One of the verses that was drummed into my head as I was growing up in the church was 1 Peter 2:9. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his […]
Adjacent to the parking lot of our condominium building, sat a clump of pine trees with fine, green needles and dripping sap. The landscapers planted the trees in such a way that, once grown, they formed a canopy above a small, oval opening. If one looked hard enough, and squinted against the sunlight, one might […]
I didn’t want to see it again. I was quite happy letting my husband be the one who would let in the occasional handyman, plumber, or real estate agent. But this time, there were no other options, so it was me walking the 43 steps to the third floor of the vintage building where we […]
Beloved, I want you to know there is grace and beauty to be found in the struggle. In little tufts of hope hidden in the pockets of the soul are the tiniest threads of hope and a spirit to persevere. They refuse to let us go. They propel us forward when we would rather stop […]
I see you there, the one who is dreading the inevitable. The one who is not quite ready, and probably wouldn’t be if you had a choice. It feels like most every other parent is cheering wildly, and there you are with a proverbial lump in your throat. I’m there with you. I understand. We […]
What does it mean to be a witness? Do we know what it’s like to ‘look into the wounds of Christ and not feel them’? How do we make the pain real, the burden heavy enough that we can’t lift it alone? A lot of us around the Mudroom are huge fans of D.L. […]
I told a story last week about how God was teaching me to trust on an ordinary weekday morning watching a swim lesson, but I didn’t give it the ending I wanted. I wanted to say how I knew it would all be okay, how I was ready to jump. I have been following Jesus […]
Each morning, for the past five weeks, I get my three daughters up at 7am for their swim lessons. Bleary eyed they change into their swimsuits, grab a change of clothes, and eat a protein bar on the thirty-minute drive to the pool where they take lessons. All week they look forward to “Friday Fun […]
Like so many others, I am following the developments in Dallas, Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, Kansas City and Florida, And I know that there will be fingers pointed. I could point my finger at the police, who disproportionately kill unarmed black men, who are seven times as likely as white men to die at the hands of police. […]
It’s no secret that my love for Hamilton runs deep and wide. I have succeeded in getting my husband and one child to like it, and I am currently on a mission to get a few friends across the pond into it. I made my own phone cases, I exercise to it 1-2 hours a […]
I saw a headline this week while I was standing in line at the bookstore and my heart froze. “Jen & Ben. Together in Paris: He Wants Her Back”. Was this true? It was on the cover of People, the most reputable celebrity magazine, so it has to be true, right? I came home and […]
There is a new hum in my van you can hear when I accelerate. I’m not a mechanic by any means, but from what I can tell, something got a little loose near the muffler and so now there is a vibration that rumbles through the car, reminding me I have yet another stack of […]
Turn your eyes upon Jesus… The white gaze. The male gaze. The Christian gaze. You know this one — it’s the averted gaze. The gaze supposedly defined by purity and nobility. The one where you look away from the sins of the world so that you might look full in his wonderful face. And […]
Half a lifetime ago. That’s what I realized as I was driving down the road, sunroof open, on one of the first warm spring days of the year. Before I was a mom, before I was a wife, I was just me. I worked in retail and would find myself driving the 45 minutes […]
Why is it so hard for us to accept responsibility? To be honest about our shortcomings and failures? Why is there so much shame around not being perfect? I kept thinking about that when the headline popped up in my Facebook news section. “Abby Wambach arrested for DUI”. And then she releases a statement. “I […]
Focused. I was moving up and down the aisles of Home Depot as quickly as I could. It was almost 1pm and the girls were hungry. My husband had my 2 year old, blonde curls surrounding her rounded face, and I had the squishy infant, nestled in the Ergo, head resting on my chest, waiting […]
I am not the biggest sports fan. But any Michigander worth their weight should be a Detroit fan. (Well, ok. I’m mostly a fair-weather Lions fan, but come on. It’s agony otherwise.) But a few years ago, I surprisingly turned into a fairly serious football fan. It started when I joined a fantasy football league, […]
I held her hand in mine as we walked down the snowy sidewalk. On Sunday we were raking and putting out a spring wreath on the front door, the one with the pastel eggs and moss covered rabbit, but just a few days later the streets were ice and snow as a cold wind blows […]