Oftentimes to embrace the future I’ve had to let go of something I’ve loved. For years I thought of myself as a writer. Occasionally I would say to a friend, “I want to write.” But I was busy being a mom — and I love my kiddos. I was busy teaching women’s Bible studies — and I loved spending time with …
In Others’ Words: when I was a child …
When I was I child … somedays all I wanted to be was grown up. And now, when older is, well, at least a bit wiser, I would go back and tell younger-me to slow down. Don’t be in such a hurry to lay claim to adulthood — because once you’re all grown up, there’s no going back. As a …
In Others’ Words: Brokenhearted
So my daughter, CJ, has been doing the graphics for my quotes the past six weeks or so. I find the photos, I find the quotes … and she puts the two together for me in a creative way. She enjoys being creative and she’s good at it. And letting her combine the quote and the graphic frees up my …
In Others’ Words: Unexpected Setbacks
This is not the blog post I expected to write. Of course, things kind of spun out of my control yesterday. And there’s the truth of it: I made the mistake of thinking I had the day all under control, hemmed in, thanks to my all powerful To Do list. Yeah, that’ll do it. My plans for yesterday: write, write, …
In Others’ Words: Can You or Can’t You?
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: The Right Place
In high school, I was involved in drama — both acting and directing. When I earned a role in a play, I had to learn both my lines and the stage directions — specifically, entrances, exits, and where I stood onstage. My spot on stage was called my mark. Sometimes my mark — as well as other actors’ marks …
In Others’ Words: Leave a Message, Please
There’s a lot of wisdom in today’s quote, don’t you think? And I love that it’s wrapped up in just a touch of humor. The past is a tricky thing. We have to learn from it. And sometimes our heart is comforted, even blessed, by a walk down memory lane. But sometimes . . . well, the past shows up …
In Others’ Words: No Waiting Necessary
I read The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school. I thought Anne was so brave, even as I wrestled with comprehending that she was only one of the children killed during the Jewish Holocaust. What kind of madness destroys the lives of over one million innocent children? Anne Frank penned those words about not waiting to improve the world as …
In Others’ Words: Choice
Was anyone else surprised that Groucho Marx said something this insightful? No disrespect meant towards Groucho — but I think of him as the wisecracking guy with the ginormous eyebrows and the cigar. I admire Groucho’s focus on each new day as it came — his realization that he couldn’t change yesterday or control tomorrow. And I like that he …
In Others’ Words: Everything … or Nothing (& Contest Winner!)
I’m all for going for the win. For not giving up. For try, try, trying again. But I’ve learned a hard lesson — a life lesson that’s shaped me even as it broke me — that all the “try” in the universe doesn’t always get you what you want. Or who you want. And sometimes, along the way, you lose …