Sometimes, compassion arrives when a railroad bolt gets stuck in the back tire of your car. I suppose this might seem like the biggest inconvenience of all, after all, who would want to leave the house by 6:25 in the morning to drive half an hour to the nearest Costco in order to be the first in line? (For the record, I was also not the only human with this brilliant idea, for my arrival at 6:56 am warranted the coveted fourth spot in line)…. Read more

A change has entered my vocabulary over the last couple of weeks: I’ve been overtly intentional about speaking praise, especially around my two sons. “I really love the way you share your toys, buddy.”  “Wow! It was really considerate when you spread the jam on your brother’s toast.” “I am so proud of how you were a good team player, even though you didn’t win the board game.” Even though it felt a little weird at first to speak those… Read more

Grace struck me over the side of the head a couple of nights ago and all I could do was shake my head in wonder. I guess I hadn’t noticed how deeply entrenched in grace I was until I stopped and paused and read a blinking, neon light of a sentence in a spiritual memoir about this state of grace: Only when guided by inspiration do we choose right, when we are receptive, in a state of grace. But that is rare,… Read more

O Lord, you see me and you know me, You saw me when I was up at three this morning, When my mind race with possibilities, when I couldn’t pinpoint the problem, when I wondered if the darkness would ever go away. O Lord, you see me and you know me, You saw me when the destruction was tangible yesterday, When hurt splayed itself around the room, when anger scribbled across the page, when “I don’t know, I don’t know,… Read more