Do you occasionally emerge from a situation — a conversation, a class, a conference… an experience — and say or think: Well, that was sure a waste of time or that was a wasted opportunity or that was a waste of money. We do say or think those things, from time to time, don’t we? What keeps us from saying that was a waste — or — what would keep up from saying or feeling that was a waste? As I’ve shared with you many times, I write a lot… I write in journals, I write on scraps of paper,…
-
-
I just heard that phrase. It has nothing to do with anything in particular, but I was just thinking: doesn’t just hearing that phrase lift your thoughts? Imagine if you were to be shopping for groceries this afternoon and you were to overhear someone in the next aisle say: Things are looking up! You’d probably smile and think, my-o-my… I wonder what’s happening with her? What if your husband were to walk through the back doorway this evening and exclaim, Honey! Things are looking up! Or, consider hearing your son strolling into the kitchen announcing: Ma, things are looking up!…
-
I know. I’d probably grimace if one of my kids started an essay: “Stuff’s going to work out.” But, it’s on my mind today: stuff — and how it works out. But I want to begin by saying: stuff’s probably not going to work out how you thought it would — or even how you hoped it would — but, truly, in the end, stuff’s going to work out. Last year, the year you’ve heard me describe as the most sorrowful year of my life, I heard a song… it was one of two songs that so resonated with me…
-
It seems that at some point in the life of every blog there’s a post about blogs in general, about bloggers and why they blog or, specifically, a post about that blog and its purpose. I don’t know why we do it, but every now and then we do it – we feel the need to amplify our purpose or we feel compelled to justify or defend our writing. I love words. I love writing. I write all the time. I occasionally post a few of the things I’ve written. I have journals full of notes. I have folders full…
-
Browsing through a bunch of papers and stuff… a slip of paper… the quote: “It is in the quiet crucible of your personal private sufferings that your noblest dreams are born and Gods greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you’ve been through. –Wintley Phipps The paper is yellowed, the ink is smudged. I mull the quote over in my mind – having done so many times before, I reflect on what it’s meant to me – what it means to me today. I know it’d be real easy to just think on the first part… the crucible part…
-
I smile as I look back and recall a blog entry I wrote on the 22nd of March called Springtime… seasons. At the end of that post I wrote: “… And I can truly say that God has had the sweetest surprises in store for me following some of the seemingly most barren seasons. Praise the Lord. He only does all things well. May I never take this for granted.” Additionally, in that post I included the lyrics of a song Spring Time’s Comin’ that’s surely become even more meaningful to me since that post was written — because just…