“Why do you have those red shoes on your tree?” Danhya, my little friend from India, asked me. She pointed to the felt booties that hung at the front of my Christmas tree. “Ah . . . that is a wonderful story,” I said, “and it began many years ago. Would you like to hear …
During the sixth month of my pregnancy, I waddled outside. The June sunshine brightened my colorful zinnias, so I parked my lawn chair beside the garden and carefully arranged myself within its plastic womb. Six months. Three more to go. We had made it past the danger zone — those first 12 weeks when this …
For several years, I have wanted to do this one special thing. Finally this year, I accomplished it. This feat was not a joyous bucket list fulfillment but rather a moment to honor loss. On Memorial Day, I clipped a couple of hydrangea blossoms from my container garden, wrapped their stems in a wet paper …
How can we reach deeper than the usual “thank you’s?” What does a heart of gratitude really feel like?
When God sends a creative sign, our role is to be alert and recognize he is at work.
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 …
“Why do you have those red shoes on your tree?” a little friend asked me. She pointed to the felt shoes that hang at the front of my tree. “Ah…that is a wonderful story,” I said, “and it began many years ago. Would you like to hear it?” Her dark brown eyes twinkled as she …
The doctor’s eyes filled with empathy tears as he handed me the Kleenex box. “You know,” he said, “no one – not even the medical community – knows how to explain miscarriage. No one truly understands what happens to the woman or how she feels. “For whatever reason, God chooses to take these babies early.” …
The Woman who has Lost a Child After those six infertile years, I suddenly found myself gloriously, miraculously pregnant. I bought tiny baby clothes at garage sales and fixed up the nursery. My husband wallpapered some Disney characters on a yellow background. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs danced around the border of the room. …