Refreshment along the journey.
I’ll be honest, not even a few days into summer break did I start questioning my sanity. I had decided to keep my 5-year-old son home with me instead of sending him to extended summer daycare at his preschool. Why not, I thought? I work from home and keep my […]
They called him Big John. And he teased my older brother without mercy every day during our long bus ride home from elementary school. This charade went on for weeks, building to a final breaking point on a hot spring day. Finally, the fight was set. My brother and Big […]
It took about two weeks before my son realized he’d probably never see his little friend again. He had been invited to the boy’s birthday party and talked about going every day leading up to the big bash. The two often played together at school. But at some point before […]
Some moments in life take on a much deeper meaning long after the fact. It’s a humbling truth: We’re often too blind to the realities standing right before us. More than 13 years ago, I had the privilege of crossing paths with a young Muslim man in search of truth. […]
The sun had been up over the horizon for at least an hour. Perhaps the daylight warmth through the windows stirred me out of my slumber. Or perhaps it was the stillness of the car on the side of the empty highway, interrupted only by the rattle from an occasional […]
She rests on me so I cannot move. The hours are as full as my arms and yet my head has more goals than these hands are free to do. By the end of the day, it’s a wonder what was accomplished – not a single piece of laundry even […]
He’s not the man I married. And that’s okay. We were older when we married, as things typically go. I’ve come to terms with that. There are advantages to marrying at both ends of the spectrum, young and old. However, we married not that long ago and yet looking back […]
Sometimes fences need mending. Sometimes the rains come and the weeds grow too fast. Sometimes the wind blows hard and the roof needs repair. Sometimes the walls need to be painted And the to-do list grows faster than the hand can write And the bills pile up as high as […]
A preacher’s kid. A daughter whose parents were very involved in church. But by 16 years old, she left home feeling cheated that the church had stolen her parents from her. Tonya Craig spent decades trying to numb the pain from her childhood. “They weren’t involved in me. And that’s […]
She holds her hands above her eyes, marveling at how her fingers wiggle about or how she can rotate her fists from side to side. She grabs her thumb with the other hand and squeaks in delight. At four months old, hands are a novelty. She is in awe. And […]