Curated from a Biblical Perspective
With the gift of breath filling our lungs, we’ve cried our I love yous. With the gift of strength enabling our hands, we’ve built and bolstered a family. With the gift of endurance pushing us through, we’ve pulled closer together. With the gift of time beating in our chests, we’ve made good on our promises.... Continue Reading →
At forty-four, I’ve gotten used to a growing number of aches and pains. Sometimes I can trace them back to what I did the day before and sometimes I can only attribute them to the fact that my body is aging. Having cancer hasn’t really changed the way I see my body, but it has... Continue Reading →
Over Christmas break, our family spent an afternoon downtown at the Cummer Museum of Art. Although the afternoon together was lovely and seeing artistic excellence is always inspiring, the artwork pictured above has haunted me for the past few weeks. Amid the various artistic styles, this one, I wish, were a little more abstract. But... Continue Reading →
I was probably 6-years-old when I received a jogging suit in a Christmas gift exchange between my mom’s friends and their kids. To say I was disappointed in receiving something to wear versus something to play with is an understatement. Much to my mom’s embarrassment, I couldn’t (or chose not to) hide my disappointment. My... Continue Reading →
Today, this best friend of mine celebrates a milestone birthday! I don’t remember when our friendship started, because when we first met, it was as if we’d known each other forever. Our lives overlapped in 2004 for about 6 years, and our husbands can attest to the fact that from the beginning, we were inseparable.... Continue Reading →
There weren’t any signs on the school saying, “Come as you are! You’re welcome here!” They certainly weren’t rolling out the red carpet for my arrival. In all likelihood, many of them didn't want me there. So how did this first grader who lived in the local public housing complex and was zoned for the worst... Continue Reading →
The world had just survived the turn of a new millennium, leaving people wondering what they were going to do with all those unneeded canned goods and jugs of water they’d hoarded in their basements or Y2K bunkers. Like most other young adults whose optimism and naiveté deemed anything catastrophic practically impossible, we barely noticed... Continue Reading →
The drive from Michigan to Ohio that Sunday afternoon, 10 years ago, wasn’t ideal by myself with two little ones. I kept the volume low to avoid waking up the nappers, so I strained to hear Sandra McCracken’s lyrics, prayed, then passed around snacks, and started videos. My mom would call with updates of how... Continue Reading →
To see you then as I see you now, our young, untested love couldn’t handle it. To see how nearly 17 years can take and toss two lives together like dirty laundry on the high spin, heavy soil, hot wash cycle of a machine, leaving us dizzy and hung out to dry. “Keep your eyes... Continue Reading →
We hold our babies, swaddle them, sing to them. We study their hands unwrapping their fingers grip on ours, wondering if they’ll be able to palm a basketball or reach an octave on the piano. We love to dream of their potential. We pray for them. But every mother knows we can verbalize only a... Continue Reading →
You wake up with a kink in your neck and a pain down your back. As you shut off the alarm your mind startles awake, wondering if it’s Sunday, then settles because it’s not. But, it doesn’t take long for it to turn to Ecclesiastes (out of habit these past months), until you remember it’s... Continue Reading →
She whipped the car into the church parking lot, pulling the keys out of the ignition and shoving them into her purse. Being late was nothing new to us, but it usually came with some embarrassment. This time, however, being late was a relief. We hoped to slip in without having to talk with people... Continue Reading →
