It was going to be a tough phone call. I dialed, put the phone up to my ear to wait for the other line to pick up and said, “God, please help me.” I heard a gasp. My son’s eyes were as wide as paper plates. “You know God’s phone number?” I laughed. And then […]
How to Pray Without Ceasing Read More »
Today marks the first day of National Hereditary Breast & Ovarian Cancer Week. It also marks the three-year anniversary of a monumental event in my life- the day I opted to undergo a preventative mastectomy because of my own hereditary risk of cancer. Three days before my surgery I wrote an essay entitled, “Goodbye.” After
WARNING: Be very cautious when writing a letter to an unknown vandal for smashing your windshield with a baseball. You probably imagined the deed was done by some smart-mouthed pre-teen with a swagger. And negligent parents who hadn’t taught him responsibility. You thought you were giving grace to an unknown face, a kid who had
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I don’t know your name. I only know what you did. Rocketed a baseball from your hand or bat and smashed my windshield. Then you left. Left without a note. Left cracked glass that mars my vision. All I can see now is brokenness. I know you probably didn’t do it on purpose. You probably
To the Kid Who Smashed My Windshield Read More »
Our two oldest boys, 9 and 10, dive into our comfy, brown chair in the living room and hug a blanket around their knees. Brian opens to the first chapter. “Tonight we’re going to read a chapter together from What’s the Big Deal? Why God Cares About Sex,” Brian explains. Our oldest son squirms and pulls
The Birds and the Bees and the Boys Read More »
It’s a long line at Panera. I glance up at the menu. Ah- there it is. The Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken salad. I can taste it already. I was ordering two to go. One for me, and one for my friend Kristin who had graciously let my son play with her son for 3 days
With 6 clean sleeping bags and 2 comforters, I push my piled-high cart through the parking lot and pull the handle of the side door of our minivan to start loading. It won’t open. That’s odd. We just spent our lifesavings to get the only-helpful-when-they-work electronic doors fixed. I try the other side. Same thing.
Stranded at the Laundromat Read More »
Our rental car flies through foreign streets dodging motorcycles, parked vehicles, and small dogs. It is 7:26pm. I am headed to a theater conference where I am scheduled to perform a monologue in a show that started at…7pm. Twenty-six minutes late and counting. However, sometimes things happen that are out of our control, like being
“Come, quickly!” I follow my mother-in-law out her back door in Wisconsin to a neighboring patio. On a table sits a cactus, bursting with glorious light pink blooms. “It only blooms for one day,” she explains. “How incredible that we happened to be here for this one day!” I peer into the delicate centers framed with
My husband does a lot around the house. He mows. And he…mows. I know he does a lot of other things, but mowing comes to mind first. And second. One evening, I was up to my elbows in dishwater and inwardly seething over the very long list of Mommy-do’s, and the seemingly much shorter list