But what does waiting well really mean? When I stop to think about it, it can’t mean stuffing your desires and needs so that they don’t ‘bother’ you much. Waiting, surely, is meant to be disruptive.
My Beloved Charter (Day 34: Hand)
Last fall, I participated in a women's retreat at which Judy Nelson Lewis was the speaker. She led us through an exercise in writing a Beloved Charter -- a handful of sentences, adapted from Scripture, that remind you of your own belovedness in God's eyes. Since that time, I have read that charter over myself …
Day 33: Mailbox
There are many things that come into focus as the dust of our overly busy culture settles in the midst of quarantining and “social distancing” -- one of those is that human beings are created to celebrate.
Day 32: Pen
The family happened to be all occupied. With what, I’m not sure, but it was calm and I decided to try slipping onto the porch without being missed. I grabbed a few quick supplies: drink, phone (always), book, and pencil and headed out to the swing camp chair. The pencil -- I’m pretty sure my …
Day 31: Dust
The whirring of the sound machine beckons me into my girls’ room. Their beds have already been abandoned, in favor of climbing up next to my husband or I as we sip coffee and read or journal. “It’s bright, Momma,” is Irene’s way of announcing a new day has begun and she is ready to …
Day 29: Dinner
“I don’t like that,” she said as her eyes graze over the food, then turned straight back around to march out of the room. “I don’t need a treat,” she adds from her bedroom. My husband and I exchange looks of unsurprised displeasure tinged with resignation. Despite meals being the way we keep time during …
Day 27: TV
:: an ambivalent haiku:: Oh, television My hero, my nemesis God’s gift to steward
Day 26: Walk
I change out of pajamas and into “workout clothes,” grab my hat since the sun already sits high in the sky, and check with Aubrey to see if it’s alright if I go for a quick walk. I slip on my tennishoes, grab my phone and earbuds, and step quickly out the door. I select …
Day 24: Lotion
When we lived in Asia, we would head south to Thailand around Lunar New Year. Where we were, everything shuts down and it is cold and dreary so it was a perfect opportunity to let our souls thaw out with friends, food, and SUN! We would often be gone for at least three weeks, with …
Day 23: Band-aid
Typical of little people, my children have both believed in the power of a Band-aid. Not just for broken skin, band-aids are requested for all kinds of boo-boos. Bug bites, scratches, or burns, and bruises, soreness, or bumps -- the act of adding a bandage has magical powers to soothe. It’s not just band-aids either, …
hope for the sojourn 