I love the holiday season. For me, it evokes memories of baking cookies, playing Christmas cassette tapes (*gasp*), putting lights around the house with my dad, decorating the tree…and spending every other day vacuuming the fallen pine needles from the carpet. There were Christmas parties and paper snowflakes and gingerbread men to be frosted, thereContinue reading “Hard-to-Smile Hope”
A Diagram of Depression
The paralysis of paranoia Knowing what you should be doing Is what you’re not doing And you’re not actually doing much of anything How do you put into words all the descriptions for “numb” When numb feels like nothing Empty Hollow Joyless Cold While your face, your façade, looks normalAnd your core is rotting away,Continue reading “A Diagram of Depression”
Of Sundays and Scribbles
Sundays are becoming my favorite. I’ve started a new tradition on Sundays where I take a nap after lunch and take a Facebook fast for the day. It is ah-mazing. Yesterday, after I wandered out of my room from my weekly nap, my youngest (age 3) climbed onto my lap and wanted to play onContinue reading “Of Sundays and Scribbles”
Of Sweets and Snares
About two years ago, I wrote a post about the deception and dangers of gluttony. It took two more years for me to delve deeper into this conviction and identify my relationship with sugar as extremely unhealthy, both physically and spiritually. Ugh. It’s still something that disgusts me. But I’ve found freedom, so it’s aContinue reading “Of Sweets and Snares”
Of Blahs and Blogs
Writing a blog about writing a blog is a bit redundant. But I often find myself wondering why I post online instead of just keeping these thoughts in a private journal, so I thought I would explore that here–in a blog post, online. I journaled for the majority of my childhood and exclusively through myContinue reading “Of Blahs and Blogs”
On the Other Side of Blink
“Don’t blink” they say For soon, one day This bundle you’re snuggling Will be on their way To crawling To walking To tempers To talking And that little baby Tucked now in your arm Will one day grow big In stature and charm The warm, silky cheeks And that tiny heartbeat– Breathe it in now,Continue reading “On the Other Side of Blink”
Of Walls Where There Are None
For most of my childhood I thought that anger (or being angry) was a sin. Somehow I thought it said so in the Bible. But Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry and do not sin.” Anger is an emotion; what you do with/in that anger has the potential to result in sin, but it doesn’t haveContinue reading “Of Walls Where There Are None”
Of Silence and Solitude
Solitude, being quiet or still, generally makes us uncomfortable. Why is that? We know at our core that we want our souls to feel at peace, and yet this unrest, this unending chaos keeps swirling. It’s the reason we stay on our phones until our eyes our too tired to keep us awake, the reasonContinue reading “Of Silence and Solitude”
Of Margins and the Non-Messy
It’s easy to write about the messiness of motherhood. Of the chaos and the crazy. As I’m sitting here, though, let me describe one of the sweet and beautiful moments happening now. Mister Man is snuggling on my lap, half-sleeping and half-nursing, while my arms are over and around him so I can also typeContinue reading “Of Margins and the Non-Messy”
Of Starving Hearts and Socialism
These are surface thoughts. Choppy fragments. This post is a muddled collection of concepts and ideas and questions I’ve been mulling over, but sometimes writing things out provides clarity. I guess we’ll see. Let me start with key words, in no particular order: foster care, adoption, government, socialism, Christianity, homes, love, church. These words tumblingContinue reading “Of Starving Hearts and Socialism”
Of Robin Hood and Revelation
Growing up, one of my favorite movies was Disney’s animated Robin Hood. As a parent, the classic is still in my collection–only I’ve upgraded from the chunky VHS to a DVD. The kids re-discovered it on our shelf this afternoon, and I got to sit and watch (most of it) with them. It’s been awhileContinue reading “Of Robin Hood and Revelation”