I often expect to find joy here. Now. And then I’m reminded that joy is other-worldly. Oh, sure, we can catch glimpses of joy in our lives here on earth. As we love and are loved by others. And I always, always hear echoes of joy in the laughter of children. But the love and grace and forgiveness of God …
In Others’ Words: Go Ahead, Astound Yourself!
Right before school started for my daughter CJ, we spent the weekend in Breckenridge. It just so happened our time there coincided with the inaugural Colorado Classic bike race. My husband, daughter, and I stood with hundreds of other spectators lining the streets and watched cyclists speed downhill through the town. I was astounded by the display of professional cycling. …
In Others’ Words: The Everything of Family
There’s nothing quite like family rallying together in a crisis. Yesterday, my family rallied round my almost 99-year-old mother-in-law after she fell in her bathroom and ended up being taken to the emergency room via ambulance — she said the trip wasn’t bad — and then spent the day getting x-rayed and scanned. But they also rallied around one another …
In Others’ Words: Start Writing, No Matter What
I’m in a “not writing” phase at the moment. Except the moment has stretched over a number of days. And, while I’m not on a hard deadline, I do have things to write. I have written blog posts … my In Others’ Words posts and other blog commitments. But that’s one type of writing, as opposed to working on fiction …
In Others’ Words: The Problem of a Fast-Paced Life
I had a lunch date with my husband yesterday. While we were talking, he mentioned the year anniversary of someone coming to work at his office. I stopped him and said, “Has it really been a year? That time went by fast.” Life moving fast? That happens a lot. I start counting down to something special, something weeks or even …
In Others’ Words: The Essence of Love
Kindness is such a beautiful expression of love. A kind word. A kind action. Kindness negates self-centeredness because we’re considering someone else’s needs before our own. Sometimes it’s easier to be kind to a stranger than it is to be kind to a family member or friend. We let someone go ahead of us in the grocery line. Or we …
In Others’ Words: Adjusting our Emotional Tides
For me, it seems I always come back to gratitude. There are certainly a lot of other emotions that demand my attention — wanting dominance in my life. And yes, I started to list them off and then deleted the list because why name all the emotional ups and downs I experience any given day? Disappointment can be one of the …
In Others’ Words: The Anger Remedy
The other night I decided to enter into a controversial debate . . . a conversation on Facebook, something I just don’t do. I wrote out my comment, editing it here and there, and then read it out loud to my husband Rob and my sixteen-year-old daughter, CJ. Here’s how the conversation went afterward: CJ: Can I say something? …
In Others’ Words: Remember Your Nice Words
Comedian Jerry Lewis died just this past Sunday, August 20. The New York Times hailed him as “a defining figure of American entertainment in the 20th century.” While at times he was controversial, Lewis was also certainly multi-talented, known for his slapstick humor, as well as an actor, singer, producer, director, screenwriter, and humanitarian. Jerry Lewis was also one of my all-time …
In Others’ Words: Surrounded by Story
More and more, I have come to love story. My life story — and other people’s life stories, too. To be honest, there are times I see someone and, at first, I’m closed to their story. Maybe they seem a little too different from me … and I’m put off. But I’ve learned to say to myself, “This person is …