jesus

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What Would You Do?

Just a week ago, he was driving long distances to the grave of his long since deceased wife…to pay his respects, to tell her he loves her…again. Now, he is helpless and confused, clinging to life in the ICU after a terrible car accident. His family, exhausted by the days of worrying and rapid changes in his status, has gone home to rest. Suddenly, his heart is racing wildly, his blood pressure drops precipitously. “Can you meet me at the...

Death

This post is about death. I am just warning you, in case you don’t want to read any more…if death bothers/scares you. I mean, the title is Death, but I am just saying it again…so you can bail if you want to. (Pause…) Ok, so you are still with me. We are gonna have to talk about this. Death. The finality of it. The horror, the fear, the sadness. And…the wisdom, hope and beauty of death. This week, we said...

Easier

We recently received a mass email from our Department Chairman that included some updates and general information. Towards the end of the message, he explained that we should expect a meeting invitation for our annual, individual one-on-one meeting with him. He stated the four questions that he will ask, offering them in advance to allow each of us time to contemplate an answer. The last question was, “What are you working on and how can I help you?” I am...

Delay

I’m staring down the 5lbs that have crept onto my waist and thighs this Spring. We have done a lot of traveling and celebrating…a dear friend’s destination wedding, a milestone anniversary, and our traditional family beach trip. When we got home from Italy, after eating and drinking way more than we usually do, I was convinced I’d moved the needle on the scale, but I had not. Feeling proud of myself for the feat of maintenance while traveling, I thought...

Feeling Small

We recently returned from a celebratory 20th anniversary trip to Italy and France. While in Rome, we visited the Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon. We walked around piazzas and buildings that are hundreds and thousands of years old; we stepped down into wine cellars that were hand carved in 200BC and we climbed up cathedral towers to see sweeping views of the Tuscan hills. “I feel small,” I said to my husband. Here I am, just one little dot...

Truth

Ben sat on the floor in his closet with tears in his eyes. He had been scolded and sent to his room after being caught playing on his computer after he was told to stay off of screens for a while. Then when confronted about said usage, I received a decisive, “No. I wasn’t on my computer.” Lie. Busted. To the bedroom. I let him wallow for a few minutes before I went upstairs to find him in a puddle...

I’ll Take Wisdom

In the wake of yet another school shooting, emotions are running high on social media. It’s politics as usual on Twitter and new issues and hashtags are cropping up faster than we have time to resolve them. I’ve been spinning around my cycle of email, Facebook, Twitter, news sites and Instagram. I have been tagged in several posts which leaves my phone dinging with notifications at all hours. And my mind racing trying to decide if and how to respond. And all...

Organized

I am so organized. You don’t even know…My shirts are arranged in my closet by color; each of my upcoming conferences/trips has its own manilla folder complete with checklists and a pocket for receipts; I keep duplicates of all my toiletries and make up at home and work so I am never at either place without something; I catalog my favorite recipes on Pinterest and spend sleepless nights on call choosing what to make for dinner the next night. I...

Joy

When the alarm went off this morning, I tapped the snooze button over and over for an hour. Finally, I made it downstairs for my morning ritual of coffee and devotions. By coincidence, or more likely God’s humor, my personal reading and the church’s automatic email, were both about joy. Soul soothing words, as recently, life has felt a little bitter, a little empty. Jarred by the sudden death of a dear friend’s husband and my welling anger of American...

Confession Is Good for the Soul

I don’t want to write this post. I don’t want to join the game. I much prefer the silence over here in my own corner. But the persistent tug at my heart, the unyielding irritation in my mind that I must say something simply will not go away. I have been wrestling for days over my response to the historic events of this past weekend. And I have finally decided that while my words are likely to go quite unnoticed, I...