Sitcoms and movies often vilify the role of the mother-in-law as in “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Monster-In-Law.” But in my situation, that stereotype never materialized. I was not at odds with my mother-in-law. Although we disagreed on politics and how to raise children; we found common ground in our respect for small towns, the Oklahoma …
It is the season of mums – that glorious coloring of perennial happiness that I plant and nurture each year. These are the plants I prune in the spring when everything else yearns to bloom. Because I know that when late September and early October creep onto my calendar, these will be the plants that …
To be chosen as one of the featured authors at the Kansas Book Festival seemed both a humbling and inspiring event. Years ago, I toured the capitol building in Topeka and was impressed by its grandeur, the gold and bronze shining off light fixtures. The acoustics in the hallways. That rotunda with its dizzying majesty. …
Hands raised as the students answered my challenge, “What modifiers can we add to these nouns and verbs? How creative can you be?” Young faces, not yet wrinkled, with no worry lines between eyebrows. Fresh voices not yet affected by too many years or hard living. I looked at them and found hope. Most of …
Because the tagline for my blog is “Finding hope when life unravels,” lately I’ve pondered a bit about how to find hope. Perhaps it is a response to the death of Robin Williams and how fragile life can be. Why couldn’t Robin find hope? How do any of us define and pursue hope? Besides writing …
Out on my deck, I consider the last gasp of summer – this season I enjoy with its plantings and harvests, its colors and textures. In my gratitude journal, I record the sights and sounds so that in the cold misery of winter – I will not forget what my heart is now thankful for. …
What a sad week! First came the news reports about Christians in Iraq suffering intense persecution. Then followed the national gasp as we learned of the tragic deaths of Robin Williams and Michael Brown. By the end of the week, I vacillated between hating to watch the news yet knowing I should find out the …
For several years, I have wanted an umbrella over my deck table. My plan was to sit on my deck to write or pray and not worry about the Kansas sun beating down on me. But every year – no matter how determined I was to save the money, I could not find enough extra …
A plastic bag is stuck in my elm tree. It’s too high for me to reach it, and I’m way past the days when I shinnied up the bark of my favorite tree and journaled while talking to the birds. I’m not climbing up there to pull it down. I don’t know how to get …
Since life is so unpredictable, it often unravels. All my carefully constructed plans can fall apart within minutes after the doctor presents his diagnosis, I open an email intended for someone else, or the consultant decides my job is expendable. What do we do when life unravels? How do we react so that the very …