Living Well

  • Dew

    The rain sounds were playing on app on my phone as I read the words of the devotional. My mind and spirit were on fire as I desperately searched for some word to hold onto, some respite from a tumultuous and chaotic season. My heart was burning and racing and I longed for a downpour,…

  • Rain

    Rain

    I had a great plan to celebrate my husband’s fiftieth birthday. He’s an outdoors kind of guy, and I love a metaphor, so the plan came together quickly. Go for a hike symbolic of life-so-far with the family in a nearby park, have friends surprise him on the path at various points, finish the day…

  • Baby

    Baby

    Everyone’s been asking about how I’m doing with my last child leaving for college. “I’m fine,” I reply. “Surprisingly good, I am just so excited for her.” And it’s true, what a different experience this time around. I’m not gathering up baby pictures and memories. We are way behind on dorm shopping, and I’m okay…

  • Water

    Water

    It was way too hot to run, so I set out on a long walk. Several podcasts loaded in my phone, I looked forward to the time in my own head. And I’m not sure when I’ll learn the truth of it, but as today showed me, we never walk alone. I rounded the two-mile…

  • Namaste

    Namaste

    I was putting my strawberries and avocados on the checkout counter at the farm stand when I saw him. A baby boy just old enough to sit in the front of the cart with a tiny Red Sox cap on his little head. He was looking at me before I saw him, and I got…

  • Cave

    Cave

    Along with the rest of the world, I’m following the story of a soccer team and their coach who are trapped in a cave in Thailand.   Discovered after nine days lost, the first stage of the rescue involved bringing in oxygen, food, and water to help restore strength to the victims. They’ve also taught the…

  • Puzzle

    Every night before I climb into bed, I try to read from my ‘One Year Bible’. For every day, there is an old testament reading, a new testament reading, a psalm, and a proverb, and it’s a manageable little bit to read, no matter how tired I am. I want the last words of the…

  • Twenty-five

    Tim and I have been married twenty-five years today. That the day falls on an ordinary Tuesday in the midst of a busy week seems appropriate somehow. Our marriage is built of days like this one. As I look back, it’s hard to remember those two kids who had no idea what they were saying…

  • Burn

    Burn

    Last week, I burned my hands badly. Like, large-mug-filled-with-boiling-water-slips-out-of-your-hands badly. When it happened, I rushed to the sink to let the cold water flow while I prayed for limited damage. When it was time to sleep, I wrapped a wet towel around my hand and waited for morning. In the light of day, the damage…

  • When

    When

    Someone posed this question at my daughter’s post-high school graduation dinner: If given the choice, would you rather know HOW you were going to die or WHEN you were going to die? Now, before anyone piles on about the appropriateness of the timing of this particularly morbid question at that particularly hopeful event, you should…