A poem for teachers. You have my admiration, love & gratitude.

i treasure lent. a time to reflect, simplify,
remember we are dust...in a good way.
a way that says
"be still. trust. clutch less. hope more."
but there's a deep ache that is part of lent.
loss is heavy,
impending seeming sometimes...

Andy was an incredible guy we met in 2004.
Our families met as we were planting a church together and playing in the band…

january thirty-one

twenty-twenty-one

one day brutal

yet impossibly—

something beautiful?

365 days ago

little did we know

how much of the new year

we would wait here

at home

what to say

about this year of dread?

seems like all of the words

have been said

but it's always worth reflecting

and checking in on our hearts

she sits in her rocker
gazes out at the field
pours over scripture
takes a drink of tea—
then paces the room a bit
heart races a bit worried…
but she’s working and praying
her way through it
wondering
what if this doesn't turn out how i hope

I miss my guests. I miss being a guest.

I love to host. Time with friends and family in my home is a treasure. It's true that I am often derailed on my way to making the guest bed, by an innocent junk drawer or humble cupboard that beckons, "Come! you MUST organize me now, THIS MINUTE! Ignore those sheets in the basket at your feet!"

How’s your day going? Today’s one of those days when I am finding it hard to climb up out of worry, fear and despair about all-the-things. It’s a season--a really, really, really long season, with so much need and pain for so many people, and it gets overwhelming! So I turn to my short list.

On a typical weekday morning 5 months ago, before the you-know-what, my kids and I would hang out at our local rec center, which, brilliantly, has a ping pong table in the lobby. I was surprised by how much fun it was to play ping pong again.