As I trudged back to our rented flat along two miles of frozen city streets, my furry hood giving my face its only protection from the wind and my fists stuffed deep into my coat pockets, I thought, “the valley of the shadow of death. That’s exactly where I’ve been.”…
Category Archives: Musings
What I’ve never noticed about my favorite psalms
I was startled by my daily Bible reading this week when I saw Psalm 51:6. I’m used to reading something like “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.” . . .
Shrouded
[Note: I wrote this in January. I’m posting it way after the fact, so this isn’t how I’m feeling today and some things I described are no longer current.] It’s very early morning, still dark, and I just walked outside to drop a letter in the mailbox. I could feel fog on my skin. I …
“You give benevolent lessons”
“Show me all your fingers but one,” I say. A room full of precious Asian students grins and me and nods. I hold my hand up. “Where are your fingers?” Smiles all around. “Who has a hand? Show me your hand.” One hand tentatively goes up. “Thank you, Zheng. Everyone else, show me your hand! …
The Least Romantic Valentine’s Day Ever
“I’m just going to toss this down; is that OK?” my husband called out from the attic. He was holding a very Large. Dead. Rat. It was the morning of Valentine’s Day, he had the day off work, and I had asked him to plan some kind of surprise date for us to remember later. …
Companionship is the purpose
Just like that, I’m in Europe. We time-warped our way through the weekend and here we are on Monday morning in a small Czech city. I walked Erik to his office and then took off on a long wander to figure out what to do next. Before we left Texas, several friends asked me, “what …
Why I love digging
I’ve been feeling sad lately. (More on that in another post but you can reference Four Lies for now.) This week, though, I realized there’s something healing about digging in the dirt. Last weekend I bought a pair of apple tree saplings with the intent to plant them in the backyard. The same day I …
Empty
What I’ve learned this week about the ministry of presence Today I wandered over to my next door neighbor’s front porch with my empty coffee mug in hand. The boxer, stretched out on the lawn, gave a single “brff” of acknowledgement through her lips as I approached. My neighbor is 70 years old and is …
How balloon animals are changing my life
I learned how to make balloon animals last month. Guys, this is a skill that everyone can absolutely learn. We all should have been doing this years ago. It had just never crossed my radar as something I could do. It seemed like some kind of magic trick reserved for people in weird costumes. It …
How not to park
Some days my biggest accomplishment is making other people feel better about themselves. Yesterday coming home around lunchtime, I couldn’t back the truck into the driveway to save my life. (I’m going to say it, though: it’s my husband’s truck. THIS is the reason I drive a Fiat.) I backed up, turned the truck off, …