I have a new post on her.meneutics, “Should Christians Use Self-Help Programs?” It begins: We were staying with friends, and I was getting ready for the day in their daughter’s bathroom. It was a typical tween-age space: cute stickers and sayings posted to the mirror, hair products and cotton balls and drugstore makeup on the shelf. A quote on the mirror caught my eye: “I’m Third.” It came from Kanakuk, a Christian sports camp in Missouri. In smaller print, I found... Read more

A few days ago, William held a stick up to his mouth and pretended to play. “Are you playing the flute?” I asked. “No, Mom. The piccolo.” Of course. Of everyone in the family, it’s William who loves music. He runs to the front of the sanctuary at church so he can see the musicians. He found a book at the library called Meet the Orchestra. We returned a few weeks later, only to have him request it again. He... Read more

“The often heard lament, ‘I have so little time,’ gives the lie to the delusion that the daily is of little significance.” –Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries Read more

These days, I spend a lot of time with my Iphone. When I’m nursing Marilee, I read. I have an app for the New York Times, the Atlantic, Time Magazine, Redeemer Presbyterian Church, Christianity Today, and the ESV Bible. Although I wish I had more time to offer my own thoughts and questions prompted by what I’m reading, the Iphone isn’t very conducive to typing. So here’s a list of articles I found interesting in the wee hours of the... Read more

I’m a happily married woman, but I’ve been thinking about divorce this week. First, I wrote a piece for her.meneutics about Christian blogger Anne Jackson’s divorce: “When Christians Get Divorced.” (I’ll post an excerpt below.) Then, I happened across an interview on Patheos with Rob Bell in which he used marriage as an example of walking Jesus’ narrow path (see Matthew 7:13-14): “So let’s take marriage. Marriage doesn’t take much work at all. You just get along with this person... Read more

I recently reread a book by Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and Women’s Work. Thankfully, she includes a definition of quotidian as an epigraph. It means pertaining to the every day, and my life is consumed by every day activities, especially with a newborn. I wrote a post for her.meneutics as reflection: “The Divine Grace of Diapers.” It begins: I sat in the chair with a sleeping baby on my lap. I held her close, and I prayed.... Read more

I wrote this morning about Kathleen Norris’ The Quotidian Mysteries. Part of Norris’ point is that creative thoughts often arise in the mundane details of life. While folding laundry, an idea pops into her head for a poem, or she remembers that she wanted to write a friend a note, or she recall the words of a Psalm and considers them anew. These things happen for me. I enjoy solitude. On a Myers Briggs test, I split right down the extrovert/introvert... Read more

(First, a quick blog update: I’m sorry to have been MIA this week. Beliefnet was changing our blogging platform and they forgot to include me. It took a few days to figure out, but now I’m back…) And here’s what I had hoped to post on Monday: March 21, or 3/21. It is snowing outside. I look out the window and think back to a long, cold, stuck-inside winter, and yet I look at the calendar and notice that it... Read more

“I sense that striving for wholeness is, increasingly, a countercultural goal, as fragmented people make for better consumers…” –Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries Read more

“Everyone should try to spend intentional time with God every day. Except women with small children.” I was in college, listening to a sermon about friendship. But when the pastor gave women with small children an exception from “quiet times,” I noticed. And I remembered.I’m not sure he was serious, and even if he was, I’m not sure I want to take his advice. I like reading the Bible. I need to pray. I long for uninterrupted times of contemplation.... Read more