Family
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The Secrets Our Journals Keep
I picked up one of my old journals today for the purpose of looking for something specific that I’d written over 10 years ago. I’ve hung on to every journal notebook I’ve filled, perhaps as far back as high school, though their locations vary. I wish I’d been better organized all those years ago, and included a table of content, of sorts, so I’d remember what was in which journal. One of my nieces recently turned me on to something called “bullet journaling,” which I’m going to try with the next new journal I pick up. But this morning, as I continue work on my book, Was looking for something…
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The Bittersweet Grief in Celebrations and Special Occasions
As I sat in the audience watching my oldest nephew being pinned during his promotion ceremony, I couldn’t help but think about how proud my parents; especially my dad, would have been of him. My dad served over 20 years in the US Army; including three tours in two different wars. Growing up on a military base, and later settling just outside of one at his retirement, was the only pre-adult life I knew. I had several family members who became a part of the military service. Both of my brothers entered the Army right out of high school, with one making it a career choice, just as my dad…
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Blessed are those Who Mourn
Six years ago, on June 1, 2012, I was spending the last night of my week-long mission trip to Haiti in the courtyard area of the center where we stayed. It had been a long, productive, tiring, and blessings filled trip. I was both ready to go and wanting to stay at the same time. A lot of good work had been done. We were gathering together one last night to talk about what each team had accomplished that day throughout the village, and to pray, sing, read scripture, and rejoice over our time in the village of Neply before heading back to the States the next day. There was…
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Conversations with a Stranger
I’m back in my hometown for the Memorial Day weekend. It’s been mostly a good trip so far. I’ve kept it low key, not trying to connect with everyone while I’m home. For most of the first of two weeks, I’ve been hanging out at Starbucks in an attempt to get some writing done. So far, it’s been a little disappointing, as I’ve endured several distractions, including some I create myself! But I had an interesting distraction one day last week. I went to the same Starbucks and sat at the same small table two days in a row. The first day, I ended up joining in on some hot…
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Israel — The Holy Land
I made the decision to leave my cell phone at home. It was just that a “phone,” and I didn’t want to pay the extra money required during those days, to have my service switch for international. It’s so much easier and cheaper no. During my recent trip to China, I didn’t have to pay anything for texting services, and very little to make a call. But those days, May 2005, the costs was higher, and the introduction of the smart phone was still over two years away. And I knew if there was an emergency, there would be others on the trip with their phones. So when we landed…
