faithfulness

Qualities can be strengths or weaknesses…”faithfulness” is usually seen as a good quality, but I still smile when I think of Mom years ago telling a suitor that one of her concerns about me is that I am extremely faithful and she was afraid I’d be faithful to him. lol. I think she meant she [...]

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priceless

A woman’s heart, faith and trust is something incredibly valuable. Priceless, really. :)

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the varying faces of grief

Grieving the loss of a close friendship; seasons come, seasons go and so I must adjust. “I don’t need him” I state to a friend to try to help provide self comfort in the face of this painful loss. “Yes you do; you just aren’t dependent upon him; but you need him; that’s why this [...]

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men and women

I mentioned to one of my best friends he should read For Men Only to help him understand half of our disagreements over the years…I’ve read For Women Only to help me understand the male mind and it was insightful and every year that I re-read it, it’s a great refresher course for me. I [...]

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friends

I want to be everything, to everyone. I know I cannot, but this does not seem, yet, to pervade my internal thought life or the emotional angst when I realize, yet again, I am not, cannot, and will not be able to meet others’ needs. A dear friend who moved away from friends and family [...]

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quote

Chewing on this. We objected to morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means

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God’s love in human form

I’ve spent the last half hour alternating between quietly crying and sobbing, reading this story. What do I say to the author but acknowledgment of the grief I feel for him and his family and the promise to pray for them as the Holy Spirit brings them to mind? His story stirs up so many [...]

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the character of God

Thinking about depending upon the character of God in light of some pretty significant disappointments this past month, in my personal life and the lives of others I hold dear — His character which is good, loving, just, compassionate and merciful. Randomly, Pedro came on and the refrain “If I look up and the sky’s [...]

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interpreting truth

To give truth to him who loves it not is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation. – George MacDonald

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faith

“With faith like a child…” (Jars of Clay) What does it mean to have “faith like a child”?  Practically for those of us familiar with the theological terminology or intimations surrounding the phrase…what does it mean when we put flesh and blood on the concept?

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grace, revisted

Thanks to Laura for another reminder. :) “And the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” – Relient K

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question

What do you do to feel alive?

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on pleasing others

I like pleasing people. I like pleasing people a lot. I used to think I had overcome this trait, which, in general, I believe to be detrimental to health and vitality…but…I’ve come to realize that deep down at my core, I still struggle with the desire to be liked, to be affirmed, to be approved. [...]

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too easily pleased

Laura reminded me of one of my favorite quotes…(thanks, Laura!) :) We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of [...]

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quick rambling on infuriating grace

You know what?  I had an epiphany this past week. Grace is infuriating.  I think I actually saw those two words coupled somewhere, but it hit me in a way it hasn’t before. I think I have spent so much time with Muslim and atheist friends who have pressed me over the years on how [...]

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experience

Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn. – C.S. Lewis

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compassion in a broken world

And you want to know the insidious thing about my own heart? I received the prayer request to a group email list-serve that I administer, and was set to approve it for mass distribution and was numb and thought to myself “I’ll pray for this student and her family” until I processed this was a [...]

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films and ethics

Just watched “Training Day” yesterday for the second or third time – love that movie… Looking forward to watching in the near future: Tears of the Sun Traffic A River Runs Through It Dracula (outlier, haha) Mono Lisa Smile Antwone Fisher The Siege Legends of the Fall The Thin Red Line Inside Man The two [...]

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ramblings on language and the heart

life is so strange, sometimes. i’m really trying to wrap my mind around it. and i’m just plain hungry for some c.s. lewis. i haven’t taken any proper time with his writings lately and i’m feeling a drought. i made a crustless pumpkin pie tonight. i’ve been saying i’d make one since february…heh. finally made [...]

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;)

itching to dance… “let’s go ouuuuuuuuuuu-t tonight!” (rent) excited about a lot of things. nervous, a bit…well…”scared” isn’t the word…a bit apprehensive about how everything shall work…time shall tell…preparing to say a lot of “goodbyes”…excited about the next steps…hungry for life. my mother was right…she told me that because i had given so much of [...]

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on sin

A letter. [Take it or leave it. Thoughts free-flow...] I Turn Everything Over (Switchfoot) Monday found me on my knees again Breathing You in To blur the lines that mark where I begin And where You end No use in trying to pretend Come take me again ‘Cause rumor has it I’m not who I’ve [...]

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compartmentalization – a masculine trait?

I’m really good at compartmentalizing. So much so, that those closest to me say I’m like a man in that area… There’s no doubt about it – I am emotionally in tune with myself (i.e. a polite, sugarcoated way of saying “an emotional female”) – but when it comes to living life…I’m extremely good, probably [...]

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love

want you to know that i still love you india arie I think love never ends…it morphs, changes, but most often, never truly ends…our ways of dealing with it force us to compartmentalize, ignore, or bury it when it must change nature…maybe we use such absolutist terms to help us deal with the changes and [...]

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the ugliness of pride

I have to write a quick biographical sketch for something work-related…and it’s up to my discretion…and as I was describing my degree within the sketch, I automatically included that I graduated from the University of Michigan with high distinction. Ugh. In reworking the piece, I removed that bit…but why does pride run so deep? Professed [...]

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passion

Writing calls my heart. Work responsibilities demand my attention. And such is life. What passion calls you? In what do you consistently and thoroughly get lost? What breathes life into you, sustains you, feeds your soul? Expands your mind, nourishes your body? What are you passionate about?

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coffee, coffee, all things coffee

I use the word “coffee” for a general meeting at a place where they serve coffee. I have never actually ordered just coffee… the closest I sometimes get is a coffee based beverage, like a latte. Sometimes it’s not even a coffee based beverage (hot chocolate, chai tea, etc…) I think it’s just the idea [...]

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being a woman

i should be leaving for an errand, but quickly… i love days that i feel especially beautiful. because in today’s society, that’s saying something… and i think it brings glory to God to be comfortable with who he has made you to be… i love being a woman. and the power we have as women [...]

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question

What are the qualifications for being engaged? A ring and a date? The intentions to marry? The desire to marry? Give me a black and white answer, please. ;) A well-known radio personality that I listened to years ago harps on the ring and a date set for the ceremony as being the prerequisites for [...]

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question

I’m rebelling against the fact that I have to go in to work today…and am sitting here reading blogs this morning, drinking coffee, way past the time I should have stepped into the shower. But now I have to snap back to the reality that I’m behind schedule and dash around. ;) – In light [...]

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suffering

Why do we always seem to want to run from suffering? – It seems pain and suffering produce a lot of the best music, writing and art in this world. A bit unrelated but perhaps not. Where would we be without pain and suffering to be the inspiration? And where would joy, euphoria and happiness [...]

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