Early morning and Lights twinkle, the Advent candles burn their persistant hope, and in the kitchen I stand still, watching my daughter pause over her pricked finger and the blood rounding into a bubble at the tip.  I know she’s crying by the way she catches her breath, the slope of her back, the angle […]

Our day opens new and early, born screaming and sudden, ripping through the silent dark soundness of sleep.  I plant a kiss on Kevin’s hand where it lays warm on my arm, and then I slide out into the cold.  I want to stay and rest and pretend that the time really doesn’t matter, but […]

It hardly feels like it’s been weeks now, weeks since we sat in my living room sharing friendship, talking about what inspires us.  And when these dear sister-friends of mine turned my question back to me, I said, “A million things.  A million things inspire me.”  I listed for them just some and neglected many more, but […]

My son digs the bills out of his left pocket, spreading them flat on his thigh.  He smiles–a small, delighted surrender, preparing for the giving. And somewhere long past—somewhere God can still see unfolding right with our present, a woman’s feet stir the dust as she walks purposefully toward Temple. Lightly, she walks across the […]

Well okay, not just the holidays.  I can’t ignore the resounding, soul-altering Comment:  This is not just for now. We linger, just souls pouring, and in those moments, walls fall.  The thunderous quake, the crashing of ugly pretense pushed down, is something I feel, something that shakes Heaven maybe, while here, our voices softly offer […]

We spend an afternoon at the table passing sheets of sticky letters, photographs, pens.  Before I turn my attention to helping Riley through homework, before cooking, before folding the towels, Zoe and I sit together tasting gratitude like honey on our tongues.  I press down a bit of light-catching foam and wonder why it feels […]

It’s an old cliché, but true:  Life is a marathon. And this, also, is true:  When I woke up on marathon morning, I didn’t want to run the race. And since transparency happens to be my Call, I should also say that most of my living happens exactly this way.  I am not very good […]

In the afternoon, we burst through the door, with three different conversations knotting in the air—one thread hard to follow, one dangling, one darting so fast I can’t keep up.  A general fumbling ensues for snacks, and Mom, I need to tell you, and What I have to do today is, and May I watch Tom and Jerry, […]

Twilight comes, and she’s a bright star, throwing light so stunning I can hardly look away. There’s a Hebrew word for praise, a primitive root, that also means to flash forth light, and since we arrived in the ampitheater and the music floated out and up, she has shone, spreading her fingers wide, offering up […]

Shine the light bright, just there. Tuesday night and we restlessly weave our way through the double doors, a slowly meandering people-river, a jumble of fabric and purses and shoes.  We move patiently, craning our necks, and the sound of us ebbs and flows—the voices, the walking, the slide of our clothes.  A security guard […]