When I was almost five, my parents celebrated their tenth anniversary. My dad gave my mom a ring with nine diamonds on it. I asked him why it wasn’t a ring with ten diamonds (I was very proud of myself for figuring out the flaw in his plan), and he told me that he had [...]
Category Archives: General
Watch this happen. 7
When I found out about the Around Downtown in 80 Minutes competition that Triad Stage was putting on, I immediately asked Mike to compete with me. He declined. Politely, of course, saying that he’d do it if I couldn’t find someone else. So I called Alisa, who agreed right away. With Scott and Brandi’s help, [...]
Categories: General
A fashionable Friday night. 1
Mike has gone skiing with our youth group, so I am on my own this weekend. Unfortunately, I have developed a bit of a cold. I am hoping it’s nothing more serious than that. I have had a low-grade fever for the past couple of days. So the exciting Friday night at my house consists [...]
Categories: General
To whom it may concern. 6
(This picture reminded me of some old-school Derek Webb, but instead of running across a box of letters, it’s a box of music. Just go with it, okay?)
We haven’t done this in a while!
—
Dear Man on the Next Elliptical,
You are coughing or snorting kind of a lot. It is very distracting. And also weird. I [...]
Categories: General
Chasing after the wind. 3
A while back, I read an article that was talking about poor relationships with in-laws and making suggestions about how to “fix” that problem. The article, written by someone with good in-law relationships, was essentially based on the idea that you should check your own attitude first and if you are nice and pray a [...]
Categories: General
Streams of mercy, never ceasing. 7
Within every subculture, there are things that probably seem meaningless to an outsider, but are important indicators of hierarchy to those within. You see this with school uniforms, when students do whatever they can to indicate their status and individuality. A hairbow, the right kind of shoes, a certain style of hair. (If you don’t [...]
Categories: General
Without words the pictures will be meaningless. 3
For several years, I was a scrapbooker. I started to say that I was an avid scrapbooker, but I am not sure that’s true. I think avid scrapbookers are the people who buy all the little trinkety things that go on their pages. And that is not me. For me, scrapbooking was always about putting [...]
Categories: General
Continually waiting. 5
Life is a constant Advent season: we are continually waiting to become, to discover, to complete, to fulfill. Hope, struggle, fear, expectation and fulfillment are all part of our Advent experience. -Life Is An Advent Season, Connections, 11-28-1993
This was a week that could be called, at best, a bust. We are just not equipped in [...]
Categories: General
Odds and ends: book and weekend edition 6
-A friend of a friend has started a blog for girls to write their reviews of books that they read. If you love hearing what young people have to say about books as much as I do, give it a look (and give them some encouragement in the comments).
-Scott Westerfeld’s take on the Amazon/Macmillan showdown [...]
Grasping for truth. 1
On Sunday, we had our deacon ordination. Two new deacons were ordained, and I was officially relieved of my deaconate duties. At least for now. When the pastor was thanking those of us who rotated off, he mentioned the man who was the deacon chair my first year on the deaconate, our friend who passed [...]
Categories: General
What they do is not art. 4
As part of my fall manifesto, I intended to sign up for an art class with several of my coworkers. It ended up not working out because of timing and scheduling, but a few of us have decided to take a pottery class this spring, starting in March. I am equal parts excited and frightened, [...]
Categories: General
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles. 14
“Miracles” by Walt Whitman
Why, who makes much of a miracle?
As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,
Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,
Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water,
Or stand under trees in the [...]
Categories: General
Perspective. 3
I am sorry that I did not get the CD winners posted yesterday. You would think that the first week after a vacation would be the difficult one. But you would be wrong. Last week was fine. This week has sucked big-time. I mean, there have been some nice things, like eating Mexican food and [...]
Categories: General
Quiet authenticity. 3
I enjoyed this post by Don Miller, which is sort of about what Pat Robertson said about Haiti but which is mostly about being thoughtful about your faith and thoughtful about what it means to respond to people who, it seems, are not being very thoughtful at all.
This, for me, was the pertinent quote:
When I’m [...]
Categories: General, God, Introspection
Beautiful and terrible things will happen. 1
The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It’s for you I created [...]
Categories: General, God, Introspection
Um, hi. 30
Look! Everything here is shiny and new! This is what I spent my New Year’s Eve doing instead of finishing The Patron Saint of Liars. (Actually, I did manage to finish The Patron Saint of Liars before we went to a New Year’s Eve party. But only because the party didn’t start until 8:05. Yes, [...]
Categories: General
So all I have is me to give. 2
Christmas time came too soon
The bells rang loud and I’m hitting snooze
Buy some time if I weren’t broke
But I owe I owe I owe I owe
I owe I owe I owe
My credit card is full of doubt
The government won’t bail me out
This year I must take it slow
I owe I owe I owe I owe
I [...]
Things I know for sure: Christmas edition 6
1. Mike will always make way too much lasagna. This year? For Mike, Kari, Kari’s mom and Kari’s brother? He made seven (well, six and a half). That is a new record. Next year we are hoping to each have two of our very own.
2. The cookie dough should really be chilled before you make [...]
Categories: General
Our weekend in pictures. 1
A little of this:
(Says 4.5 inches – we were too cold to actually worry about a good picture.)
Some of this:
A fair amount of this (finished the baking, thanks to her help):
And then this morning:
We also went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (no photography allowed!), and we had a family lunch and a youth [...]
Categories: General
Overflowing. 4
The past two weeks at school, we have had a food drive, pitting homeroom against homeroom. Usually people who do not have homerooms just don’t get to participate in these sorts of things, but I want to be part of the overall school environment, so I got permission to bring in cans as well. Some [...]
Categories: General