Debut author Katherine James’ discomfort with self-promotion has led her to share photos of dogs on social media promoting her new book. But some of us who deeply enjoy and respect her writing feel it’s worth helping her out with a human voice. 🙂 In her novel, Can You See Anything Now?, an eclectic group of …
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So Much Sky
An excerpt from my empty nest essay, appearing in the latest issue of “Under the Sun” literary journal. The note appears hooked to the knob of my front door, a warning. The emerald ash borer disease has ravaged the hundred-year-old stately ash trees lining our road, and our city has decided to take them all down. The forty trees …
Spoken Blessings
Today I have the privilege of writing over at The Mudroom blog, “a place for stories emerging in the midst of the mess.” When my twin sons accidentally caught 17-acres of land on fire while filming a World War II movie with their high school friends, it wasn’t the scorched trees I remember most. Or the …
Homesick
Our family loves to drive past our old homes in Massachusetts and Virginia, trying to catch a glimpse and a memory of the rooms we once inhabited, the place where we loved and laughed, cried and fought. We critique the changes the new owners made, wonder why they took down that tree fort built by …
A Year Without the Internet
“This is a story about going all still and quiet—and how that changes you.” ~Esther Emery I’ve only owned a smartphone since December. The day my husband and I ventured into the Verizon store to make the purchase, I had a very dark and bad attitude toward the sales clerk and technology in general. …
Interview with Author Catherine McNiel
Recently Catherine McNiel published her first book, Long Days of Small Things: Motherhood as a Spiritual Discipline (NavPress, 2017). Catherine’s fresh, wise perspective and beautiful language stood out in a culture where books on motherhood abound. If anyone is feeling like they can’t do one more thing as they navigate the years with young children, let me just say …
How Do You File Memories?
These four walls, painted quiet green to invite calm, hold so many memories in drawers and on shelves, telling the story of a life through its contents. A much needed cleaning, purging and organization finally took place last week, drawing out forgotten moments and lessons. How do you file memories? Home office and sometime guest …
Review of The Year of Small Things
The older I get, the more I find myself hungry for a simple, downwardly-mobile, radical lifestyle, one that honors and cares for the least of these and the hurting, and one that finds my husband and me living in strong community with other people of faith. I also secretly wish to be the person who sold …
Well-Acquainted with Grief
“Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop on the heart until, against our will, in our own despair, comes wisdom from the awful grace of God.” ~ Aeschylus I collect certain people. Pack them into life’s travel bag, looking them up at the first sign of hardship and pain. I …
A Broken Furnace Vs. Homelessness
Whine. Whine. Whine. My furnace went out this week. I woke up Monday, just as my husband’s car pulled away to take him to Southern California for five days, noticing the house was a bit chilly. And silent. The furnace wouldn’t come on. No problem. I’d call our Heating and Air Conditioning service, and they’d …