meet the siblings

Carol, me, Allen, Cam, Katie, Mary

i came across an old poem today and was reminded that one of the reasons i love my siblings so much is that they make me laugh until i cry. this piece is entitled 51 because it belongs in a series....

51

two sisters and a brother and i watched

dad sleep in his chair yesterday

his legs practically running a marathon

and

we began discussing restless leg syndrome

only we call it

jumpy legs

or

the heebie-jeebies

me –

it feels like i have strings inside my leg bones

that come out the soles of my feet

and

someone starts pulling on them

like a marionette

katie –

it’s like my blood is running backwards

but

not angry backwards

cam –

my toenails itch….

katie –

oh yeah

itchy toenails is a

big sign

of the heebie-jeebies

and the laughing-till-we-cried?

soul food

what do you love about your siblings?

dear hank (three days before your wedding),

a daughter for me!!!

last night

you slept in the

loft

your twin-bed-that-papa-made

arm’s length from

your

brother

but

when you come next

you’ll be

married, hankandblair,

sleeping in the

guest

room

and

this adulthood of yours -

owning a vacuum

applying for seminary

asking for my sweet tea recipe -

i am

shocked and proud and overjoyed

all at once

but mostly

i am assured

that whether you

dwell

with dad and me on the mountain

or

with blair on moorcroft way

you are always

in the shadow of the most high

and

that

is a parent's

peace

love, mom

linking with holley and missional women

a friday haiku

a humbling act
to walk with nobility
trees, in summer garb

what is inspiring you today?

linking with holley and missional women

and the Lord was with

there's a suitcase on the floor,
open
there's a suitcase on the floor,
ghana-bound
and
i
am
to
go
with it
to meet a land and church i've met
in
picture
and
scripture
but not with my eyes
but not with my heart
there's a suitcase on the floor,
open
and
i'm packing
toiletries-for-give-away
little people cars for a little man
four pairs of shoes for justincase
three pounds of oreos
my journal-by-jenny (with joseph talking points)
and
when i close that suitcase
i'll leave out
anxiety
because God's word-living-and-active
says
and the Lord was with
enough times for
me
to
believe

My husband, Chris, my son, Jack, and I are headed to Ghana for ten days of teaching, sharing and playing. We covet your prayers!

How is your summer shaping up?

linking with holley and missional women

a saturday sermon

running
walking
crawling
from
low
gap
to
high
crest
and
hemmed in by forest,
the wind
can't
touch
me

amen

what is speaking to you today?

upon hills

take the hills!

it's where

 help

and 

 good news

come

from

take the hills!

it's where 

God meets his people

take the hills!

take the hills!

take the hills!

even

when

you

are

slow.

I was inspired to write this by my seventeen-minute-per-mile pace up this hill today. Thank you, pace. Where are you seeing inspiration in the mundane today?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita, holley

i have made, and i will bear

we've talked lately,
you and i,
in a parking lot
at the checkout
or
in the hall
we've shared text messages, emails
and
phone calls
so i know
the
burden
you
bear
how it feels too heavy
and
you wish it was
lighter
or
not as frightening
or
vanished, even
and you came to mind
this morning
as i read the livingandactive word -
even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;    
I will carry and will save.
and
i wanted you to have
this
promise
today


i'm praying courage and peace and wisdom for so many women these days. what is your struggle? how can i pray for you this day?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita, holley

public weeping

the twins stood side by side,

matching in their

tank tops

plaid shorts

reeboks (original)

tan skin

wrinkles

and

white hair

their unison and emphatic yes

to my are you twins?

belied their fast friendship

but

one wore the green, hospital, i'm-having-health-problems bracelet

and

this one difference was my undoing....

i wept at the thought of the impending 

loss

what makes you cry in public?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita, holley

noise

make a 

joyful noise

to the LORD,

all

the 

earth!

this day's joyful noise?

wave upon wave upon wave

and

the-world-noise drowns

as nature preaches God's

grace

upon

grace

To what joyful noise are you listening today?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita, holley

on borrowed light

charles spurgeon wrote that
like the moon,
we
borrow
our
light....
and how foolish i must appear
trying to borrow my luminous from
running
clothes
books
teaching
good works
opinions
people
when nothing this world offers
shines
the loving-serving-forgiving-Jesus light
i
want
to
be

from whom or what are you borrowing your light?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita, holley

lesson from the mundane. again.

