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 […]
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 […]
I may have detected a flaw in our western brand of Christian faith. Maybe you should sit down. I think that, if we expect God to work at all, we expect him to work instantly. We march to the orders of the clock, not to the rhythms of the seasons and sunsets and cows. We have no patience for God or for lines […]
Wait for the magic to happen. This is apparently one of my new favorite phrases. It applies to innumerable situations. Bedtime. Coffee brewing time. Post-workout why in the name of goodness did I think that was a good idea time. I may have uttered it yesterday when we dumped gasoline on a log full of ants and […]
I’ve been piecing together some silly pieces about our most recent house problems, but I’m having a hard time being funny. One of my longtime coping skills is to poke fun at the absurd in the tragic – flying cows in hurricanes and the like. Sometimes it’s okay – a heartfelt quest for little joys […]
In the midst of good, hard, two-hands-to-the-plow living lately, I’ve run out of room in my days to talk about it. There’s a lot happening in me and my house. I may have to tackle this in baby chunks. We had some heart-breakingly beautiful work parties last week at the house. It was hard work. […]
My husband is amazingly confident. He walks like he knows where he wants to go and how to get there. And without tripping. When he questions himself, it’s a crisis. When I question myself, it’s Tuesday. If you ever should see the two of us together, this will become abundantly clear. He’ll be standing there, shoulders […]
underailing [un-dee-railing]: the process of situating yourself (not without some kicking and screaming) back onto the course most fitting and least stupid for your life Last week was a one of half-formed thoughts and questions, of lies and betrayal and emotional breakdowns in public bathrooms, of not sleeping, of always wanting to sleep, of shampooing twice and shaving only […]
It’s not my mother’s fault, but I don’t write thank you notes. Not really – not good ones. She did her best. I’m sure there were explanations along the lines of this person sacrificed money and time for you – and decent human beings write thank you notes – but the motivational speech I best […]
I’m saying goodbye to 2012 with a certain sense of good riddance. This might be unfair to 2012. It began with a car accident, a car that died, and wrapping pennies for groceries. And I actually rang in the New Year with some kind of stomach flu. That should have tipped me off. But then […]
la corbeille 