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  • Chutes

    I’ve never been very good at chess. For the same reason I require Google maps to get to places I’ve been a million times before, couldn’t visualize my renovated kitchen until the day it was done, and lost any mastery of math after algebra 2, it’s just not my natural skill set: I can’t see…

  • Hope in Growth Under the Surface – (in)courage

    Hope in Growth Under the Surface – (in)courage

    I’m no gardener, but this past October I planted tulip bulbs in the ground and shared more from the batch with some dear friends. As winter approached, I bought amaryllis bulbs, planted two in pots, and gave away still more. I wasn’t looking for a new hobby, and I don’t revel working in the dirt.…

  • Epiphany

    Epiphany

    I love epiphanies, those glimmers of clarity or wisdom that enable us to see things a little deeper, or better, or in a way we’ve never quite seen them before. Here on the Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord, I went looking for the origin of just how the day got its name, because…

  • New

    New

    I’ve had some fun New Year’s Eves. When I was a kid, our parents would pre-order Chinese food for our dinner, and I remember with fondness the sticky red-sauced pork and fried rice we ate just once a year. In later years, I remember a fun NYE in a friend’s apartment with super-loud music and…

  • Steps

    Steps

    After a busy couple of days of Christmas church singing, merrymaking, eating, and cleaning, I needed to clear my head, so I bundled up to walk in the sunny but frigid twenty-degree day. Podcast in my ears and eyes to the sky, I headed out. It was an icy, winding path, but the sun was…

  • See

    See

    December 23, 2017 Dear God, As we come to the end of 2017, I am reflecting on this year’s word: story. There certainly were ups and downs in these last twelve months, and things I couldn’t have predicted. At the start of the year, I could not have guessed how much I would rely on…

  • Ordained

    Ordained

    Late last night, I was reading my kindle next to my sleeping husband when I suddenly felt the presence of God. To me, it feels like a lightness in my chest and an overwhelming peace and awe. I’ve been fortunate to experience this a few times in my life, but, honestly, it had been a…

  • JOY

    JOY

    I’ve met a few Christians who, when faced with a trying situation, advocate acceptance. On the outside, that doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. It’s more pleasant than the seeming alternative, the gnashing of teeth and twisting of hands that can come when we meet a difficult obstacle. In a scenario in which we…

  • Lens

    Lens

    See with a God-shaped lens, and set your minds toward hope. Here is not our home.

  • First

    First

    We were waiting for a table at Bickford’s, a very rare post-mass breakfast out with the family. I was probably only six or seven years old, but I vividly remember the smell of pancakes, my sisters and I huddled in the restaurant entryway in our winter coats. There was much more than syrup on my…