Kids love a great story
I met an angel yesterday. She had floppy, shoulder length blond hair and pale blue eyes and she talked pretty much non-stop. Her name is Natalie. She’s 6 and in the first grade. I got a chance to talk to Natalie because her parents were doing parent stuff. Talking to other adults, answering questions, solving […]
What is God-willing anyway?
“God-willing.” I hear it all the time. Sometimes I hear it from me. What is God-willing? And what have I got to do with it? Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy will be done…” But somehow we have adapted this as an in-case-it-doesn’t-happen strategy. I’m asking for this, specifically, but if it doesn’t come out the […]
Sizing up Big Prayers
September 11th – I can’t draw a deep breath on my run this morning. Even the air is sullen with the anniversary of the day. I leave the house at 9:12am in a salute to its memory. Their memory. And the conversation – with God – begins. Please, send peace. Please, don’t ever let this […]
Complaint-free for 21 days
No complaining. Period. For 21 days in a row. That’s the challenge that has been issued to folks at Floris UMC for the month of September by our pastor. Him included. We are wearing purple wrist bands to remind us of our pledge and to help us keep tabs. Every time we complain we must […]
Go ahead, run that stop sign!
If I come to a complete stop, I’m stuck. Not that I’m prone to hyperactivity. I’m actually quite a measured person. I consider carefully what I do. I’m not a risk-taker or an impulsive doer. Just a mover. Something about being in motion gives me a sense of myself in space, in place, in life. […]
Intellectual Property
How do I claim what I know? That may sound silly but it is the topic of my conversation with Jodi, my law student daughter. This is on my mind because, as a blogger and fitness professional in this age of the internet, I give lots of stuff away. Intellectual stuff. You tempt and tease […]
Putty in the hands of a playful God
Ah, the smell of Play-Doh. Oh, the memories of…. rolling, shaping, twisting, turning, pressing and pulling. Can’t you just smell it? What am I making? Actually, nothing. Just enjoying working the Doh, which I have replaced with the “adult” version. Putty — therapy putty, to be exact. The kind they give you “for free” when […]
Gift bags lobbed from above
Which way? I wish life was a flow chart. This or that? Here or there. Now or later. Reminds me of my precocious 9 year old helping her toddler sister with what to choose on the kids menu. Patiently, she would go down the list of the six kid-friendly items, 2 by 2, asking, “Do […]
How are your reflexes?
Stimulus–response. An amoeba does it. A Venus fly trap does it. A snake does it. We do it. A tap on the knee and our leg kicks out, all by itself! Automatically, without consulting the rest of us. Even our brain is surprised. Reflexes are part of our programming designed to protect, support and allow us […]
If finishing is your objective, Godspeed is your pace
I’m out on a hot soccer field with a young man who wants to make his high school team in the spring. It is September and he (with his father) has engaged my services to help him in this pursuit. At our first meeting, I run him through a few drills. About mid-way, I have […]