reflecting on various topics
I thought I would write a little bit about hope. What is hope, exactly? Hmm? In the context of Christianity, faith and hope are kind of mixed up with each other. People have faith in things that are not-seen, being real things. Hope is often.. relied on as sort of a rejuvenating force behind the faith that not only do the unseen things exist, but they are also good, and also there are plans to be relied on, that “God has designed” for his people. What does that actually mean …
A whole lot has happened since I last wrote! A whole lot of it includes things I can’t put on a blog. But I want to talk about the things that I can put here. I have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), which finally provided an explanation for allergic reactions I have gotten over the past 5 years or so that don’t have a clear allergen responsible for them. Basically, MCAS is an immune system disorder that causes allergic reactions (equal or similar in symptoms to those caused by allergies) …
Congratulations, you have made it to the other side of Christmas. This might be sad, or it might be a relief, depending on your feelings on the matter. I wrote about some of the challenges I faced trying to prepare for the holiday, and I just want to report, that in the end, everything worked out. We were able to spend time together celebrating as a family, and my mom especially went above and beyond to try to make things feel “normal” for us (she made us some latex-free stockings …
There have been years when I felt like Mrs. Claus herself. Tree decked out, stockings hung, twinkle lights everywhere, garland across the piano. I normally throw a Cookies and Carols party- with handmade, mailed invitations, dozens of cookies, and caroling around our piano. Honestly, it was always a lot of work, but I felt proud of it, you know? I took a lot of joy in it. Because we all need to have the inner child in us paid attention to sometimes, and Christmas is the perfect time for that. …
It’s been an interesting week. Something is wrong with my knees, and I’m not sure what it is. I got injured on a treadmill nearly a decade ago, and I’ve had flare-ups, but this seems different. I wonder if it’s medicine-related, since I took something recently for which tendonitis can be a side effect. In any case, I’ve been in bed the past 3 days because it hurts every time I walk or twist my leg. I’ve never really been that active on Twitter, and have mainly thought of it …
It’s a rough season of life for most of us. Whether it’s due to personal struggles, or the pandemic, or health, aging, injustice in multiple forms, not getting along with family members or friends, there’s a lot. The righteous desire to stand up for what’s right can actually create quite a bit of stress, because there is always another battle to be fought, always something else to care about. Sometimes the battle feels far away, and sometimes the battle is right at home. Sometimes we’re fighting for people we don’t …
Hi friends. I thought I would share some of the kitchen items that I own and depend on. I tend to do a lot of research before buying anything, so I hope this will save you some time! These are my favorite plastic cutting boards. I love that they don’t have a “well” around the edge, which makes them easy to clean, and they’re very sturdy. I like to toss them in the dishwasher, like a football player throwing across the field. Kidding. Sort of. Affiliate link For baking supplies, …
Hi. I hope you’re doing well. We are percolating along. Our two sons, whom I’ll refer to as C and J, are doing great, thankfully. C is 5. We decided to wait to start kindergarten till next year, given covid, etc. We’re still deciding whether we want to do public school or home school. J is 2 1/2. I’m still nursing him all the time. Our nights are wonderfully snuggly and also sometimes low on sleep. J’s crib has been in our room since he was born, but we recently …
I’ve had one of those days. One of my kids has had food poisoning. My back is trying to spasm. I’ve spent hours trying to clean and feel like I’ve hardly made a dent. Something that helps me is to realize that there are no easy answers. There is no bandaid that can fix life, can make everything all line up. They don’t give you gold stars as adults (though sometimes I REALLY wish someone would give me a gold star!) In our culture, we drive ourselves towards rewards, and …
I thought I’d continue the story. (Here is Part 1). So I met Alex, and was into Lyle*. We became friends through our school’s Intervaristy Christian student group. We started going to the same church. Every Sunday morning, a group of us would meet at a local coffee shop to drive to church together. I found myself always wanting to see Alex first- I felt safe with him He was always positive. It was like we had a little positive bubble around us. But we were still very-much-so “friends”. We …
