summer of Pilgrimage
