A year ago on Good Friday, I admitted something out loud that I’d known for some time: my faith, at least as I knew it, was dead. I made my admission to a trusted friend, telling her that if being …
Behind the Glasses
I sat in a beach chair and cried. Not legit crying with sobs and shudders. It was subtle – the kind of crying where your tears just turn on, as if they were emotional garden hoses connected to a leaky …
Seeking Answers After a School Shooting
Thursday morning, February 15th, the day after the horrible attacks in Parkland, Florida, I woke up questioning whether or not to send my oldest daughter to school. Sadly, it wasn’t the first time I had asked myself this question. Our …
Weaving a Tapestry of Hope
Black History Month has special moments in various phases of my children’s lives. Now that I have teen and adult children, the stories and lessons we discuss today are different than the ones we had when they were in elementary …
Reflections on Martin Luther King Jr.
Just over 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963. His words and work stand steadfast today, leaving a legacy of a nation changed …
Advent 2017: Hope Behind a Chain-linked Fence
Inside the eyes of refugee children, I found myself swimming in hope this week. It wasn’t the kind of hope that I expect during the holidays. It didn’t come with bells or fancy songs or a thousand lights. But this …
Advent 2017: Long Waits and Heavy Hopes
My husband carried the tree into the house, and – like magic – it felt like Christmas. We gingerly carried the massive evergreen through the house, my children jumping up and down as pine needles dripped to the floor. Just …
Hope: Advent Devotional
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. – Isaiah 9:2 If you are going through this devotional with your family, you can go to …
When My Parenting Isn’t Enough
“I hate you and I wish you were dead.” The words stung, though not as much as they did the first few times they were uttered. My 5-year-old looked at me with fire in his eyes and in that moment, …
On Telling the Stories We’re Too Afraid to Share (And How It Can Deepen Friendships- and Hope)
We met in church nursery – or at least that’s where we reconnected after a nearly two-decade hiatus. Eliza* and I had known each other as acquaintances in childhood, but when our family moved back to my hometown when I …