A Heart’s Overflow
Within my line of sight, at this very moment, are the following: a churning Pacific on the rocky California coastline, seagulls swooping and diving in hopes of treasure, multitudes of iconic cypress against the backdrop of the infinity of a cloudy horizon, and a warm, crackling fire. My ears hear the waves as they crash and the gulls as they compete. My nose tries to decide if my hot tea is more fragrant, or, instead, the heady aroma of home fires burning. In other words, my senses are full and happy. But better yet, is the knowledge that my man is standing, not in his office or in front of a client, but on the first tee of a long-coveted golf-course he's never played. With him is...
Claim to Fame
"So, what's your claim to fame?" That's what the guy from GoDaddy asked me, while we waited for some adjustments to be made to my account. "Um, well...I don't know...I mean...," I replied, in a sad and halting fashion, before I was spared the pain of finishing by the completion of his task. I hung up the phone feeling shocked by how much that simple question had rattled me, ashamed that I didn't have anything really "big" to offer...feeling that I should. Did I really believe that somehow I would have more value, or greater significance, if I achieved some elusive level of greatness and left an indelible mark on the world? And who sets the bar for these things, anyway? Who...
The Real Scoop on Virtual Living
Remember these? Virtual Reality "halos," they were the future of gaming, and featured in all the futuristic Sci-Fi movies, where people would escape their own lives and sink into a virtual reality paradise (or nightmare, depending on the movie!). Well, they're real now. You can use them at big gaming facilities, and we even have something similar with the Wii. Who knows...before long we may have a bonafide "holodeck" a la Star Trek: Next Generation. This weekend, I was thinking about all this after two encounters. One, with an old friend from high school, and the other, with my next-door neighbor. The old friend contacted me through Facebook, requesting to talk. One of the things she told...
To Know Him More
One of my best girls, Mary R. (known elsewhere as Mary R. Snyder), is in the thick of final edits for her new book, God, Grace & Girlfriends: Adventures in Faith and Friendship, which is due to release this December. She's been posting on the topic of friendship for a while, and, in a recent post, asked her readers how they determined whether or not a potential friendship would be a healthy one. Many wonderful tips were shared, but there was one in particular that jumped off the screen and right into my brain, where it has been tumbling about ever since. Does she make me want to know Jesus more? I think if we're all honest, every one of us has experienced an unhealthy, or "toxic"...
A Special Day in August
Once upon a time there was a young woman, in her 20's, who was going to have a baby. She planned and dreamed as her belly grew, imagining what kind of little person was being knit together deep inside. She imagined a little girl much like the little girl she, herself, had been...eager to please, compliant, always choosing safety over risk. One special day in August, nine full days past her due date, she was busy at home, getting ready for the hospital stay that would begin with an induction the following day. Instead, that night she delivered an 8lb. 4oz., wrapped-in-pink bundle, who called her own shots and came exactly when she wanted to. That young mother should've paid attention to...