The night before I left my comfortable corner, I ran to Family Dollar. In less than half an hour I’d tossed $100 worth of gifts in my cart, enough to fill a large suitcase that I could carry to the poor children and their families in the Dominican Republic. But what I’ve learned yet again is that in […]
How to Spoon Hope
She greets us at the door with shy hugs. The kids leave and return with plastic lawn chairs to supplement the tattered gold sofa. She wants us to sit. There are no windows, so we strain to see, strain to hear her heart through the rhythm of the rain as it pulses on the corrugated tin roof, crescendos and […]
Still Saturday: More By Less
“Even beasts of burden must be turned out to grass occasionally; the very sea pauses at ebb and flood; earth keeps the Sabbath of the wintry months; and man, even when exalted to God’s ambassador, must rest or faint, must trim his lamp or let it burn low; must recruit his vigor or grow prematurely […]
Compassion, Shaun Groves, and the Dominican Republic
As I wrote yesterday, I’ve been trying to learn a little about the Dominican Republic before leaving… tomorrow. Yikes. In my searching, I stumbled on these Compassion International videos with Shaun Groves. They’re six years old now, but I’m guessing not much has changed–except the children, one child at a time. You don’t have […]
To Know Their Names
I’ve been working out of my quart-size baggie since getting back from Haiti last month so I didn’t have to rethink and repack it. Today I’ll add a little more moisturizer and a little more foundation to the mini travel containers and set out my malaria med to start tomorrow. Friday I’ll say goodbye […]
Still Saturday: Rest
“I wonder sometimes if we’re afraid of rest. We’re conditioned by 24/7 news and Facebook updates to be afraid we’ll miss out on something we “ought” to know. We’re afraid we’ll lag further behind in the race to some steadily receding finish line like Archimede’s tortoise. We’re afraid we’ll let someone down, as others’ expectations […]
Motivated by Mad – My One Word
I don’t remember how the Christmas dinner conversation turned to the topic of my housekeeping skills–or lately lack of. My daughter spooned a little more au jus on her prime rib, the first I ever prepared–and it was perfect, by the way. “You know,” she said, “this house used to look amazing, and all […]
Flattened for a Mary Christmas
I wish you a Mary Christmas, stunned by His reflection, flattened at His feet as you wait, and worship, heady with His fragrance. “Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of […]
Still Saturday: Season
Someone more organized than I am would have had a post prepared and queued to publish last week. But I found myself in Haiti without Internet access. And so it was really still around here on Still Saturday. Forgive me. I had a heart-wrenching and heart-filling week with stories I’ve not yet processed to share. It […]
Without First the Breaking
E’s mother shut her and her sister out of the house because she could no longer care for them. C was reclaimed from a trash heap in the worst part of Port Au Prince. She was about five years old, scarred and burned, abused and cast away. I met her two years ago on […]
