I cannot sew. It’s not for lack of trying. I took my first sewing class when I was in high school. After sewing the zipper into a pair of pants backwards not once but twice, I left it that way. Yeah, getting into those “I made them myself” pants was quite an undertaking. I took two more classes before I …
In Others’ Words: Defining Defeat
My perspective on defeat has changed a lot as I’ve gotten older. I think there was a time, early on in my life, when I didn’t think much about defeat — when I was brave. And then somehow, someway fear crept in and told me all the reasons I had to be afraid … all the reasons I couldn’t be …
In Others’ Words: Pleasant Truth
Well, here we are again, wrapping up another week. Friday, sliding into the weekend … and then gearing up for Monday and all that next week holds. I don’t know how your week went — how many successes you’re celebrating right now, how many disappointments you’re trying to shrug off. Or pray through. But here’s one thing I do know: …
In Others’ Words: Juggling Act
Lately I’ve felt like a juggler. I’m not a real juggler. Don’t toss me an assortment of fruit and expect me to do some fancy handwork and keep apples and oranges and bananas all circling in midair. Not going to happen. But when it comes to life — day in, day out, what-did-I-accomplish-today kind of stuff — yes, I’m virtually …
In Others’ Words: Correcting the Compass
Discovery — sometimes the process appeals to me. And sometimes, well, sometimes it doesn’t. The whole adventure of discovering me? I’ve alternated between ignoring myself … and chasing after myself demanding, “Stop running away and just tell me who you are!” I am all for discovering what I do. We’re confronted with that “What do you want to be when you …
In Others’ Words: Faith, Hope, and Reality
So often we talk of faith … and we overlook the reality of what was wrought in a life offered up as a sacrifice for you, me … every single person ever created. This is God’s plan … this death, followed by three days of silence and darkness, and then a resurrection that, to this day, has caused men …
In Others’ Words: Pardon, My Mistake
When I was I was in elementary school, I wrote reports. Remember those? The teacher would assign you to write about a certain country — the food they ate, the clothes they wore … occupations … traditions … whatever. I would do my research. Collect my facts on those little lined white index cards. And then, I’d begin writing …
In Others’ Words: Imagining Change
I’ve missed you! With all the reclining I’ve done the past two weeks, you might think I’ve been on vacation, but that’s not quite the case. On March 27, I had back surgery for a badly herniated disc. A glimpse of me going to surgery – not literally: As the anesthesiologist was encouraging me to inhale and go to …
In Others’ Words: Trust In … Trusting
We all put our trust in something. When I was growing up and I had a bad dream, my mother would comfort me and say, “Think nice thoughts.” As I got older, I learned that thinking even the nicest of nice thoughts only got you so far when it came to both bad dreams and the harsh realities of life. …
In Others’ Words: Something Else
I don’t know about you, but there are days when life feels simple … and then there are days when life is nothing but a snarl of complications. Today I’m going with Leonardo da Vinci’s “Life is simple” view of things. Why not? If a true Renaissance man like da Vinci — a painter, sculptor, inventor, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, …