Love Means Showing Up
I’ve been feeling tender lately. It’s almost as if my soul is a little bit bruised and I need to be protective of myself. One of the gifts of being in your forties is that you aren’t a mystery to yourself anymore. While this particular bout of tenderness stems from sending my oldest child off
Learning how to disagree and still be respectful is hard work. It takes patience and listening and mutual forbearance. Yelling is much easier. This past week, I feel like I’ve been around too much yelling. On Friday night, I attended a vigil in support of immigrant children. A solemn crowd gathered to light candles, listen
“I should have been a lawyer,” I said. I was sitting at the pool with two of my girlfriends who were kindly helping me figure out why I’m having so much trouble with my kids growing up and moving away. “That way,” I continued, “I wouldn’t feel so foolish for having put all of time
My son was practically crowing in the doctor’s office. Caleb is officially over six feet tall. I wasn’t celebrating with him. In fact, I wasn’t even believing the very clear data that I had just witnessed with my own eyes. When the nurse left, I said, “Maybe we should have her re-measure you. I just
“Has it hit you yet?” I’ve had several people ask me this in the past week. The short answer is “No.” Our oldest child recently graduated from high school and we’re just now emerging from the month-long marathon of her graduation. This spring has been one track meet and banquet and celebration after another. And
We should have held a dress rehearsal. On Easter morning, our family really struggled to get ready for the early worship service. Though we’d laid out our clothes the night before, I hadn’t tended to all the details. We have, after all, been to church before and I guess I was a little arrogant. Underwear
I cried the first time I saw images of her climbing the flagpole. The images from that day show such fierce bravery and such determination for justice that they make me teary. At the same time, I feel so convicted by Bree’s actions that I want to look away. Last week, I was helping with
A few weeks ago, I walked into the kitchen and announced, “I have failed my children!” I’d been at a gathering with other parents and got the distinct impression that I wasn’t as on top of the college prep process as I should have been. I went on to tell my teenagers that I should
Dear Methodist friends, How are you doing? I’ve been worried about you. I started praying for you last week when I heard your church was in the midst of a big vote about LGBTQ inclusion. My guess is that you are all feeling pretty beat up. I’ve been there. My denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA),
I was at the pediatrician twice this week because I have four kids and it is winter. For the first time, I noticed a question on their registration form. After writing the reason for your visit and how long the symptoms have been present, they asked, “Does anything make it better or worse?” For the