Here in Massachusetts, the days are getting shorter and colder now that Winter is right around the corner. Although I love the change in seasons we enjoy here, it’s hard not to miss the golden afternoons and long evenings of Summer. We sold our house in August, so I missed out on the harvest phase…
One summer, when I was around ten, our church ran a Bible memory contest. They awarded books as prizes to all who learned their weekly list of verses. One of Mom’s friends volunteered to be my accountability partner. She even baked cookies every week. I think of Barbara often with warm gratitude, and the verses…
Tomorrow my husband and I will observe our 50th wedding anniversary. The day will be low-key—no cake, no balloons, no fanfare. That’s fine with us because we began our marriage with little extravagance. We went to our church chapel, invited the pastor to attend us, and added our matron of honor and best man as…
Be present. Pay attention. Make the most of your time here. These were the instructions I whispered to myself as I toured the Holy Land. Weary and worn-out from all the preparations prior to the trip, I did not want to miss the wonder and weight of where my feet were planted—where Jesus had once…
In a recent The New Yorker article on the use of suspense in literature, this phrase, “preaching to the nerves,” jumped out at me. It was used by the highbrow critics in the nineteenth century to describe the “tawdry” and “ignoble” aspects of the rise in modern fiction of the time that appealed more to…
When I was wrapping up the final edits on The Mercy Seat, Kay and I had dinner with dear friends Bill and Derri Smith. Derri had recently retired as the director of an organization devoted to rescuing victims of human trafficking. I shared with them the story of The Mercy Seat and that I was…
Do you remember the Facebook challenge where one woman would nominate another to post a photo of herself devoid of makeup and hairstyling? The purpose of this exercise, if I understand it, was to celebrate the natural beauty of all women and to recognize that what’s on the inside is what makes a woman truly…
November has arrived, and here in Massachusetts, that means the air is getting colder, the nights longer, and the pace of life somehow even faster. As the days grow shorter, it feels like they’re slipping through our fingers. Once Halloween is behind us, it’s a whirlwind—go, go, go—straight through to New Year’s. For me, with…
Do you have a favorite season? It’s hard to choose, isn’t it? Beginning with the first bud on a crocus— Nature’s inciting event—she announces the arrival of Spring and builds her narrative like a well-written plot. The daffodils join the story, popping their yellow heads and beckoning the tulips to follow. The camellia blooms explode…
The Silent Gaps Between [Bradley Caffee]
I am between careers…again. For the second time in my life, I find myself exiting a career that has spanned a decade or more and wondering what I am going to do next. The task of recreating myself and finding a new home for employment is daunting, and there are honestly days when I don’t…
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