I pull across the white fog line
along the edge of the road,
not out of drowsiness,
but wide awake to the field
bursting with autumn joy, 

pumpkins and squash lying
haphazardly, spilling out of neat,
lines and rows, plump and orange,
framed by trees and gentle ascents
that form a glory-singing vale. 

A bl...

I grew up with the admonition, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”  If ignorance is no excuse, then willfully disobeying is even more inexcusable. Therefore, imagine my dismay when one morning in December the front page of the LA Times proclaimed, “Starting Jan. 1, food scraps must be tossed into t...

I discovered quite by accident that my mother loved parades.  It was back when our daughter was quite small.  Mom was visiting, and we decided to go to Disneyland for Mother’s Day.  (It used to be a great day to visit the Magic Kingdom, as most mothers don’t put Disneyland high on their list for the...

The four weeks of Advent were meant to be a season of anticipation and self-examination as the church awaited the arrival of our savior king.  And then come the Christmas and Epiphany seasons of joyful awe and wonder.  All the prophecies about Immanuel came true as God in flesh visited our broken hu...

We light a match, kindle fires,
  torch the place, burn it all down.
So angry at the world that You bequeathed
  in all its fallen frailty…angry at the other

not like us; anger that’s a smokescreen
  conveniently veiling our own ruined hearts.
What are we hiding in those depths
  of darkness? Why, our pr...

“God said, ‘Let the land produce seed-bearing plants’…and it was so.  The land produced plants bearing seed and trees bearing fruit with seed.”       Genesis 1:11-13 

God is planning for a future that includes death and replacement, even before any death occurs.  He knows us that well.  He knows th...

I have a newfound appreciation for reindeer. 

My husband and I agreed that the first Saturday of Advent would be the day to decorate our Christmas tree.  The tree itself was already up, and lights had been positioned for us by our indispensable girl Friday, Denise.  But we needed to find a day to u...

“A farmer went out to sow his seed….some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.”    Matthew 13:4 

I know it isn’t the message of the parable exactly, but my heart goes out to the poor frustrated farmer. My son-in-law has been casting seed in his backyard, and some of it is growing i...

Sometimes in my mommying years I could be a bit of a bonehead.  I wasn’t very wise about self-care.  But I earnestly felt that my children were my primary mission field. I made that determination when I was pregnant with my first.  And when that pregnancy ended in the disappointment of a stillbirth,...

“You are my God.  My times are in your hands.”  Psalm 31:14-15

Are these words comforting or disturbing to you?  Do you feel tyrannized and victimized by time?  Do you get to the end of a day and feel disappointed by all that you tried to accomplish but didn’t get done?  And what about “me time”?  ...