“How can I be thankful for this?” I hear that question every time we bump into those verses about giving thanks for all things. And honestly? I get it. Who wants to give thanks for the crummy stuff that keep us awake at night, the things we’d trade away in a heartbeat if we could. I’m not thankful for awful things. Even when walking through them has stretched me, toughened me, or brought me closer to the God I seek, I still wouldn’t call the awful things themselves a gift. What I am thankful...
8 days ago • 2 min read
Remember when fifty sounded ancient? I used to look at people in their fifties and think they had it all figured out: steady, wise, settled. Now here I am, and I’m still wondering where the time went and how on earth I got here so quickly. My husband and I have been talking lately about retirement. We've always planned for it, but now the conversations have more substance to them. What was once far in the future is approaching the doorstep. I new I would age, I just thought it would take...
15 days ago • 2 min read
My husband and I are doing some financial planning for 2026, and I have to tell ya, right now it feels a little frightening. I wish I knew everything would work out okay. I think it will, but I don’t know that. Prices are up and insurance premiums are astronomical. We don’t know what we’re going to do about insurance. I’ve been tempted to panic, but instead I’m trying to focus on what’s right in front of me. Even though the trigger for all this anxiety is financial, I’m realizing that the...
22 days ago • 1 min read
“Every time I hear this song, I think about God,” she said. We were having a conversation about how different pop songs evoke spiritual themes. Soon the conversation branched out from music to movies, family time, and other things altogether. “I guess we shouldn’t be surprised,” I added, “since the whole idea of Jesus is that God is incarnate, always showing up in tangible ways.” Our conversation reminded me of a the Celtic concept of "thin places." Thin places are those moments and locations...
29 days ago • 2 min read
"Hang on a sec. I have to get my knee going," I said to my husband as we eased out of the car after grocery shopping. I have committed to taking a walk everyday. I enjoy the brisk air announcing the long-awaited arrival of autumn. I have a queue full of interesting podcast episodes and varied routes plotted, depending on the length of walk I want to take. What I don't have, is a cooperative right knee. It barks at me. Once I take a few steps, it chills out and calms down, waiting to attack...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
"He needs bypass surgery as soon as possible." Those words changed my family when we heard them. My dad, barely in his sixties, was in real danger of a fatal heart attack without immediate and drastic surgical intervention. After recovering from the invasive surgery, he made real changes in his life and lived well beyond expected rates, enjoying another 2 decades. He saw his adult kids settle into their lives. He continued deep and meaningful relationships with extended family and friends,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
I spent half a day today cleaning out spaces I’ve let get away from me. Nothing dramatic, just those countertops and closets that quietly gather clutter over time. Instead of doing a few minutes each day to keep it in check, I let things pile up until it became a half-day project of sorting, tossing, and wondering why I ever kept some of this stuff in the first place. Do you think the same is true for our inner selves? I think it might be. I wonder how often we mean to tend to the small...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
I am a nut for baseball, particularly the Chicago Cubs. Guess what? They are in the playoffs! I couldn’t be more excited or ridiculous about it. But here’s the twist: I’m not praying for them to win. Shocking, right? I need you to know I’d absolutely wear stinky, lucky socks for days if I thought it would help them win. But my prayers aren’t about runs or standings. When I pray about baseball, my prayers sound different. I pray that every team and every player will be the best version of...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
This week, some voices predicted the rapture. As with every generation before us, the day came and went. For millennia, Christians have been looking to the horizon, watching for Christ’s return. That hope is part of our faith story, and someday this world as we know it will end for us. But if we’re honest, the harder moments are not the cosmic ones, they are the personal ones. We all know what it feels like to cry out for God to help us and end up with a, “But Jesus didn’t come” feeling...
2 months ago • 2 min read