My dreams get mixed-up with what’s real……wait, maybe it’s the other way around; maybe my real life gets mixed-up with my dreams. Is there actually a difference? What used to be curiosities now seem “normal”. What used to be “normal” now seems absurd. I wonder who really fits in anyway? Being like everyone else isn’t […]
Category Archives: PEACE FULL HOME
The house is quiet except for the dehumidifier running in the background. We had the rainiest summer since 2011 and the rainiest September on record, in 117 years. It reminds me a lot of Portland, Oregon, where I’d visit my daughter, Erin, who lived there for a while. My prayer list is really long right […]
Part I—Danger Through the course of evolution, our brains have moved away from cave-men/women mindsets of always being hyper-vigilant—thinking that there’s likely danger right around the corner waiting to destroy us. Some of us, however, never evolve past that—we’re still expecting the next “terrifying thing” to come barreling at us, so we’re unable to ever simply […]
For the second time in a week, I woke up to painful spasms in my left leg. After I stretched and got it to “calm down”, I climbed out of bed, went to the kitchen, poured a large glass of water and decided to go outside. Even though it was only 2:40 in the morning, our […]
The waves crash onto the shore as I walk on the beach not long after the sun has decided to grace us, again, with her majesty. I don’t get too far before I see litter-—a few empty plastic bottles, a beaten up cooler, some remnants of a late-night party; all carelessly left by humans. They’re […]
Her hands were pressed tightly together and she was aware of the energy between those two hands— hands that worked hard, hands that reached out, hands that held those who were in the dark. Tears started to flow—tears that she was surprised by. After all, tears don’t change anything. She concentrated on being still, but […]
Rain is pouring down as the Bride walks to the two-hundred-year-old church. Four men, wearing yellow rain jackets, carry a canopy over her (and the beautifully embellished wedding gown with an eight-foot train). Her sister—the Matron of Honor—and her parents are all squeezed under the canopy as well. Horns blow, and people wave, as well-wishers watch the […]
If you’ve been around children you’ve likely heard “no fair!” shouted in anger or frustration, or whispered with tears running down the child’s face. “No fair” is only six letters, but when uttered in pain reads more like, “why me?” “why not me?” “why am I the one who’s left out?” “why didn’t I get […]
When I was in high school, a local furniture store gifted to all of the graduating senior girls a “miniature hope chest”. A hope chest is where, at least in bygone years, a young woman collected items—like household linens—that she’d use when she got married. Maybe the idea was that “hoping for” helped creating the […]
This post is dedicated to the people who bravely share their vulnerabilities, pain and feelings of not being enough; the people who believe they don’t fit in or matter or make a difference; the people who are honest and real and speak their truth. The night was calm, almost apathetic, just like her mind […]
One early morning, with the ground soaked from the previous night’s downpour, I walked to the garden and started pulling weeds. As I worked, I realized how many similarities there are between removing undesirable plants from our gardens, and removing non-plant “weeds”—people, situations, painful memories, hurtful experiences—from our lives. Both kinds of weed removal require […]
The garbage truck came rolling down the street around 6:40, as I sat with my tea and my book, at the end of my twenty minutes of quality time with God (something I am trying to be much better at starting every day with). I watched as two men jumped off. One turned the trash […]
Tears—big, fat tears; the kind that make some men uncomfortable, and many women sigh—rolled down his cheeks. He lay on a hospital bed, his life nearing the end, spending precious moments with his daughter who sat next to him—this daughter who wasn’t his and was always his. He was only in his sixties. He talked […]
The wind howls up the mountain, washing over the house. The mewing of the cat bird, long before any other friends join the chorus, heralds the coming of a new day. The path lights in front of the home across the cul-de-sac create dancing circles of light on the wet pavement. The breeze blowing through […]
Last week, I was helping a client—who has a special place in my heart—get into the rhythm of starting the day with “God Time”. The morning after our time together I sent a note with these reminders: make a cup of tea or coffee; don’t do any “chore like” tasks other than this one—the things […]
It was 3:47 am when I opened my eyes. I didn’t know the time at first; I just knew it had to be early because it was still dark. There was no sound except for the whir, whir, whir of the ceiling fan. I lay there for a few minutes, then got up to look […]
A “sunk cost” is an investment that can’t be recovered. What if…..you buy a ticket to a movie and, ten minutes into it, know it’s not going to be a film you’ll enjoy? The ticket was already purchased—it’s a sunk cost. Will you walk out or will you think, “I paid good money to see this, […]
I’ve often heard people (typically women) say, “I don’t have a thing to wear!” Some even consider it a “clothing crisis”. But, far from really having nothing to wear, we open our closets and the big challenge is usually deciding what to wear because we have so much. Often, we forget how fortunate we are to have […]
Last Thursday evening, on my way home from my daughter’s house, a driver turned left on red and almost crashed head-on into the side of my car. I was talking to my other daughter and her fiancé (through my car’s speaker of course) when I saw that a car was barreling straight toward me. I […]
You’re a third-grade child and you decide that you’re going to save your “special”, “important” papers in a plain folder. You write your name on it and start carrying that folder around with you wherever you go. One day you’re walking down the street and a couple of pages blow out of The Folder. You […]
