If I’m meant to to listen to my heart and let my head figure it out later, then why is it such a long way from my head to my heart? No, seriously. We hear our calling in our heart; sometimes it feels like our gut. But it’s the thoughts of resistance that keep us from pursuing our calling –…
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Yesterday at school my sweet Riley was granted the esteemed honor of being named MOST ATHLETIC by the Middle School “Yearbook Most Committee” … which apparently determines the bestest and mostest of the most critical components of being in 8th grade. Peyton got Best Laugh Summer got Best Eyes Aine got Best Smile Two girls I don’t know were awarded…
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We decide what or who we allow to control us. Every day. We each allow someone or something to control us. Good News: We choose what that is. That doesn’t mean we compromise or ignore or isolate. It merely means we elevate the voice that leads us to a more vertical, freer presence with our self. It means we decide…
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Anyone over 40 will likely remember the movie DEFENDING YOUR LIFE. Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep and the rest of the newly dead are shown movie clips of their life on the big screen. In the movie, Brooks needs to defend his life-decisions that were rather dumb or cowardice. Streep gets to see puffy moments of bravery. First, I’m really…
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Erik in Southern California. His caption for this self-portrait: “Jesus time in the amazing weather every morning.”
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Media mania returned to our house this Christmas season. With the return of the Even-Taller College Sophomore Erik, the span of our kids’ ages seemed to expand again to the far edges – making the official suggestion of Parental Guidance all but impossible.
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Yehaaaaa! Roller Coasters got nothin’ on 2011. Good thing we love the ride and trust its maker with our life! Three family passings, and moment-by-moment opportunities to turn over our fear to our loving and creative God. I don’t know where I’d find peace – as a parent of a traveling, far-away college athlete, a beautiful 13 year old who’s…
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Our little guy Jack isn’t shy. At 6-years-old, he is typically outgoing and quick to leap into the game. Any game. (this maybe a problem during the teenage years…. Stand by) So there we were: St. Columban’s Catholic church, attending Christmas Eve mass to honor Mom. Far from home.
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December 23. Christmas !!!!!!! It’s here. We’ll celebrate at home tonight even though it’s two nights before the 25th. We’ll read the Christmas Story and just BE together. Food and gifts, yes. But more: our faces our hearts.. love. We’ll be together. And it’ll take some work.
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Today I honor my husband. One year ago today his decision changed everything. As magnificent head of our home and pillar of strength, he pulled in. He allowed it to happen. He allowed God to invade deeper truths. We took time. Weeks and weeks of study and prayer and growth. Sometimes painful and always holy.
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What if all my years in advertising agency management don’t belong in a box that I put on a shelf as I embark on this new journey of writing+God+women+growing? All those years of training in how people from myriad starting points can travel toward a beautiful new destination… Shouldn’t I assume that those skills are exactly the tools I need…
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Recently, Steve and I hosted the middle school’s Wyldlife Club gathering in our home. It was so fun and easy – we just had to feed the [fabulous] leaders and then stay very invisible. Got it. We kept ourselves out of sight during the entire 4.5 minutes that 50 kids arrived and scurried to the downstairs family room. Once the…
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Every Thanksgiving has story, right? And sort of a character all it’s own. Thanksgiving 2011 did not let us down. My brother Mike and his wife Christine hosted their first Thanksgiving in their wonderful home; and with the size of our family, the commitment is daunting. It starts with a tentative [timid] email to 40 people, presenting the idea of…
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Pastor Jim Cymbala uses a wonderful metaphor of the Holy Spirit of God settling on us like dew settles on the earth during those secret hours when nighttime brings it’s calm and cool. God’s Holy Spirit, coats us with a gentle presence, almost invisible to the eye, but nourishing and surprising. It happens while we sleep and then first light…
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Something like six months ago I had a BUNIONECTOMY. It’s hard to decide which word is more ugly: bunion, or its –ectomy. The kind and slightly-too-young surgeon used standard issue hardware to hold my metatarsal in its new place; redesigned to be straighter and more natural. Neat. Power tools. (This makes my husband very happy and of the mind that…
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Every day we get another chance to adjust our settings; turn the dials of our vision, our focus, our intention, our daily starting point. When we are overly focused (read: obsessed) on the person-to-person interactions, we are choosing to live horizontally. This often results in serious side-effects: frustrations, worries, expectations and, on good days certainly, even delightful joy and thrilling…
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I learn from Jack His only response to an obstacle is: “I can do it!” and so gallant… determination wins!
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I got caught shoplifting when I was 18 years old. I know, I know. REALLY late-bloomer. The security guard’s cold hand clenched my left wrist as I attempted to leave the store without paying for the pair of jeans that hid in my bag. The crime took place in a Hudson’s department store in 1980 in a middle-class suburb of…
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Lots of folks have written smart expository about the greatest change agent in history. Jesus of Nazareth was the original agent of change. God’s in the business of change. Wait. God’s in the BUSINESS of change. Or better still: God’s in the CHANGE business. For commercial and organizational success, we write wonderful books about Switching, Changing, and getting Good to…
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Is your happiness every day dependent on the actions reactions, expectations or desires of other people? … at all? Quit it! Here’s a PEP TALK for Monday: Choose to Be Grateful. Offer gratitude for the basics that we all have and sometimes forget, but also offer gratitude for the tough things that make us stronger. This is…