When Life Crushes Your Heart
While walking along the Atlantic Ocean, I spot an auburn-haired beauty bending, kneeling, spreading her hand on the sand. Is she simply imprinting her palm? Or is she holding the hand of God? Maybe she’s doing both. Because the God who can bind the chains of the Pleiades and loosen Orion’s belt (Job 38:31) knows […]
Pieces of Eden: How to Find Joy in the Midst of Grief
This morning, Nick found the limp body under a young pine by the horse riding arena. Rose stood at a distance, guilty, while Nick examined the fawn. Lifeless. Still warm. How can a dog I love so much do such a terrible thing? We’re not in Eden anymore. I am sad. The poor doe who […]
The Wonder Years & How to Move Through Our Doubts and Fears
Have you ever felt inept? Like you suddenly found yourself in the deep end of a pool with absolutely no idea how to swim? Have you ever felt scared of what life’s handed you? Awesome! Me too! I’ve been swimming (dog paddling?) through many challenges I thought beyond my capabilities through each decade […]
Holding on When You’re on the Edge
I’m not kidding. The first five minutes of the mule ride down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon produced a surprising panic in me. After all, I’m an accomplished equestrian, and I’m not particularly afraid of heights. Or, so I thought. I’ve hiked steep, narrow trails on mountains many times. Yet, I had no […]
Thoughts on Death and Life in a Cold and Frozen Forest
As part of the slide into slow this new year, I ran away. Actually, I drove away with my husband to Door County, the thumb of Wisconsin separating two bodies of water—Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We strapped on our cross-country skis and headed into the woods. Sun shining. Not a bit of breeze. Every […]
Giving Thanks When Grief is Fresh on Thanksgiving
Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his […]
How to Consume Life-Giving Lamb
I ate the lamb shank—the lamb I ordered—Sunday night. For those of you who are vegetarians, I’ll try to be sensitive. Truth is, I found that shank extremely tender and tasty. Still, I wonder if I ought to partake of an animal that was “sacrificed” for my sake. Why can’t I even eat a tasty […]
Unexpected Harvest: When You Wonder What God Has in Mind for Your Life
Harvest. Our garden provided abundantly throughout the summer and keeps giving. Lettuce, spinach, beans, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, pumpkins, raspberries. Each summer, this garden reminds me of the same truth—I can’t out-give God. I plunge seeds into the dark earth in spring. And then this. So much blessing. Too much blessing. I must […]
On the Edge: How Now Shall We Live?
Here is the world. You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time, you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. Frederick Buechner Our float plane’s […]
You are Worth More Than the Cost of a Wedding
How to Have the Most Beautiful, Most Memorable, Least Expensive Life Ever Last week, I posted about the impromptu wedding on our farm. From the announcement to the bride walking down the aisle, three hours elapsed. Time allowed only for fresh flowers picked from gardens and fields, a dress the bride had never worn, and […]
The Wedding That Eclipsed the Eclipse
We stood on the concrete driveway, two of our three grown kids and me. Anna and Nick stared up at the cloud-covered sky as our bare feet soaked up the warmth from the sun we couldn’t see. I looked around. The grass seemed greener. The swallows flocked together. The temperature dropped. Though not completely dark, […]
Weathering the Storms
I stand on the balcony of our west-facing library and see the young pumpkin vines beginning to flower yellow. My eyes scan the rows of tender tomatoes and marigolds two weeks old, crying for relief from the oppressive heat and hard winds that can turn soil to dust and parch leaves crisp. Their vulnerable stems […]