Writer, Speaker, Editor, Blogger
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As I entered our neighborhood last week, my mind was occupied with complicated issues, but the sight before me filled me with joy. The late afternoon sun highlighted multiple shades of green—the trees above and the shrubs and grass below. Interspersed in the verdant hues were bright pops of white and purple. It’s easy to […]
I am currently in the final stages of edits for a book that will publish soon. When I submitted the manuscript in October, I breathed a sigh of relief, although the work wasn’t finished at that point. In many ways, 2020 was a hard year for our family, without factoring in COVID-19 and all its […]
This week I learned of the death of a childhood friend. We were the same age and first met in kindergarten. We both took piano lessons from my grandmother and shared stage nerves sitting behind the gold curtains at Case Brothers Music House. We whispered teenage secrets and confided young adult angst. I hosted a […]