Grace in Daily Life
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“The kind of things that came out of this savagery …”
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis: “Four days ago, my city was ruthlessly attacked. There’s no explaining the savagery involved here. . . . I’ve spent the last several days looking at hundreds of hours of videotape. I got to see how brutal the attack was, over and over and over again. “More important,” he said, he watched how first responders and ordinary citizens put people back together. “Tourniquets,” Davis said. “Stemming the bleeding with their hands. Putting a man who was on fire out with their hands. These are the kind of things that came out of this savagery. It makes me proud.” So worth the read: Police, Citizens and Technology Factor into Boston…
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Now This Is Love (Part 2)
Here is another example of love … my friend, Jennie Strong. Jennie is a busy mother of two young children with another baby on the way soon. And yet, she invited our dear Ella into her home this week expressly for the purpose of freeing up my schedule to work on my new women’s retreat. Talk about servant hospitality. That’s Jennie. She saw a (great) need. She knew it would take sacrifice to meet it. But she is mission-minded and Kingdom-minded and she jumped in with both feet … never making me feel like an imposition; never waving some sort of “friend-quid-pro-quo” in my face. (“You watched my kids for .67 hours so now…
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Now This is Love
I almost didn’t share this photo because I’m embarrassed about the level of Golden Retriever hair and dust bunnies that are on our hardwood floor. But I can’t stop thinking about how lovely and loving this bubble wrap is: Can you figure out what is going on here? Lilikoi is a bit puzzled. But I’m not. This is love! Fred loving Sophia and me after we’ve stubbed our toes on our bed frame WAY too many times … he bubble-wrapped our foot nemesis and didn’t even draw attention to doing so. Serving in secret. Taking care of people he loves.…
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Why I LOVE Montana Drivers (This made me cry …)
I stand by my FaceBook like last week of Georgeanne’s comment about drivers in her hometown not understanding how to use a turn-lane. (The concept is obviously also foreign to a LOT of Montana drivers.) And until I lived in Montana, I never knew that drivers in the USA considered stop signs to be optional. (Turns out there aren’t many stop signs in Montana so again, the concept is a little foreign to native Montanans.) But today? I was SO proud of my Montana-neighbor-drivers that I cried … I was sitting at a “busy” (for us) intersection at a “busy” (I use air quotes because we really do have a…
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Out Where the People Are
Today was my first day out of the house since Monday morning. In fact, today was my first day out of bed for more than a few minutes since Monday. It’s a different world out here where all the people are! There are lights and colors and I’ve even been a bit rejuvenated by fresh air. Ahhhhhhhhh. I can always tell when I’m really sick because I don’t mind being in bed hour after hour. Normally, that would drive me absolutely insane. But I know I’m starting to get better when I actually want to be out and about. Clean sheet day! Bleach everything that moves day! Try to find the dining room…
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Now We See Dimly
I thoroughly enjoyed our family’s time at the touring Broadway production of The Lion King. As expected, the music was enjoyable, the costumes and dancing top-notch, and the puppetry was truly mind-boggling. All in all, a great show and yet another affirmation of the fact that I really love musicals. But also as usual, I didn’t keep my eyes on the stage throughout the show. Whenever I have the privilege of observing professionals in a setting like this, I find it particularly enjoyable to watch the people who are at the back of the spotlight, not just in the spotlight. Because MAN OH MAN are those sound, light, and staging crews INCREDIBLE. The illusions they…
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Pain Does Its Work … And Grace Takes Over
This is such an amazing essay! I have filed it in my read & re-read & re-read area and I look at it often, including this past week. I hope that it truly encourages you all! Yours — t PAIN DOES ITS WORK, AND GRACE TAKES OVER Written by Ajith Fernando while travelling abroad I left home on a trip abroad feeling very discouraged and hurt because of some problems. This is normal in the Christian life, and these are emotions I must not deny. Sorrow and pain must be permitted to do their work. They – deepen our commitment and mould our character, especially teaching us patience; – lead…
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High School is Still High School
Due to an accompanying gig, I had the joy of visiting Billings West High School this morning. What an adventure! I hadn’t been inside of a public high school in years and honestly? I kind of expected things to be very different than my 1985-1988 years at MCHS. More George Jetson robots or iPads or something. But instead, I saw paint that must be purchased by all public schools in one giant vat, locker signs (OK, the graphics were way cooler than our Commodore 64 “computers” could create back in the 80’s), announcements attached to bulletin boards with pushpins, and girls in choir dresses warming up their alto lines in…
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To Learn to be a Blessing, You Have to Learn to Serve
So much love! What a testimony this family has: And how glad I am that Fred encouraged me to watch this super fun video too: What a voice! To give Soph a sense of just how uniquely gifted this young man is, we scoured old three tenors videos to hear other men who can fill entire halls with walls of profoundly beautiful sound. Oh, how I love music! It is a true joy to listen to this—what a range! And he’s only 17 years old. Can’t wait to hear how he progresses in the coming years. But even more than the great music (truly great music!), I love how…
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Two Reasons (Really Just One) to End a Conversation
If I were being honest, I would have to say that when I first picked up my friend’s book, Tools for Young Philosophers: The Elements of Philosophy by Dr. Paul T. Jensen, I was a little disappointed. It is TINY in stature—small pages in size, only 129 in total. Was it really worth the $18 I shelled out for it? (I wanted to support my friend, but really? Was it worth it?) Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes. If you have always wanted to understand logic, epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and analytic philosophy, but you never knew where to start, then this is the book for you. Every word is essential.…