Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, “Prove that you are a good person.” Another voice says, “You’d better be ashamed of yourself.” There also is a voice that says, “Nobody really cares about you,” and one that says, “Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful.” But underneath all […]
always room for grace
I like that Grace lives close enough to visit on a whim. Sometimes those visits turn into days. We don’t have a guest room. We have a Grace room. Because there’s always room for Grace. But sometimes it’d be nice if overnights weren’t so easy to be had. If she didn’t think she could […]
a poetry dare with t.s. eliot
Remember that poetry dare issued by Tweetspeak Poetry I mentioned earlier this month? Well, it’s begun . . “We’d like you to read not just a poem a day but a poem from one particular poet a day. (That is, the same poet every day.) And that poet, for reasons we have yet to discover, […]
what (or who) holds you back in your work?
A new position opened recently, and my husband was uber qualified to fill it. But it was out of state and involved a lot of travel. I wearied of weighing all the options of what life could look like should he apply and be accepted. Would I move with him? Or would I stay here? […]
scripture sunday: I know …
I am a rose of Sharon a lily of the valleys. ~ Song of Songs 2:2 (NIV) I am fearfully and wonderfully made. ~Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
still saturday: enough for this day
When we breathe, we do not stop inhaling because we have taken in all the oxygen we will ever need, but because we have all the oxygen we need for this breath. Then we exhale, release carbon dioxide, and make room for more oxygen. Sabbath, like the breath, allows us to imagine we have done […]
doors: a photo and poetry prompt
Doors, real and imagined. They invite and shut out. They can lead to life or to death, to the past and to the future, to longing or loneliness, to hope and sometimes despair. Doors handle memories and opportunities. These are just some of the doors I saw last year–in my home, in my yard, in […]
when I was worthy of spit
I’m guessing I was pretty much a handful for my barely 20-year-old mom. Why? Because the very first thing I remember is she spit at me. It’s my first memory. When she leaned over the side rail and spit smack in my face. She said she didn’t do it. Didn’t remember doing it. But […]
poetry at work: shanty boy
My great-great grandfather, James G. Baxter, lived near Alpena, Michigan, in the late 1800s. He found poetry in his work as a shanty boy and wrote a poem called “The Harvest of the Pine” in 1910. Let me read it to you… And here’s a poem I wrote a couple years ago after visiting […]
scripture sunday: road-tested
Suddenly, God, your light floods my path, God drives out the darkness. I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the high fences. What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it. ~2 Samuel 22:29-31 (MSG) Still running, Sandy Thank you, Alison, for sharing about this […]
