Good Friday—Our Hope
Reflecting on what Jesus did on this day brings me to a still, quiet place of awe and gratefulness. I can’t fathom His suffering, His love, His utter determination to not leave us as broken orphans in a broken world. He chose to heal us with his life—and death. His choice cost him everything. We […]
Faith in the Ice Storms of Life
The rain came pouring down. At 2 AM, I wake to God’s fingers sifting crystal beads onto roofs of house and barn. Horses are shedding winter coats. I wonder where they stand during this dark, icy night. Are they out vulnerable in the paddock, frozen rain pelting their bodies? Or have they sought shelter in […]
Get Real and Heal
Ok. So here I go again, getting all vulnerable and transparent. I hate it. And I love it. I hate it because why in the world would anyone want to expose themselves for anyone and everyone to see, to know? Because such raw exposure can have devastating consequences. For heaven’s sake! Someone I don’t know […]
Jesus and Jenga
Baby, it’s cold outside! Time for some inside fun—or not! We’re playing Jenga—that tower building game where you remove one block at a time and place it on top until the whole thing tumbles with a terrifying bang that sends the poor dog low-tailing it to the far corner of the house every single time. […]
People Walking in Darkness
Oh, the times are dark . . . We are marching toward the darkest day of the year, December 21, and I am consumed with darkness. I rise in the dark. I make dinner in the dark. There are even some places on earth even darker than Wisconsin! Like Alaska. People consumed in darkness struggle […]
Into the Wood
After our long walk on the ledge, Todd and I meandered along the inner wood trails—the guts of the forest. Nearly naked they were, the trees having shed their garments of leaves, bare and vulnerable facing winter winds and snow blankets coming. Earth floor carpeted in dry and dead, I dragged my feet because I […]
All Ands and No Buts
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die, A time to plant and a time to uproot, A time to kill and a time to heal, A time to tear down and a time to build, A time to […]
A Mother’s Lament on Father’s Day
Father’s Day. We all went to church together—that little country Orthodox Presbyterian church up the road in our little Dutch community. We’re not Dutch and in a place where the funny motto, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much” floats around, we sure do feel welcomed here in this old church. They’re the kind of […]
Greatest Expectations
My first memory from childhood was of myself in a seersucker jumpsuit my grandmother had sewn for me. I was four years old, laying on my stomach in our backyard, hunting for a four-leafed clover. My sister was ill. Very, very ill. I was looking for luck. Mom and Dad arranged for Dad’s mom to […]
Open
How to find true love and life in loss . . . We’ve all experienced it, you know. Loss. It’s a reality of our broken world. We lose jobs to the economy. We lose friends and family through misunderstandings and betrayals. We lose spouses through divorce. We lose health through illness or accident. We lose […]
Two Arrows
Today is the day for red and pink and white hearts showered everywhere we look. Today is the day for red roses and confessions of true love. Today is the day of Cupid. But how many of us remember that Cupid carried two kinds of arrows? The one we see in today’s images is golden-tipped, […]
Horse Healer
I sat Ollie’s trot yesterday. On the back of this statuesque Arab/Welsh Cob cross, I worked to keep hands still and seat in saddle. My fingers hurt from the 15 degree cold. But I kept riding his trot, getting to know this new horse. I concentrated hard on my task—keeping steady rhythm, hands down, back […]