Gardening is therapeutic for me. After spending much of my day writing and preparing to teach a Bible study, I enjoy the physical exertion of battling the weeds in my yard. Having lived in a large city for most of my life, I confess I labeled anything I didn’t plant...
The leaders from our Bible study shared prayer requests for the summer. We see each other twice weekly from September through May, so as I pray for these precious ladies it helps me to feel close to them during our off time. One prayer request has brought deep...
Last week I posted an update on my one word for 2016: joy. This week, in the interest of complete transparency, I’m posting an epic fail on the same subject. It happened during a recent trip to Cincinnati to attend a conference, trade show, and board meeting. I left...
I recently attended a high school graduation ceremony of a friend’s son. In his commencement address, the pastor told the following joke: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson decide to go on a camping trip. After dinner and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and...
I recently returned from a writers’ conference in Estes Park, Colorado, nestled in the majestic Rocky Mountains. When we checked in, our guest packages included a flyer titled, “Be Bear Aware.” The flyer is standard issue to all guests because apparently some folks...
Anguish. Darkness. Despair. Desperation. Hopelessness. Suicide. Suicide has been called a permanent solution to temporary problems. And it’s a permanent solution that’s increasing in almost every age group in our nation. According to data recently released by the...
Today is my cousin’s birthday. When we were kids, I enjoyed boasting about how I was older than her…by eight days. Year after year I reminded her of this glorious truth. Until one day, her mother reminded both of us my joy would be short-lived. There would come a...
Each year on April 13, I stop to ask the same question. I look back on the past twelve months, look forward to the coming year, and ask myself: “Does my life reflect what I claim to be living for?” It’s a question I do not answer casually. Our time on earth is...
I recently attended a Celebration of Life service for a friend’s adult daughter. It was a beautiful service, with a touching time of fellowship afterward. Even as we celebrated her life, the pain was palpable—agony beyond the pain of the loss of a child, as great as...
2015 was the first year I chose to adopt One Word for the year. I wrote about selecting my word—release—in a blog post last January with an update in August. Release was not a word I chose eagerly. As a Type A personality, releasing anything does not come naturally....
Are You Feeling Pressured? Is anyone besides me a bit tired of hearing how pressure turns coal into diamonds?...
Ask and You Will Receive . . . Wisdom! Wisdom seems to be in short supply these days, whether among political...
How Do You Handle Interruptions? Interruptions used to be the exception. Or at least, that’s the way it seemed....