My latest piece for Red Tent Living is up! This month, their theme is, "Do You Love Me?" Here's where that prompt took me: Lessons in Love Growing up, I loved playing “house.” I’d run around the basement pretending to be cooking, cleaning, and going on dates with my “boyfriend.” Everything in my game of adulthood was easy and lighthearted. There was rarely any conflict or hardship, which might be why his words, spoken fifteen years ago, cut me so deeply. I can remember exactly where I stood . . .
How #MeToo is Pulling Me Deeper into Advent
Last week I turned on the Today Show, as I typically do, and immediately noticed Matt Lauer’s absence. “He must be sick,” I thought, and went on with my morning. Several minutes later, I saw the headlines begin to populate my Facebook newsfeed. He was sick alright. Lauer had been fired for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. My stomach sunk. Was I shocked? Immediately, yes, because there is a shock factor when someone is at work one day, in their twentieth year on the job, and . . .
Before We Know It
This week, I [finally] announced publicly that my husband and I are expecting! Our first child will be joining us in April and we couldn’t be more excited (and overwhelmed and terrified and grateful, etc., etc.). It has been a wild couple of months since finding out about the baby. Many of you will remember a post that I published in late July after having found out that I was not pregnant, though there were several days when all clues had alluded otherwise. I was upset and scared, fighting . . .
Staying In the Race
I’ve been a little bit proud and a lot bit celebratory this week as I approach my two-year writing anniversary on October 16th. This is, of course, not marking the moment when I first began writing, but it is the day when I committed to publishing a piece of new writing at least once each week. My brand new husband and I had moved halfway across the country only a couple of weeks earlier. We didn’t have internet in our home yet, so I went to a nearby Panera, took a deep breath, and created my . . .
The Line that Saved
We know very little about her story. All we really know is that she sinned. She was caught and she was about to die. Not really an experience any of us strive for. Not a legacy that we hope to leave. But this piece of her story—this is all we know of her. The scene is set: Jesus has spent some time away at the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, He comes down to the temple and the Bible says, “All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.” As he is teaching, the scribes and . . .
A Messy Invitation
It was a typical early Wednesday morning in our home. I was sitting on the couch with the dog, watching the TODAY show and catching up on emails (a work-from-home perk). Suddenly, I heard some wild commotion coming from the kitchen. My husband, a beautiful and even-tempered man, was not happy. I stood up and headed towards him to see the offense: our typically white kitchen was now mostly green. A very vibrant green. Two days ago, my husband and I were cooking dinner together and I made . . .