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Making new friends…
In this season of my life, I am realizing that new friendships are harder to come by. As my life has shifted and reshaped itself over time, there are fewer hours to find for new faces. Where once, we could spend long afternoons getting to know one another over slow cups of coffee, now we must fit it in between the blocks of our already overscheduled lives.
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What is saving my life today…
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.” Barbara Brown Taylor from An Altar in the World: A Geography of…
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Looking ahead…
I’ve been watching her move forward this year, as though I am cramming for a test. As I look ahead, I am aware that my path might look different, but if I am lucky, and live long enough, I too will face these kinds of life changes.
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Redefining success…
Success here is not based on a number on my scale or the back of my pants, but a new awareness that my body must be nurtured and cared for as a good friend. She needs to be fed, clothed, and cherished. I’m not going to get another.
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Church lady 2.0…
In order to stay, I know I will have to manage my heart and my expectations. I will need to let the church off the hook. She can never fulfill my need, nor live up to my hope. She will continue to stumble and fall, just as I stumble and fall.
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What is saving my life now…
The color, shape, rhythm, and light in the world has a new power to move me. I feel starved for beauty and I am grabbing hold of scraps of wonder and gulping them down like my life depends on it.
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How many for dinner…
Over the past few years, the number has grown and is growing. First came the “others,” the girlfriend and boyfriend that have been grafted into the family. Then, came the grandson and the second is on the way. Our family is growing exponentially.
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Thanksgiving…
There were so many years that the reality of living in an EMS family left me feeling frustrated and sorry for myself. This year, I find that I am grateful. Today, there is time to reflect and to truly consider my many blessings.
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Garden musings…
But, as I regain my strength and wander back into my yard, I am again thinking about planting. My flower beds are overgrown, the weeds are crowding in on my perennials, but the daisies are blooming and the bee balm is swaying in the breeze. My hydrangea will bloom for the first time since I planted it, this year. The peonies were spectacular in June.
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Learning curve…
But today, it feels like I suck and I will never know what all the pieces are, let alone where to find them. I drove home tonight feeling like there were just too many things. To learn, to do, to find, to figure out…