It hit me with a rush of emotions on Friday afternoon, just how much has changed. My 4-year-old daughter and my 6-year-old niece are interacting over FaceTime, playing happily. I hear mostly one side of the conversation from the kitchen while she delightedly runs from the library, where the iPad is, to her bedroom and [...]
It's so surreal, isn't it? Coffee shops shut down. Museums shuttered. Churches live streaming. Commitments cancelled, task lists reshuffled, priorities transformed. It seems the only safe place is a wide, open field six feet away from your closest neighbor. Wait—Isn't there a verse about that? He makes me lie down in green pastures. He restores [...]
This frail, weak woman in a wheelchair had changed the world. Not in a gratuitous sense. Not simply as a statement. Not in a nice, you-had-a-nice-life scenario where we get to the end and draw concentric circles around a random arrow, then claim we hit our target. No. This woman had actually changed the world. [...]
My idealistic, focused, ministry-working, 70-hour-a-week self constantly ignored the reality of the dentist. Don’t tell anyone, but for over ten years, you would have never found me inside a dentist's office or sitting in a hygienist's chair for that all-important bi-yearly cleaning. At first, I was just too busy serving. That's what I told myself. [...]
Camera in hand, I would linger long around the cathedral's outside. The external walls, bathed in the warm afternoon light, called for photographic exploration. Only after thoroughly exploring all sides of the cathedral, would I peek inside for a quick snap. St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, Austria. Perhaps it's the nature of a European [...]
In a familiar scene from classic movies, a herald rides into the far flung town, on the outskirts of the empire. He brings news from the castle and the king: he is mustering for battle, and every house must send a representative to fight in the king's battles. Or the courier is a tax collector, [...]
If you were to seal up our house with duct tape, weather stripping, and caulk, it would fill up and then explode with all the anticipation within these four walls. Last night, we hosted our Second Annual Cousins' Slumber Party. Cousins and friends jumped on the trampoline, sang along to Christmas music, exchanged presents, and [...]
"The cattle are lowing, The baby awakes. But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes." "We three kings of Orient are. Bearing gifts, we traverse afar" "God rest ye merry gentlemen let nothing you dismay! Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day." This season is filled to overflowing with smiles, happiness, [...]
To my children's consternation, I had just announced chicken for dinner. Internally, I prepared myself for the clean-your-plate dance that I knew the evening would entail. No one likes chicken in my family. Well, perhaps "no one” is a little strong. But outside of Chick-fil-A and the corresponding magical Polynesian sauce, the individuals in my [...]
Eyes tightly scrunched, all around the table. Fingers twined together. Heads bowed. This is how I grew up participating in the before-meal ritual enacted all over the world amongst those of faith—praying before a meal. If you grew up in a family of faith with real people, or raised children yourself, you can probably guess [...]
