Friday Tidings

After every beach walk, I have to take a steep hike back up the hill towards home. Usually, I go fast and get it over with, but this time I walked slowly and super quietly—to see and listen to the sounds of nature.  I was thinking, "Be quiet and know I'm God." Psalm 46:10 I was just a bit further up the hill when I heard a robin chirping overhead in a large maple tree. A small nest was tucked in a nook where a large limb met another branch. I walked quietly on, but because I was going slower, my eye caught the unmistakable blue of a robin's egg on the ground. I looked up at the nest, then followed the distance from the nest to the ground. How had it not broken?   As I walked on I heard the mother robin fly down to the egg on the ground. She busily fluffed leaves and debris around it—a makeshift protection for an egg that she couldn’t get back to her nest. While I will never know how the egg got there, the robin instinctively tried to protect it. As I continued walkin

It's only appropriate that my name is now officially associated with a “white lady” complainer. I stand convicted because I have blog posts that would rank right up there with “Let me speak to your manager.”  Complaining is easy for me. Finger pointing even more so. Calling it like I see it is my native language.    So, when someone pulls a Karen, I just nod my head understandingly. It’s who I am. Well, I’d like to think that’s how I used to be.   Having a negative attribute named after me is a not-so-subtle reminder that character flaws are real. I cringe  every time I read another real life Karen episode.  While my old blog posts indict me for my white privileged selfishness, I’m sure others can recall some of my obnoxious words that revealed an entitled and spoiled perspective.  I’m sorry for those posts and words. I also ask forgiveness from those I offended along the way.   Even though I am a Karen that qualifies for senior discounts, I’m not too old to change. And I hope that

I wasn’t at the basketball game, but thankfully a quick-acting parent captured this critical play on his iPhone. With seconds on the clock, the opponents had the ball in a tied game. Fans screamed as the ball was tossed between the opposing players—using up precious seconds on the clock. Their lead scorer was merely waiting for the exact second to sink the winning shot. It looked like this would be how their undefeated season would end. But the opponents weren’t expecting the disrupter. In a deft move, the point guard caused a player to fumble the ball. He snatched it away. His teammate had seen the move and was already sprinting down the court.  With just seconds remaining, the point guard threw the ball in a breathtaking arch, right into his teammate’s hands. Dribbling once, he spun around and sunk the winning shot as the buzzer sounded. Without the disruption the game wouldn’t have been won. Disrupters don’t always set things up for a win, but they always create an opportunity to

Above Nazareth, Holy Land Journey While visiting the Holy Land, I told myself to observe it all. Listen to the historians, visit with its people. Eat their foods. Hear their languages. I watched my feet take steps over ancient ruins, and ran my fingers over carved stones. Every morning I’d wake and tell myself to look with wide-eyed wonder. I wanted to live as if I’d never be here again. I was living on purpose. And truly, my mind is still filled with Israel’s vibrancy. Living on purpose made indelible memories. W hy didn't I remind myself to have that kind of “living on purpose” life while mothering a child? Maybe if I had, I’d remember more of those fleeting moments.  So as a grandmother, I'm telling myself to live on purpose. Take it all in...the expressions, the moods, the energy investment that comes, not just from running after a two-year-old, but from living out days I will never see again. The same is true for parenting teens, career changes, economic fluctuations, o

Heritage Foundation is asking folks to share ways we see goodness in our country—it’s an Independence Day #ProudAmerican campaign. Share stories of goodness that have happened around us. That’s the kind of community infection we need to share right now. So here’s a couple special ones from my neck of the woods:   My young friend and her co-workers noticed a single mom taking the bus two hours-a-day to get to and from work—a drive that would have taken 10 minutes. As a group, they pooled their resources, found a used car, and gave it to her. Helping a family when they need it most is goodness at its best. #ProudAmerican story.   Then this: Only the best graduating seniors typically get scholarships. But in our small rural community, they feel every senior deserves the opportunity to find the right path, even if they didn’t find it in high school. Through local donations, every graduate gets a scholarship to continue their education in trade school or college. Helping today’s graduates a