Three things from a walk
As I walked in our neighborhood I heard autumn’s handprints—dry leaves crunching under my feet—though the sun shone warm on my face....
Called by Name
Picture yourself in a room with a hundred others. Doors are locked. Not to keep you in, but to keep the enemy out. Through the windows,...
The Power of Habit
Every morning I drink a large glass of room-temperature water. It’s one of the first things I do. I’ve done it for almost 30 years. I do...
The Power of Thoughts
Can genuine joy coexist with heart-rending grief? I doubted it. Not until I experienced it myself would I have believed joy could be so...
The Power of Gratitude
“They’re not angry. They’re just grateful.” That was how one volunteer described the desperate people he was rescuing from Hurricane...
Beauty queen at the nursing home
I’ve known her all my life. Aunt Dort, I called her, short for Aunt Dorothy. But in the past few years, she became much more to me. As a...
Healing Wounds
This week I’m recovering from an especially painful episode. Sometimes the skin on my hands have sores and the cracks when exposed to too...
Am I at peace?
For months I wondered, will I ever be at peace? And what does it mean to have peace? Is peace the tranquilizing of emotions or the...
Just Your Presence
On a hot August morning twenty-seven years ago, my husband Trent took me to the emergency room with severe abdominal pains. The pain had...
Is this the life I want?
Several years ago, an official came to our home to interview my husband and me. The official asked us dozens and dozens of questions. All...
