It’s the night before the last day of 2009. It’s raining outside, and I’m cold this evening, with a sore throat. Thank God I took tomorrow off—all I feel like doing is hiding under my electric blanket and staying there for a long, long time.   What a dreary ending to the year. Many people have far worse things to complain about; I have far better things to be thankful for. And I am. But sometimes all the disappointments and unfulfilled expectations of a year pile up in that week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, like a long headache. Feeling unwell—in body or spirit—can steal away one’s hope...

I freely confess it: Coming back to “normal life” after three weeks away has been difficult. More so than I anticipated.   For one, filling my days once again with the necessity of work has been challenging—having to squeeze the basics of living, from exercise to Christmas shopping to cleaning, into evenings and weekends.   For another, my life here at home is so much busier than the simplicity of life in my hometown. Church events, parties, tea with friends and holiday activities mark almost every day on my calendar. I’ve found myself stressed by busyness, upset by unmet expectations and...

Nashville your green and yellow hills won my heart from the very beginning   your tree-lined fence-lined two-lane roads and Southern pillars and porches   became home away from home   now your rock-faced shoulders are mine, with their summer vines, slick surfaces after a rain and icicles in winter   your blue skies and orange sunsets are copies of the ones in my favorite childhood nursery rhyme book   Nashville city-town of dreams and dreamerswho believe in miracles and magic when they arrive with sweet expectations and leave with something different and more   as I will...

This Thanksgiving season finds me more thankful than I’ve ever been in my life.   More thankful for God’s faithful provision. For my job, my home, and the plenty that I have received.   More thankful for the friends and church family God has given me, and for the family I was privileged to be born into. I thank Him for each relationship and life, from the vitality of the oldest generation to the beautiful face of the youngest child.   I’m thankful for God’s healing work in Mom, for His grace to her during a season of illness. For every unconscious breath she breathes through clear...

For two weeks now, I’ve been out of my normal routine. Away from my state, my home, my job, my friends. Living with my family, moment by moment.     It’s almost starting to feel normal, except for the things that I miss. What I can’t get away from, though, are my own issues and struggles. During these two weeks, the Lord has highlighted a couple of them. Like my tendency toward legalism and guilt. And my inability to fully be in moments of relaxation, without having to do. I think, somehow, these two issues are intertwined.   And I’m realizing that this time away, while purposeful in...