On Sunday during the Bible study I lead at church, we were talking about grace. First, we defined grace in our own words, and most of us came up with some version of “a gift from God we don’t deserve.” When I asked the group why people have a hard time receiving grace, we all agreed that generally people are suspicious of free gifts and would rather just know what they owed so they could pay back their debt. Read more
A few weeks ago when I wrote about boxes and my plan to experiment with the size and shape of my life and work in the new year, I had no idea that my husband would injure his knee playing basketball with the boys a few days after Christmas. I didn’t know that we would come home from an extremely relaxing anniversary trip … Read more
I’m starting to get excited for Christmas.
It might have something to do with the fact that our shopping is finished and our Christmas cards are addressed and sealed and the holiday to-do list has started to shrink instead of grow. Read more
ex·pec·ta·tion – noun \ ek-ˌspek-ˈtā-shən, ik- \ : a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen : a feeling or belief about how successful, good, etc., someone or something will be Last week, I flew to Dallas on a direct flight, and after that experience, I’ve sworn off all connecting flights for the future […] Read more
At holiday parties over the weekend, I saw some friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Even as we were catching up, talking about work and family and church activities, I knew the dreaded question would come. It’s always well-meaning, and it always makes me feel cared for. But my answer never satisfies anyone. Including […] Read more
I walked around the party supply store for more than 30 minutes on a November Sunday looking at candles. I pulled out long, gold taper candles wrapped in cellophane, looking them over for just a few seconds before returning them to the bin. They weren’t what I was looking for. I marched up and down […] Read more
A couple of weeks ago, my brother and nephew were visiting from out of state, so I took the day off work. The weather was beautiful, and with a three-year-old to entertain, we decided to take advantage of the many parks near my home. So, we set out that morning after tea and scones (in […] Read more
