It’d been awhile since I read a book that left me with a permanent smirk plastered across my face. But then, there it was: the smirk, the grin, the Oh, this author gets it! type of feeling that comes when you read a book and feel an instantaneous connection with the one who penned the words in the first place. I suppose that’s what the best kind of books do, after all. They remind us that we’re not alone, that someone, somewhere... Read more
Sometimes, parenting is hard. Scratch that. Most all of the time, parenting is hard. When our first son was born, my husband and I marveled at how easily we adjusted to life with a little one. We called him our Angel Baby, mostly because the books said we could. He slept through the night at a pretty early age; he ate when he was supposed to eat, played when he was supposed to play, pooped when he was supposed to... Read more
“Mama, you’re a servant,” my little boy said yesterday afternoon, as we held hands and walked through the foyer of the old church building. “Oh buddy,” I replied, “thank you!” I figured he’d learned the lesson in Godly Play that morning and really, really taken the lesson to heart. Who’s a servant in your life? I imagined the teacher asking the four year olds who sat in a circle on the floor. Who’s just like that super great guy, Jesus, in your... Read more
A week or so ago, I walked past the kitchen counter and noticed a tangled pair of mismatched earrings. Why would there be one dangly silver earring and one dangly gold earring bunched together like I’d purposefully worn them that way? Now, a couple of things before we go any further: first of all, as cool as it would be for my husband and the boys to sport dangly earrings from their ears or noses, that’s not exactly their style.... Read more
When a friend launches their book into the world, I can’t help but cheer them on by pointing YOU to their writing. Liz Ditty is one such friend: she and I met when we were both just dipping our toes into the writing water. We wondered if our words mattered and whether we even had books in us (turns out, we did). Well, Liz’s book baby, God’s Many Voices, releases today and I can’t wait for you to get your hands on... Read more
There are a thousand words I could use to describe the last couple of weeks and months, including but not limited to crazy, tearful, laughable, exhausting, healing, surprising, maddening, and hopeful. But it wasn’t until last night that I added the word “surreal” to the list. Mostly, surreal came from seeing a link to this in my inbox: My memoir, The Color of Life, is now available for pre-order on Amazon! The book has been a labor of love, to say... Read more
Sometimes, when my boys are feeling particularly silly, they’ll change a word or two in a song to make it to their liking. Because they are six and nearly four years old, this generally results in a “No potty talk!” sort of rebuke from me. But a couple of weeks ago, they started singing the following song: Mother, we adore you, And we lay our lives before you, How we love you. They were just trying to get me to... Read more
When we found out we’d be moving back to the Bay Area in the middle of May, I cloaked myself in bravery. I would be brave. I would put on my bravest face, and even if tears fell – because they always, inevitably do – I would be brave and strong and resilient, for my husband and our sons. After all, it wouldn’t be hard to return to Oakland, because the place kind of runs through our bones, with people... Read more
One of the ways I continue to color outside of the lines is by seeking to recognize, celebrate and honor different races, cultures and ethnicities. As someone who identifies as white, for a long time I didn’t think issues of race had anything to do with me …but when the power of love entered my life, I began to see the profound beauty already existent in a myriad of colors around me. In the same thread, you must get your... Read more
On Wednesday, the boys and I packed ourselves like sardines into the car and set out to drive 591 miles in a single day. I wondered about the smoke and haze of the previous week’s fires outside of Redding, California, and whether the coloring books and binoculars and shared iPad would be enough for a six-year old and almost four-year old to make it ten and a half hours in the car. But then, miracle of miracles, we made it.... Read more
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