Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who said, “My family refers to me as the queen of good intentions.” We laughed, but her words made me think. Often, we have plans we intend to implement, but we get sidetracked. We have a list for today, but when that day comes to a close, […]
Good Gifts
This week, with the approach of Father’s Day, I’m thinking of my daddy. He died much sooner than I was ready for him to, 30 years ago this year, and I still miss him. He was a good daddy, who knew how to give good gifts. I don’t necessarily mean material gifts, although he was […]
The Fine Art of Waiting
How do you handle waiting? With impatience, anger, frustration? Or have you seen the benefits in waiting so approach it with an attitude of expectancy and learning. Like most life challenges, learning to wait well is a fine art that requires discipline, skill, and patience. If you’re like me, you don’t want to slow down […]
The Emotions Inherent in Life Pauses
Emotions are God-given and part of our humanness. They serve an important purpose by allowing us to express feelings and release tensions. Sometimes, we avoid emotions, suppressing them until we can experience them at a more convenient time. But often that moment never comes and those squelched emotions bubble to the surface unexpectedly and in […]
Regaining Forward Motion Following a Challenging Life Season
Last week, I had a conversation with a friend who is emerging from a difficult season of life. For over a year, she served as a caregiver for her father while also working. His death was traumatic. A week later, she was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in significant injuries. Now, she is […]
4 Reasons to Pause When the Message is Wait
We all like to sustain forward motion with our lives according to our plans, goals, and dreams, but there are times when we get a clear message to pause. Waiting for a nebulous, invisible, indefinite something is hard. You begin to distrust the pause message, and like a nervous horse at the starting gate, stomp […]
Waiting When Others Aren’t
Each year, with the approach of Mother’s Day, I’m reminded of the waiting journey my mother and I had in common, infertility. My parents were married for ten years before I was born. My husband and I were married almost six years before our daughter was born. One of the hardest parts of waiting for […]
Navigating Life Pauses
Several years ago, my husband and I experienced one of those life pauses that materialize when least expected. It came with a second job loss in less than a year in a topsy-turvy economy. The first loss felt like a hiccup. The second was more significant. As weeks lengthened into months with minimal prospects and […]
Writing a Book and Other Life Endeavors
My new book, Life on Pause: Learning to Wait Well, will release soon. When I think about all that happened to reach this point, I’m amazed and grateful. The process involved hurdles, lots of them, and there were times when I felt totally incapable. Now that the book is about to launch, I look back […]
Responding to Life’s Little Annoyances
Early each weekday morning, a squeaky-braked school bus squeals to a halt at the corner across from our house and expels a loud air-brake hiss. After picking up passengers, it backs into a side street, emergency lights swirling and backup warning buzzer blaring. Most days, I don’t care, but when I’ve been wide awake in […]