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 […]
Of Sore Throats and Green Hearts
She’s crying. “My throat hurts.” I feel her forehead and then go rummage in the bathroom drawer–through dumped Band-Aid boxes, ointments, alcohol wipes, the outer ring of an adhesive tape roll, a plastic medicine cup, a nasal syringe, and spilled cough drops to find the thermometer. “Open your mouth.” I shine the flashlight into […]
God Doesn’t Like Fun
I should be prepping for the class I need to teach. But here’s the episode of I Love Lucy where Lucy and Ricky meet. And then the one where Lucy races the horse. Then the one where the whole gang along with Fred MacMurray hunt for uranium. I hear Grace in the kitchen. She’s laughing […]
Waiting for Spring
The highway stretches and bends white. The grandgirls are riding with us. Grace is playing with her new Kindle Fire, and it sounds like she’s spraying paint in the back seat. Then it’s quiet, and she is reading. She shows me where she’s highlighted some words. Lillee sleeps. I amuse myself by snapping pictures […]
Christmas Has Gone, and I’m Glad
The world changed overnight. This morning it hangs all wet and white. Pines bow to the weight, and the snow pillows soft on the hardwood branches, nestles in the crooks of tree arms. It still falls, silent. It’s a wonder. Christmas has come. And gone. And I’m glad. The gift-giving, it gets me every […]
Shrink Wrapped
My dad does not like wreaths. Not even at Christmas. He tells me that when he was a child, a wreath hung on a door meant death within. He and his friends would make a wide berth as they passed by, silent. He does not like cemeteries, either. And wonders at my fascination with them. […]
Unwrapping the Gift(s)
May 9, 2012 Linking this post with Ann and the 1000 Moms Project to help in the funding of a Compassion International Maternity/Child Survival program in Haiti for a whole year. My mom passed away on November 27, 2011. Thank you, Mom, for the simple gifts, for laughter, and for teaching me to […]
Monday Meditation: Crazy Love in Northern Michigan
We are “up north” again. We’ve come to pick up my son’s car, left here since his honeymoon when he crashed it. (I still plan to post some wedding pictures. Here’s a peek.) We’ve decided to make a weekend out of it. Friday Night Live has taken over Front Street in Traverse City, and […]
Monday Meditation: What if the Answer is Never?
American Idol. That’s our Sunday series right now. And I’ve pounded away at idols while I’ve taught on Hosea. Yesterday Bill talked about “me first.” The idol of I. Serving or being served. Having it my way. In my time. It’s all about me, you know. We even name stuff after ourselves like iPads and […]
