I know something’s up when the usher hands me a scrap of green ribbon. It’s not like our pastor hasn’t told us to expect the unexpected. That’s the title of this month’s sermon series, after all. And he believes in fun. I’m hoping this is fun. We find a seat front and center, our […]
Spiritual Seizures, Surrender, Starvation, and Possibility
It’s an Indian taco spread, and I’ve heaped my plate. I’m munching homemade tortilla chips while I watch the birthday girl in the air-filled jump house. And one of my daughter’s friends, he says those words. “You’re a good writer, right?” I stare a minute, and mutter quiet. “Um, I write.” Mentally I smack myself […]
Spring Fling on the Farm
We load up the grand girls (and my artist child–just in case she and I don’t get away alone this week) and pay a visit to a Spring Fling on the Farm where we can bask in the fragrance of sheep urine and donkey dung. But the sheep don’t smell, and the donkey doesn’t ding. […]
Stripping and Soaking
I’ve turned the television to a music station–New Age. Don’t judge me. Right now I’m listening to a very soothing piano piece by Bernward Koch called “Evoking Wonder” from a CD titled Walking Through Clouds. There’s not a cloud in the sky. I watch a purple finch crack an oily shell, strip and probe and […]
Of False Signs and Feathered Hope
There was thunder. And there was lightning. And Grace called, all whispers. “Grandma, I was just in bed saying my prayers. And I asked God to bring Great-Grandma back. And I asked Him to give me a sign that she was coming. And right then there was this big flash. And . . . she’s […]
Of Eyebrows and Impossibilities
Grace throws her green backpack on top of the pink and blue three-ringed notebooks on the floor in front of the passenger seat. She settles her flip-flopped feet on top of it all, buckles up and pulls down the visor. She studies herself in the mirror while she brushes her hair. “My top eyelashes […]
Small Cups and Petaled Moments
We gather around the T-shaped Sunday School tables, and she tells us about the time the lady next door decided to burn papers just as the wind picked up. But before long, the fire escapes its confines and surrounds the house. She calls the fire department and runs next door to rescue the children, but […]
In Which I Need Easter Every Day
I sit in my mother’s place at the vinyl-covered table, and it feels strange. One day I serve my dad scrambled eggs, and on another he serves me a fried egg. I ask how he makes it so perfect, and he shows me how he baptizes it with water and covers it with a […]
A Here-We-Go-Again Life
The fragrance of April Fresh wafts from the jumble of warm towels next to me. I smile as I watch two robins scuffle in the front yard. I pull out a sage green towel, pinch two corners together, fold the length in half two corners to four, fold again and smooth on stacked pile. When […]
Staying in the Center
“What is THAT? STOP!” He jerks to a stop right there in the road. I fumble for my camera while I keep my focus on Lake Abby. I snap a couple of pictures of the black and white bird that floats in the center. We have no idea what it is. Pastor talks about the […]
