We aren’t ready for these phone calls, ever. She said, “I took the liberty of making you an appointment at one of the country’s top gynecological oncologists and he’s going to come in today to see you and you need to be there at 1:00. Here’s the address.” It was 12:25 and I was pulling into my client’s offices for…
-
-
There isn’t a precise moment when you can see it happen. Only that he has grown. It’s not an abrupt shift, and could possibly only be observed through a time lapse filming, like the BBC’s Planet Earth footage of a flower blooming or a sunrise from space. It is as dramatic and beautiful as that, too. Truly the bloom, the…
-
If we try to hide our children from controversial content, they may not learn to think for themselves about important issues they’ll face throughout their life. If we try to force our own views on them without demonstrating openness to always-new ways of seeing people, we might miss a chance to teach and learn the mightiest of skills ourselves. If…
-
Recently I had the privilege of hearing two brilliant pastors on different ends of the country speak – live – and directly to me as if they had read the whole messy complicated backstory before their talk began. First, I listened to Pastor Jim Samra’s teaching all the way from our former church in Michigan (thanks to live web streaming)…
-
Time works hard. 15 years ago I heard the expression “all in God’s time,” and as a confirmed control freak, I was quite intrigued with this mystery. I was painstakingly seeking the truth of God, flip-flopping around the structures of religion and new age fads, so the notion of “God’s timing” as something beyond my control was new. I remember…
-
How can a heart soar and cringe all at the same time? As a mom of a wide range of kids, I should know this sensation all too well by now. For Pete’s sake, my 21 year old recently sent a photograph of his body practically dangling over the far edge of a cliff along the Oregon coast. Rude and…
-
We’re now in the middle of our move. Half of us are here in Southern California and half of us are still back in Michigan. The half of us living in LA is hanging out in a Residence Inn and managing lots of new-life, people who don’t know us, or no people at all. The two of us still in…
-
Sometimes when we forge new paths, we find footprints we ourselves left decades earlier. Our family is moving back to Southern California from the serene and naturally beautiful Western edge of the mitten state. (Hold up your left hand.) I spent my childhood in Michigan, so I have a deep fondness for the lakes and the uniqueness of this state’s…
-
Last week on NPR I heard a fascinating interview with a psychiatrist who uses avatar therapy to quiet the negative voices in people’s minds and free them from the burdens imposed by fear, doubt, anxiety, insecurity (etc.). I’ve since read that this sort of therapy is even used to treat clinical schizophrenia. Fascinating, isn’t it? Talk about theater of the…
-
It’s true. We’ve taken the leap and accepted great career roles in a far-away city. Our family now begins the physical and emotional relocation process that will require giant shifts in our experiences as a family, and as tiny people on a big planet. People sometimes reveal their own experiences – or fears – with their reactions to the uprooting…
-
Around here, of late, I have been referred to as “Eva.” Over the years, my husband has habitually watched certain movies and announced “she’s just like YOU!” He has too-kindly compared me to Sandra Bullock’s character in The Blind Side (though I’ve never had the wherewithal or sidearm the likes of Leigh Anne Tuohy). And on a good day, I’ve…
-
There is such intellectual richness in each thought from My Utmost that I usually need to step slowly through the deep water. (That’s probably why I have to work up the nerve to open the book and it only happens in sporadic spurts.) I give you these two excerpted lines from today’s teaching: We…
-
It all happens in a flash. Our youngest turns 8 and counts the minutes until his friends arrive for backyard maniac birthday party. My eldest turns 21 and heads to Prague with his collegiate basketball team to inspire high school students to strive for an uplifted life. Then, of course, he’s taking the dozens of dollars he’ll have left to…
-
Don’t Look Up! More than one war is waging above your head today. Yes, I am intrigued by the fierce battle between good and evil waging in the heavens for our hearts and souls. But God only knows who will win that one today. (wink) Right now I’m referring to the battle in Washington over controlling our digital screens. Our…
-
Here are a few interesting dots to connect. Yesterday CNN covered loads about their own media industry. Wait, is that a circular reference? No matter. They featured a shouting panel of experts arguing whether or not we should vilify the writers of Glee who predictably leveraged the public debate of guns in schools to desperately elevate their ratings. An equal…
-
Today’s news connection: The Huffington Post reports on what men say about their ex-wives. This oughta be good. Click. The statements are contradictory and, on the surface a bit whiny. But when we consider the deeper meaning, (which might be risky) the potential truth huddled beneath the whining is quite important. The reality is magnified and their statements are true,…
-
Wow I have been a really bad blogger lately. Maybe that means I ‘m not really a blogger at all, because one cannot truly be called a blogger if one does not do the blog-things consistent with those bloggers who define good blogging. So now I have also proved that using the word blog in as many forms as possible…
-
Not by accident and not by coincidence, our family encountered an extraordinary person this week. He is someone who dedicates a part of his life to living without a plan at all. But rather he joyfully steps out and intentionally responds to the opportunities God places before him to help others. On a given day, he grabs some cash and…
-
The national weather service doesn’t give tornados human names. We talk of hurricanes and storms with modern names that allow us to personify them, and point somewhere specific when we want to remember and reflect. Tornadoes don’t get names. There’s little tracking, rarely any warning and certainly no time to discuss them on television before we face their wrath. Joplin…
-
I’ve spent my business life working to understand what makes people tick and finding creative ways to connect with them. Sometimes the study is about people with whom I have much in common, but mostly I’ve learned about people who think quite differently to me. I know this is part of what I’ve loved about my job because it’s also what…
