I'm so glad you found your way to my little corner of the neighborhood! Pull up a chair and stay, and let's chat about life on the margins and loving Jesus and, obviously, where to find the best cheese dip and most life-changing books.
Caden came to Adam and I last night and said “I think daddy should go to Kavon’s senior night instead of my China performance on Friday.”
Whenever Jayci joins me as a helper in the baby room at church, her favorite trick is showing the little ones how she can “juggle.” She holds two balls, one in each hand. She throws one up and catches it, then the next. Eventually, she speeds up the process just a little, but never enough to qualify as anything resembling real juggling. I understand this style of juggling, it is how I feel basically all the time. Things need to be a little slower, and there should be fewer balls, in order for me to juggle them successfully.
The crowded road looms long and dusty. She is weary. But she has come too far and endured too much to turn back now.
Thankfully, my parents eventually relented and bought me a loyal friend in a hyper yellow labrador puppy. Pepper was not well-trained and only stopped barking at night when my dad would throw on his fuzzy robe and march outside with a cup of water to throw across her brow.
I’m pretty sure my memory is as airtight as a colander, perhaps the faded plastic wedding gift from nearly 12 years ago. Last week, We finally threw it away, it had been cracked across the handle for months.
The trouble with writing every single day is that sometimes I have nothing to say. I suppose this is not strictly true, because I have plenty rolling around in my head and heart. The problem is that not all stories are mine to tell. This is the lesson I’ve learned (and keep learning) the hard way.
“Things take the time they take. Don’t worry.” - Mary Oliver
I am impatient. I suppose this is partly my personality and partly a result of living in an era of microwaveable, uploadable, instant-everything.
Of course this conversation matters, because everyone is having it. Whether or not we use our words, we all declare the relative value of a body by the magazines we read, the accounts we follow, the insistent beep she can hear from her bed every time I step on the scale.
I am not a morning person. Occasionally, rarely, the stars and my alarm align and I am able to slip from my warm bed before anyone else. I do love the hush of the morning on these days, when the quiet envelops the house and I am alone but not.
What it might look like to live this year in expectant hope of renewal? To walk in the sureness of the promise that the Lord’s Word will not return void. That He is a Father who renews and restores, that He will make all things new.
When we are weary, Lord, remind us to rest in you. When we are afraid, help us remember to cast our anxieties on you . . .
We discover new things in the dark and find ourselves desiring to write our way out, to bring these new discoveries into the light. . .
I have been thinking about all the things that help us become who we are. The pieces of our lives that we hold on to, and the things we are forced to let go. The ashes scattered in our side yard, and the children who teach us about surrender. . .
Lately, I’ve been fantasizing about quitting everything.
My hero (Father G, obviously) describes the difference between exhaustion and burnout. He says that exhaustion happens when we have been working hard and long, and we are simply tired. When we are exhausted, we need rest. But burnout happens when we are trying to save people, stepping into a role we were never designed to fill.
Traveling for the holidays? Ideas for Christmas gifts your kids will love, that you can fit in your suitcase!
As a director of a nonprofit in urban Atlanta, during the holiday season my inbox inevitably fills with emails from parents eager to “give back.” “Do we know a family they can buy Christmas gifts for?” parents ask. “Can they bring their kids down to serve a meal, to deliver presents?”
I wanted to take a minute and invite all of you, my friends across the oceans and around the corner, to be a part of our vision - to build something beautiful alongside us. To build community and relationships. To build hope and grace and a deep belief in second chances. And third chances and forth ones. To build a movement of neighbors and friends who believe the creation of a place more beautiful and hopeful is not only possible, but something we can all play a role in creating.
Are you an introvert but still long to network at conferences or other events? Maybe the thought of talking to so many new people (or so many people period) makes you break out in hives. Maybe, like me, you wonder how to authentically build your network of connections?
Have you ever felt the kind of fear that leaves you immobilized?
You know those moments - when you’re afraid and cant move into the places you find yourself drawn, because fear whispers louder than faith?
