merry christmas

Once this year, while Josh and I shared our everlasting house struggles, a friend mentioned that she thought it was a helpful thing for me to run a blog about home renovation in the midst of real life: Josh works full time and goes to grad school; I work more than full time, generally with […]

waiting to speak: lessons along the road to justice

Zechariah was stricken mute once, according to the book of Luke. It went like this. An angel told him he’d have a son and name him John, and Z couldn’t believe his ears. Obviously the angel had only one option: condemning him to nine months of muteness. (Sunday school lesson: Don’t mess with angels.) This sounds horrific. Yet sometimes I wish […]

a tribute

When someone you love dies, you live for a while by a different code. Days are about survival, and the proximity of tissue boxes. You become that guy – the person crying in the produce section, running red lights, and swearing at the banker. When I got the call I was sitting in a coffee shop, praying don’t judge me. […]

have yourself an ethical christmas

There’s a conversation that I keep circling back to. I don’t know why. It always goes badly. But I also found recently that I’m an INFP (thank you, Drs. Myers and Briggs), which means that even though I hate conflict, I’m so deeply motivated by the things I believe in that I’ll always keep coming […]

this house doesn’t have a clue – and other things i never meant to say out loud about christmas

I was scolded once by a professor for ending a presentation with the four honest words, “That’s all I have.” And I think this speaks something to my silence here over the past (eep) month or so. I’m imagining myself trailing you down the hallway repeating, “Well, what was I supposed to say?” It’s not […]

RS: basement: before & during

From the first realtor’s tour two Decembers ago to this month’s freezer upheaval, the basement has been our arch nemesis. I’m sure there’s some kind of motivational talk / Bible study material here — you may be cute and quaint with lots of potential, but if your soul (basement) is flooded and rusted and rotten, you’re still as much of […]