This year that is Unprecedented—it has happened before. Disaster took a different form, maybe, but Plagues, storms, oppression, injustice— There is nothing new under the sun. There is comfort in knowing humanity before us has Also struggled and sorrowed. This year we took our place among our kindred Who have endured terrible things. The world… Continue reading Unprecedented, A Christmas Poem for 2020
I'm a big believer in the power of story. Fiction changes us, makes us think, gives us relief, helps us know we're not alone, and lets us walk in the shoes of people who are very different from us. Plus, it's so fun to read. There has been a lot of talk about the importance… Continue reading Why Read Fiction During a Pandemic?
Out of a million seeds that fall in the forest How many of them grow, pushing two tender leaves through the black earth? Out of those few, how many become saplings, thin trunks wiry and strong Like young boys with supple limbs? And then—such a small fraction—one or two become trees. But He made sure… Continue reading The Tree: A Poem for Good Friday
Many years ago, in 2008, I decided to try my hand at Nanowrimo. If you've never heard of that delightful mouthful, it stands for National Novel Writing Month, and it's an event that takes place throughout the month of November. Crazy people who love to write (like me) decide to write 50,000 words in one… Continue reading Three Ways to Come Up with a Story Idea
I admit it: I am a book nerd. Reading has been my favorite hobby all my life, since I can remember. My mom has a wall of bookshelves in her living room, and I'm pretty sure I read every book on them, some of them multiple times. (Now I have my own living room wall… Continue reading Eight Ways I Find Time to Read
One of my favorite pictures from 2010 Since it's the beginning of a new decade (and I'll join everyone else by saying HOW CAN IT BE 2020 ALREADY?), it seemed like the right time for a little bit of reflection. I have been loving What I Learned-type lists (a la Emily P. Freeman and Modern… Continue reading Ten Things I Learned in the Last Ten Years
Ah, December. The month of festivities and illness. For us, anyway. We went down hard with the flu, missing Christmas with family and our planned trip to Florida, but giving me plenty of time to read. Turns out I read more books in December than any other month of 2019--eleven in all. And most of… Continue reading On the Bookshelf – December, 2019
I spent most of November in Gilead, the fictional small town in a corner of Iowa, created by Marilynne Robinson in her books Gilead, Home, and Lila. (I haven't read Home, yet.) The books are gentle and slow, full of kindness, though not without trials. Reading both of them in the same month made me… Continue reading On the Bookshelf – November, 2019
Thanks to an amazing fifteenth anniversary trip that involved many, many hours in various airports, I read so much in October. And the month's not even over. We spent a week on Prince Edward Island--a life-long dream--and it was lovely. Off-season, not at all crowded, glorious fall weather, slow mornings and many walks on the… Continue reading On the Bookshelf – October, 2019
I was honored to write a guest post at my dear friend Alison's blog, taking part in her Nothing So Broken series, about our failed adoption. If you've ever experienced a failed adoption, known someone who has, or just not been able to figure out the reason why hard things happen, this post is for… Continue reading Unanswered: A Failed Adoption
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