One of the most helpful things you can do for yourself as a writer is join a writing group. It’s good to have a local one that meets regularly (mine is a fantastic group of ladies, we rotate houses and try new foods each time) but it can be good to expand and join a … Continue reading
I met Lucinda just about a decade ago, when my family was living in rural New Hampshire. I was visiting an even more rural retreat center; she and her husband Mike befriended me during a weekend when I was alone and needed a friend. I don’t remember much about that weekend except that I left … Continue reading
I’ve been using a great book during Lent: Praying the Hours in Ordinary Life. It’s an amazing tool, beautifully written. There are poems and artwork, an easy about each of the “hours” (there are eight, the traditional hours that monks will stop and pray). It’s incredibly accessible, easy to use and it’s been a true companion recently. … Continue reading
The man who can articulate the movements of his inner life… is able slowly and consistently to remove the obstacles that prevent the Spirit from entering. -Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, as quoted in Praying the Hours in Ordinary Life (the essay on “Terce,” the Third Hour)
I am unofficially following along a photography course that Ian is teaching. This exercise: photograph what “Home” is to you. We bought our house nearly two years ago, and here’s some of what home means to me. From the outside: On the inside, there are usually flowers on the table and some kind of fruit piled high. … Continue reading
I am unofficially following along a photography course that Ian is teaching. This exercise: photograph the books you are reading. We’re currently in the habit of doing Compline (a lovely before bed prayer service from the Book of Common Prayer) with the kids each night. Here’s what we use for that:
I read the book Along Came a Dog, by Meindert De Jong to my two children (we finished it tonight). I had never heard it, but at Plumfield Academy (which is an AWESOME Charlotte Mason school, and where my daughter goes several days a week), they were reading it as part of the literature curriculum, … Continue reading
A friend of mine recently blogged about keeping the gospel message complicated (read his whole post here). He is a staff member of Cru (I knew him back in the day when it was still called Campus Crusade), and works with college students, professors and Cru staff members. He writes to a largely Christian audience, … Continue reading
The threat of bodily harm exists for many Christians today, though usually not in North America (see Voice of the Martyrs, which does good work at reminding us in the “civilized” world about physical persecution going on in other parts of the world). Social and cultural persecution exists around the world as well. I just … Continue reading
As part of our homeschool lessons last year (as well as this coming year) we read selections from Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. We also started reading The Jungle Book for fun. Note: the books ARE NOTHING LIKE THE DISNEY CARTOON VERSIONS. That may be obvious, but it is worth stating because we (especially those of my generation … Continue reading
"That got me thinking..." 