cultivating the beautiful ordinary by sharing our tales and our tables
As a military wife who moved frequently, I attended many churches. I am also a Pharisee and a people-pleaser, so I gravitated towards women like me—those who recognized and approved good works. Every church has those who give and those who take, and I found satisfaction in being someone who gave more than I took.
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As I reflect on Genesis 3:8, the word “hid” catches my attention, and a memory comes back to me from when I worked at an organization called Citizen Advocates. My job was to recruit local community members to become advocates for people who had developmental disabilities and no one in their lives to speak up…
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My husband has a phrase that makes sense when he is talking about finances, but sometimes he says it out of the blue. He will say, “I should have bought Amazon.” In 1997, like any academic, Dan purchased lots of books, but that year he began buying lots of books from Amazon. I remember when…
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It was my senior year of college, and I was one month into my walk with God. I had a fresh sense of awe and gratitude tangled with curiosity. I retreated to a coffee shop where I snuggled into some pillows on a stoop in front of a large window. Next to me was my…
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I was sitting at a desk that had been my husband’s, his Cross pen-set gone and the walls now void of his credentials and degrees. The circumstances that had unfolded in the months prior were difficult, to say the least. Mark had resigned and was engaging some much-needed Sabbath rest, and I had said yes…
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I grip the steering wheel of the parked car, working up the nerve to cross the lot and enter the bar. The doors of my jetta hold me in. I can stay here forever, till I choose to spill out and into whatever the night holds. Already, the setting sun floods the scene before me,…
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“So, how did it actually feel to have dinner with a serial killer?” my colleague at the law firm asked. Shuffling depositions between color tabbed manila folders, I quickly changed the topic to billable hours for a client. I’d avoided this topic for so many years. Even when an author asked permission to use the…
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When you’re a child you learn there are three dimensions Height, width and depth Like a shoebox Then later you hear there’s a fourth dimension Time –Ron Padgett My husband knows I’m in a bad place emotionally when I start texting him Zillow listings of houses for sale. He knows the situation is especially severe…
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Shock waves went through my entire body! “Did I say that?” Oh, dear God, how could I have been so foolish? How could I have said that? My face flushed red and my stomach ached as I swallowed with a gulp as the severity of my words rang in my ears. But what exactly had…
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The water is cool as I quietly wade into it. Crystal clear, I can see the sand and rocks beneath my feet as I move along the shoreline. I listen carefully to the sound of the waves, the sound of the breeze rustling the leaves in the nearby trees. I have dreamed about this day…
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