Monday, October 31 They countered. We accepted. To close two weeks before Christmas. Or sooner. Maybe. Who thought on Day 1 of this series that we’d have a contract on Day 31? Now we’re having second thoughts. But I’m remembering yesterday’s tears… and that anyway it’s not the place where we ultimately end up but […]
When You’re Crushed and Broken – #TheBrokenWay
“The miracle happens in the breaking.” ~ Ann Voskamp in The Broken Way: a daring path into the abundant life It’s just the two of us for dinner. I scrounge up some chicken, left over from the chicken-with-cherry-sauce recipe from A Taste of Laity Lodge. Only for her, I serve it plain with bottled […]
Live Happy: What Happiness Means To Me
Every year my heart pounds for our hometown Alpenfest Queen’s Pageant contestants during the impromptu question time. I still remember the question I drew when I ran a bazillion years back: “What does happiness mean to you?” I stammered an answer I’m sure was unintelligible. Afterwards, my mom told me I should have said something like, “Happiness means […]
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 […]
Bookcase
broken :: bookcase on the wall bound by pages from the past embrace this chapter :: restored Inspired by chapter 10, “The Bookcase.” Leaving some whitespace here this month as I rest with Bonnie. I’m reading and writing on a chapter a day. In the stillness, Sandy This post is part of […]
How to fix the brokenness
We’re sitting on the guesthouse steps under a half moon and a thousand stars that glint like glass shattered across ebony. Light and singing and laughter pour from the open door. A few team members wander up and down the drive in an attempt to snag a sliver of WiFi. Another’s having some quiet time […]
who heals broken hearts
My shoe covers rustle along the linoleum floor until I come to the holding area. I find her, eyes closed on the gurney, brown wisps around green paper cap. A tiny lady almost swallowed by crisp white and warm woven. I pick up the chart at the foot of the bed and page through it. […]
when you’re breadless, broken, and bitter
Breadless in Bethlehem. The House of Bread battled famine. Yet though she was hungry, Naomi felt full. She had her loved ones. Elimelech, whose name meant “my God is king,” packed up his wife and two sickly sons. They traveled 30 miles to a foreign land to greener pastures. Away from family. Away from […]
Book Review: Stained Glass Hearts by Patsy Clairmont
I’m sitting in one of the white gliders, cushioned in peach and white stripes. I hold the book on my lap and gaze at the framed stained glass that hangs on the peach wall above the white chest in the meditation room. I note the seagulls (at least they look like seagulls), the hills, the […]
Weeping and Celebrating
We spend… too little time experiencing the griefs themselves. The result is that these griefs remain hidden and never open us to our joys. ~David Whyte as quoted in God in the Yard. Branches litter the yard from yesterday’s wind, and leaves block the garage door. A political sign lies in the side yard. The […]