I Just Need Something New!
Your eyes pass back and forth over the clothes hanging in your closet. Nothing looks appealing. Nothing “sparks joy.” I just need to throw it all out and start fresh. Maybe I should make one of those capsule wardrobes. After pulling an old sweatshirt over your head,...
Names Nobody Remembers
Dozens of people had filed out of the movie theater. Custodians began to sweep up popcorn kernels as the background music played and the credits rolled. I sat in a row with my family, crunching the remains of my popcorn bag while each name made its way from the...
Grasping a Piece of the Past
Filling the walls of my home are pieces of the past. A pair of windows from an old family home frames the images of my children over our stairway. Above our kitchen table dangles an old oxen yoke. The simple piece of farming equipment is now a lamp that illuminates...
A Little Bit of Salt: A Short Story
She peered across the white laminated tabletop. Her eyes traveled down his jawline, past his chin to the white strands perched on the fork before him. The meat hovered in the air for a second before continuing its path up. Her breath caught in her throat while her...
One Year Later
It’s been one year today since our son went to the Emergency Room and we began our lives with Type 1 Diabetes. A lot has happened since that time. The traumatic first few weeks shifted into months of small victories. Somewhere along the way it became normal. ...
Scarcity and the Goodness of God
I shifted back and forth in the line at the ice cream shop. As I stood with my college friends my mind raced with desire. Which size is big enough, but doesn’t look too big? Can I get two scoops? How long will mine last? I remember devouring the ice cream at the...
Waiting in Line at the UPS Store
The closer I got to the building, the more people I saw packed inside. Carefully I opened the door while balancing my boxes and pushed my way through the line that snaked itself throughout the room. I took my place at the back with my parcels. In front of me, in...
I Can’t Put Them Down Yet
I gently push my body to a standing position as guitars strum out the first measures of the song. My eyes dart to the words projected above while the melody of a familiar hymn whirls past my ears. I look towards the floor and gently cup my hands around the midsection...
Favorite Books of 2022
I'm squeaking in with a quick post of some of my favorite reads this year. I know you can find these lists everywhere, so I'm only going to highlight a few. Favorite Non-fiction Christian: Rembrandt is in the Wind by Russ Ramsey I loved this book. It was beautifully...
My Anchor Holds
Waves crashed against the steel hull. Winds whipped around as the frame of the ship lurched back and forth. A rusty chain stretched from the aft side of the vessel and disappeared below the foaming waters. Yet as the rain pelted through the treacherous night—the anchor held.
Can you picture the ship? Maybe you don’t need to imagine it. Maybe you’re living it. You wake up in the morning to salt spray in your face. The beating of the waves of difficulty feels merciless. Another day of physical pain, waiting, loneliness, or loss. Another day of storms where you wonder if your anchor will hold. Can you hold on to truth—to the goodness of the Lord in your suffering?
Or perhaps you’re sailing on the open seas, but the memory of the storm stands close at hand. While peace surrounds you, the pain of the past isn’t forgotten, neither is the fear of what storms may be on the horizon.
