It’s raining as I write this, pattering gently down outside the darkened windows of my parents’ white farmhouse-style home. I’m in their cozy guest room upstairs, the one with quilt-covered bed and fireplace and the little antique desk where I’ve done much writing. Though I no longer live in this place, it’s been […]
Fall like the Rain, mercy, rain
We stood in the parking lot, my sister and mom and I, talking animatedly though the clock ticked toward eleven at night. It was this summer, less than two weeks after the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, followed by the shooting of five police officers in retaliation, and the country was reeling. […]
police shootings, racial reconciliation, West Side Story
In case you didn’t know, I got married about six weeks ago. (See photos!) My beloved and wonderful husband, Anthony, and I have been busy settling, and you may see some changes coming to my website (and name) in the weeks and months to come. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure things don’t get too […]
Fiddler on the Roof, Sunrise Sunset, Weddings
A broken heart is a very tender thing. I was at college. Amid being a new transfer student at my university, and all the other adjustments and homesickness of new people and new classes and being away from home, I had just discovered Facebook evidence that the guy-friend I’d been building castles in the […]
Held by Natalie Grant
The other evening, my parents watched The Legend of Bagger Vance for their “date night” in our living room. “It was a good movie,” my mom told me afterward. “Sounded like it,” I said, “by the music.” It’s funny. I had picked up very little of the storyline from the bits and […]
We took Communion at church this Sunday. I followed the line of other believers up to the front, received the fragment of bread and tiny cup of deep red juice. As I held them, heading back for my seat, I passed the Christmas trees, still decked with their red and gold balls and […]
Note: If you’d like to follow my special Christmas series Journey Toward Bethlehem posted throughout the week, feel free to subscribe on the right side of the home page or here to get notification of new blog posts. Your email won’t be used for anything but that. 🙂 I heard a rare […]
Singing “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” this past Sunday to our church’s “folk band” accompaniment of guitar, mandolin, and accordion, I started thinking how songs like this connect with my heart—both old, faintly Celtic or Appalachian hymns and the more contemporary worship songs I grew up with. I love songs like this that speak of […]
When I can’t…make hurting children cooperate. This week when I helped during after school time at the transitional housing home, I had to have a supervisor’s help with both kids I was paired with. I didn’t seem to be able to get their attention, keep them on track, or maintain control. I tried to keep […]
Ruined castle amid the green – from my own trip to Scotland The story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah set in 18thcentury Scotland? Now there’s a novel thought…pun quite possibly intended. 🙂 Liz Curtis Higgs’s Lowlands of Scotland series has rather captured my mind and heart these past several weeks. I’d shied away from Thorn […]