i lost my 
dog

dog

doggie
moses

on wednesday morning

and
even though i was certain
he
was
dead,
tangled in brush or fence,
i searched
one
more
time
on saturday
and
when i found him 
(alive!)
tangled in barbed wire
i was
ridiculously overjoyed
i've never been convinced 
of death
only to be surprised
by life
so i would like to thank the
hillman solid brass round swivel quick snap
(its failure to secure my dog, really)
for
connecting me to the first-followers'
unfathomable
joy
upon finding Jesus
alive
and this lesson from the mundane
is
Easter's
hallelujah

what have you learned of Jesus in the mundane?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

feedback

dear arctic blast launch team,

thank you for considering

our

area

for your latest campaign.

the

sub-zero

wind

chills

provide a welcome

respite

from the tedium of temperate

here

in

the

south.

furthermore,

i would like to express my sincerest thanks

for the following:

numb toes

frozen eggs-from-the-coop

the chance to wear hats and scarves in the house

murdered rosemary bushes

and

canceled events.

while i have enjoyed your stay,

ahem,

i think it’s time for you to

purchase

your

jet-stream

ticket back home

sincerely,

a frozen southerner

if you could speak to your weather, what would you say?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

put-here-for-me

chris's dishes and daffodils and nepal-hiking and fathering

this man that
God
put-here-for-me
washes dishes
secretly plants eighty daffodils
in
october
for my february enjoyment
tends to
chickens and teenagers and driving
after
dark
this man
loves my age spots
are you sure they aren't birthmarks?
he
loves
my
every
fiber
he teaches his boys
wrestling

woodworking

wife-loving

and

the word

and
this man that
God
put-here-for-me
is taking his Jesus-walk
to
honduras in 47.5 hours

and

humbly covets our

prayers

for whom are you especially thankful this day?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

dear north carolina weather,

you don't fool me
with your
bright blue sky
and
balmy breezes
maybe you lured me outside today
with your
sixty-two degrees
but i know you
i've seen the calendar
and
listened to Chief Meteorologist Van Denton's
forecast
you
are
a
fickle
one
but today?
i love you

sincerely,

sun-seeker

have you had a spring-like day lately? what did you do with it?

linking with kelly, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

on losing and finding

this is my living room lately....:)

on the wal-mart floor -

a roll-back price tag, $2.62

a teenage mutant ninja turtle, donatello

one dead stink bug, on its back

a package of men's boxers, hanes

just dirt

a battery, aaa

a regular price tag, $9.99

but

not my missing earring

in my living room -
young love, a joy-giver
ruthkatecharlie puzzling and building
with hankandjack
time, a friend now, slowing and allowing us
to find what's been missing -
together

in the word -

a promise, fulfilled, found

in 

tiny

baby

i will be their God,

and they will be my people

amen

what are you finding this holiday season?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

lessons on walking, from a high school chorus

dark

descends

early now

and

this is 

disconcerting

because light 

is

an

anchor

holding steady the stumblers

is this why i love 

Christmas's light

so much?

is this why i love

celebrating the

overcoming-darkness light 

that

came

to walk with us?

oh 

stumbler

may you walk in the light

through this season

how about you? what reminds you of Christ the most in this season?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

on school and getting lost in the other

it's the new year again,
school starting up,
and the halls will hum with discourse on
teacher salaries
common core
student computers
free-breakfast procedures
locker breaks
how to handle cell phones
and
flipped classrooms
but on my wall,
in my classroom with the
always-working fluorescent lights
smart board connected to the brand new laptop computer
desk and computer for each student
heat pump just for room 804
and
restrooms-with-running-water just down the hall,
i'm going to post these pictures,
reminders of
what
matters
first
because sometimes i
get
lost
in
the
other

how about you? what matters first in your calling? do you ever get lost in the other?

linking with kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

on time and why i hate her

my second son, jack and his cousin, zoe

time,
that mercurial enemy,
is indifferent to
our toddlers' adorability*
the additional hours we want with our dads
graying hair
failing bodies
and
waiting
she pushes us headlong-and-fast into futures
we cannot fathom
and stands
utterly
still
when the wait is too much
and she never, ever
shows
us
mercy
in this moment?
i see toddlers grown
and
feel time slow as i wait, wait, wait
for the older to come home
and time?
she never, ever
shows
us
mercy

*(adorability is not a word? it should be.)

what is your relationship with time?

linking with  kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita

every vista

you know

you're in nepal when....

potatoes for breakfast feels normal 

potatoes for lunch feels normal 

potatoes for snack feels normal 

potatoes for supper feels normal 

you taste hot pepper in your tea

a nepali mother puts a baby on your lap for the bus ride 

five days wearing the same kurta doesn't seem too bad

you wear a scarf for hiking, even in summer

you see a chicken roosting on a goat

you're invited in for tea

you're given a seat of honor and an adorning garland

you see god's majesty

in

every

vista

amen 

what vistas is god showing you these days?

linking with  kelli, laura, jen, jennifer, barbie, sharita