Thursday, October 20 Nearly half a century ago we vowed to adopt the stance that we would not add to the world’s problems, that zero meant more, that we’d be free to make the world a better place. But then our world turned upside down when we were moved to Florida. We filed to sever […]
The Ache of Answered Prayer
Or is there still some hidden delight? A larger plan that’s not yet come together? Because true joy is not temporal. And my heart aches with love for the truth of that.
Rockabye Baby
My two-year-old daughter was missing. I’d been sitting in a lawn chair under the Georgia pines that summer morning while I watched her play in the driveway and must have dozed off again. I ran around the yard and through the house and back outside calling for her—not too loud because I didn’t want to […]
I Didn’t Expect
I never expected to have children. I never dreamed of a family. I didn’t play love and marriage or stuff my shirt with pillows. I did dream of caring for others. Maybe in far countries. I even used to hope I’d find an injured animal so I could take care of it. But I […]
Her Father’s Joy
“You’re just waiting to get pregnant,” my doctor assured me. But days of thermometers and planned lovemaking and monthly disappointment tore at thinned emotions, feelings also frayed from too much doing, too much identity seeking in serving. Adoption doors hid behind lines that flowed into forever. “The company wants us to move,” my […]
her father’s joy
“You’re just waiting to get pregnant,” my doctor assured me. But days of thermometers and planned lovemaking and monthly disappointment tore at thinned emotions, feelings also frayed from too much doing, too much identity seeking in serving. Adoption doors hid behind lines that flowed into forever. “The company wants us to move,” my husband told […]
When You’re Mashed in the Making
I toast a sourdough muffin golden, two halves, and slather them with butter and mounds of strawberry freezer jam. I love the color of strawberries mashed in the making. Jeweled jam. And red, to me, is the color of hope. I steep a cup of Earl Grey Green, inhale the fragrance of bergamot, and settle […]
They Call Him . . .
September 4, 2012: Today I’m linking this post with the synchroblog celebrating the release of Inciting Incidents, where six creatives share their stories about collisions of dreams and disappointments, of clashes between faith and the “reality of our broken planet.” Be sure to explore the Inciting Incidents website–including the free gifts and a boatload of free […]
The Ache of Answered Prayer
It never leaves, this ache. I can press it down, punch at it like bread dough, pat it into a nice ball, and cover it up. But still, sometimes it spills. I think of Elizabeth, barren in her old age. Heart and arms heavy with the ache of it. As time passed, maybe she […]