If only you could see me now. I am sitting, staring, watching my computer screen do nothing. My mind looks like it has turned to mush, but it hasn't. Perhaps a better metaphor would be this: my mind is whirling the multi-colored wheel of overload that you see on your Mac sometimes. In my past experience that wheel of "death" as we call it in our house comes just before a major system shut down. Yes, that's an accurate metaphor.…
Prologue This little short story started out as a dream I had not long ago. In my dream, I was frustrated and then challenged by my Pastor as he seemingly refused to take charge of a group of people waiting for some meetings to begin. As the day went on, various groups of us just decided what we wanted to do and did it...all with the blessing of my Pastor. Our church has a motto: EveryOne EveryDay EveryWhere. Apparently my…
There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal." -- CS Lewis Who am I now that I'm not who I was? This is a question that has been running around my head for the past year. David and I are, predictably, in a season of change in our lives. Part of that change was inevitable: our kids are moving out and all those responsibilities will soon rest mainly on their shoulders. This is an amazing transition,…
You and I can choose to continue with business as usual in the Christian life and in the church as a whole, enjoying success based on the standards defined by the culture around us. Or we can take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him. If Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding…
[caption id="attachment_1508" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="This is a Wordle.net cloud based on the words found in Coffee Shop Journal."][/caption] Words have always defined who I am. I read them, I write them, I learn through them. Lately I seem to want to decorate with them. I love words. So the St. Augustine quote "Preach the gospel always. If necessary use words." never really resonated with me. Of course you use words! But a few days ago I walked into my regular…
I don't want to miss the dance. I get hung up on so many things in life, worrying about what I will never do or achieve or have. But I don't want to miss the dance. I want to love my spouse, care for my kids, and give life to my friends. I want to do the work God made me to do. I want to love God and the world he made. I want to do my part to…
Meet Toby. He loves me. More than you can possibly imagine. Toby loves to be where I am. He doesn't really care where that is as long as he gets to be with me. In the picture above, we are in the car driving from Lexington, MA to Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He looks so tired because he's recovering from the exhaustion of having to be under my seat on the airplane -- a whole 3 feet away, give…
Have you ever found yourself in a conversation where you realized the other person did not speak the same language as you? Perhaps it was while traveling overseas, or in South Florida! Or, oddly, it might be while trying to explain Facebook and blogs to your grandmother or parents. There's no communication because the other person doesn't understand even the basics of the words you are using. In order to communicate, there has to be a shared language. This is…
David and I are away for the day at a Generous Giving workshop. We've spent the day being challenged in unexpected ways. This late at night I haven't been able to process everything, but I thought a list of the questions it brought up in my mind might be interesting! Here are at least a few... You can only meet other people's needs with enough margin, or white space, in your life. Have I built in enough margin so that…
