I’m mulling over a Kelly Crawford “quiverfull” article I read yesterday. It so resonated with me (as her writings often do) and brought to mind several related labels and names. One thing that came to mind almost immediately is the number of times recently that I’ve wanted to distance myself from a particular word, practice, inference, organization, person, product, etc., etc., when any one of them failed or turned out to be different than I thought or understood them to be — or when my personal definition or application of a particular word or practice didn’t/doesn’t line up with whatever…
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This video clip touched my heart… I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
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I have a few Starbucks aprons I’ve picked up, second hand, along the way. One of them has a printed tape inside the top of the apron. I’m assuming it was positioned there so that it would be seen (and intentionally read) each time the barista positioned the neck strap and donned the apron. As with many other aprons I have, I’ve worn this one many times. Until recently, I never even noticed the black tape sewn inside the top band of that apron. Thus, I’d never read the message intended for the baristas: We create inspired moments in each…
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These are exciting days as we eagerly anticipate the call that labour’s begun for the newest grandbaby. I feel as though I, too, have been nesting as I’ve been gathering things for the birthing day, excitedly anticipating, along with our son and daughter-in-law, the birth of this little one. Kate and I were talking the other day about things she’s still needing for the upcoming birthing day… and she mentioned Groaning Cake. I’d not heard of the cake by that name, specifically, but it sounded a lot like ‘energy muffins‘ I’ve made for labouring and beyond. After a brief search, I…
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Carry on. When you’re drop dead tired and there’re still several hours and as many chores left to do at the end of the day: Carry on. When you have so much to do you don’t know how you’ll do it all: Carry on. When you have so many needs to fill and seemingly not enough resources to fill them all: Carry on. When you’re weary and successes are few and failures are many: Carry on. When you feel all alone and as if no one cares for what you do: Carry on. Carry on, Mother, carry on! Motherhood’s a…
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Earlier today I was reflecting on some of the unlikely ways God conforms us to the image of His dear Son — and some of the unlikely tools He chooses to use to work that conformation in us (and maybe even through us from time to time). I asked my dear mother in law if she’d send me the quotes she was sharing with me as we talked about God’s work in our lives — I’ll share them with you when she sends them. I’ve been sincerely amazed at the ways God works His will and His purposes in my…
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What’s Pulling on Your Apron Strings? That might sound like a strange title to the message I want to share with you today, but perhaps by the time you finish reading this letter, you’ll have an idea and perhaps realize some things you’ve been wanting to take care of for some time. So, what’s pulling on your apron strings? You know… the thing or things that nag at you or that seem to be pulling at you from one direction or many. You may be attempting to work around your home and keep having interruptions or distractions that prevent you…
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I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately… you know, keeping up. Not the Keeping up with the Joneses sort of keeping up, but the staying strong and keeping up with the times sort of keeping up. It’s been going on for awhile, but I hadn’t noticed it so much in the last few years as much as I have recently. On a recent trip down to SeaTac airport, there was some questioning who’d drive and who’d stay home. I volunteered to drive and as I was driving and the miles were passing… maybe it was mile-marker 14 or so,…
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You’ve likely heard the phrase: “Do what you love, love what you do.” Well… I got to thinking about that phrase sometime back and thought: one can’t always do that. And then I thought, maybe I feel like I can’t always do what I love [to do], but I can learn to love what I do (and change my whole outlook in the process). And so there was a turning point in my journey. One of many turning points. :o) Lemme give you an example. Just this morning, I came into the kitchen planning to unload/reload my dishwasher (and to…
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I don’t know what it is about “empty spaces” and my (and maybe your) insatiable need to fill them, but both are there: the empty spaces and the insatiable need to fill them. I guess I attempt to fill full spaces, too… but that’s another story for another day. I was tempted to take the beautiful new calendar my daughter bought for me and insert it into the oak calendar frame and rehang it clean and fresh — empty — for awhile. But before I knew it, I was filling in birthdays — deciding to limit the notations to ‘family’…