faith, family, wellness
My girl is brave. She runs. She climbs. She torpedoes through the kiddie pool. She rescues her dollies from dire illnesses. She picks up pincher bugs with her bare little hands. She lives life full. But every now and then, she isn't so sure. Yesterday at the park, while perched on the big kid swing, she said quietly, "Mommy, I just feel a little bit … Continue reading The Only Way to Fly Free
All my life, for better or worse, I have been quietly paralyzed by this question, “How will they see me?” When I went through a season of chronic illness, the last thing I wanted was to be seen. Here I was, a life that had been built around the approval of others, now felt out … Continue reading On Being Misunderstood
I was tidying up my daughter's bedroom today, and I was simply struck by how much she loves butterflies. They are on her walls, her area rug, her pillow case. She paints them. She sings about them. Man. They get so much hype. So much has been said, metaphorically and otherwise, in poetry, art, songs, about the delicate beauty … Continue reading Why Caterpillars Make Better Company
There's this boy, and he's eight. And he knows exactly when to curl up on the couch and play quietly alone. He knows exactly when he needs to shut this world out for a bit. That little boy is my son. A sweet-spirited kid, but slow, slow to adjust. He is always the quietest one in the class. Never wants … Continue reading God Uses the Quiet Ones Too
This past Christmas we saw The Nutcracker at the San Francisco Opera House. We dressed up, wore extra thick jackets, and put on our best shoes. And my 4-year-old daughter loved every bit of it. It was her first time seeing a real ballet production. It was her first time sitting in fancy velvety chairs and needing to be quiet - … Continue reading She Wants to Dance
Now that I think about it, it was really only this fence, this divider between our homes, that connected us. You see, my neighbor and I seemed to have nothing in common except for a fence. The truth is that I never knew her. We never enjoyed any neighborly talk. She never asked about the kids. We … Continue reading The Day the Fence Fell
For as much I want to tie a neat bow around the concept of pain, sometimes there are no easy answers. Yes... I see the good that comes out of struggle, the way it rouses a deaf world to become more attuned to God, to each other. Certainly, pain can come from our doing, the sin of others, the effects of a fallen world. But … Continue reading Draw a Line in the Sand
I got a call from my neighbor last night. The other day I had left some flowers on her doorstep. Her husband passed away three days after Christmas. He was eighty-three. "I just have to keep going, I guess," she said to me over the phone that night. I woke up this morning with her words still with me. It's … Continue reading Look Up, Press On
Honestly, it's hard not to see her. We're stopped at a gas station on one of the crowded avenues in San Francisco. I watch her as she digs bare-handed through the garbage can. I see her dirt filled fingernails pull out empty plastic water bottles. She shakes out the water, dirt, or whatever else is in them, and stashes … Continue reading She Needs Five Cents
In my ten years of motherhood (wow, has it been that long?), I can only say this -- children have this natural way of bringing us back on our knees to embrace some simple truths of life. There are so many more to mention, but here are the top 20 lessons I’ve rounded up this year: There is … Continue reading Grace for Spilled Milk and Other Life Lessons
invited by grace 