Hope in the Midst of a Grief Season (New Post at The Glorious Table)
I grew up believing November in my home would always be about pumpkin pies, a house full of relatives, and plates of the usual Thanksgiving fare. Instead, we’ve run the gamut from joining friends to quiet days with just the four or five of us. Four years ago November...
Dear World, From Roseburg: Three years later
Author's Note: On October 1, 2015 our town was shattered by the unthinkable. A shooter entered a classroom on our small community college campus and killed nine of our own as well as wounding nine others. My response that next day was a piece that reflected my...
The Heart of Connection (New Post at The Glorious Table)
If there is one word for what I have craved most in my life, I would say it’s connection. Of course, I want to belong, and for years I equated fitting in with belonging. I also believed that my value was only in my beauty or my abilities. I’m glad I was wrong. I’m...
The Act of Forgiveness
We've all been hurt or offended. No one is immune to the pain of another person's actions or hurtful words. Even Jesus tells us in Luke 17 that offenses will come. We will be sinned against, gossiped about and disliked (hated) by others. Sometimes it will be our own...
It Could Have Been Any of Us
Thursday, June 21st will be another day our community was rocked by tragedy. A loving mom did the unthinkable. In a moment that was out of her routine she left her sleeping child in the car, went in to work and discovered too late that her child was still in the car...
Our Family Loves the Graffiti Weekend cruise
NOTE: This was published 5 years ago but still holds true. Folks all over Oregon and beyond love Graffiti weekend! Over thirty years ago a few local car clubs joined together to relive the 50's by cruising classic cars through a main area of town. It was a one night...
When hosting get-togethers, keep it SIMPLE
It was a Saturday and I was expecting guests the next afternoon to celebrate my 6-week old baby. I was staring at a tray of cake crumbs stuck together with blobs of icing. They were supposed to be Petit fours. I had followed Martha Stewart's step-by-step instructions...
Dismissed
The more connected the world gets the more disconnected I feel from others. Folks that were friends seem to split down the oddest lines of faith, politics, racial issues and gender. Friends who had enough in common to connect in the first place find themselves divided...
What Hope Can Do (New Post at The Glorious Table)
Just a few months ago, my dear friend passed away after a relatively short illness. It has depleted my heart in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve felt loss before, but this ache is different, and although I hold the hands of others through pain, I didn’t expect to respond...
Dear World, From Roseburg – Part 2
Note: The day after the shooting at UCC on Oct. 1, 2015, I wrote a letter to the world that quickly went viral across the globe. Two years later, this is my sequel to the original commentary. This post was featured in the New Review and at nrtoday.com. Dear World,...
