Writer, Speaker, Editor, Blogger
With the approach of the 4th of July, liberty, freedom, and independence are the watchwords uppermost in our minds. We enjoy many forms of freedom in America, yet often take those freedoms for granted. While we associate this July holiday with national independence, in a broader sense, freedom also includes personal liberty. Sometimes, we allow […]
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, […]
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 […]
Last week, our family gathered to celebrate the life of an amazing woman. Technically, she was my cousin-in-law, but I thought of her as blood kin because she was like us. Any time you were with her you felt special. Her laughter and smile were contagious. She was a great storyteller, but more than that, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]