We remodeled bathrooms last winter, taking out an upstairs hall and adding its space to one bathroom, gutting a second, and updating a third. It was a project Alejandro promised to finish by late February, just in time for a women's retreat scheduled to be here. But February came and went and the retreat got…
We had a threat of frost predicted for 2 a.m. Unsure of whether or not the pots I'd planted at church would make it--with Easter coming up, it seemed a shame to risk it--I grabbed garbage bags and shish kabob skewers and headed out. I hadn't bothered to unload the yard tools that were in…
Hardly churchy, much less Presbyterian, our pastor steps aside the Sunday after Thanksgiving rather than preaching and lets anyone who wants to, step up and tell what they're thankful for. David, age 8, thanked God this morning for getting to watch anime on his computer and for cars, "just for lots of cars," he said…
I was dragging my feet getting ready. For as long as I can remember, we've had an open mike for folks to share their thank-yous the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Children often go first and warm up the crowd with sweeping praises, "Thank you, God, for the whole wide world," and with smaller ones, "We have…
She was talking, but I wasn't listening. I was thinking about what I wanted to say. I don't have to tell you how popular this weakness of mine isn't, especially with my own family. "So what's your experience been?" she was asking. Caught red handed, I had no idea what she was talking about. "The…
I want to tell you about the day I had with my teenage son, home sick from school, second day straight, because we had a heck of a time getting along. I'm hoping I'll find some understanding as I write. The first story: I'd confiscated his phone last night because he'd gone to bed with…
I'm in upstate New York as I write this, enjoying a long weekend with old college friends. We've been hiking and laughing and catching up for three days now in a part of the country I've never seen before, and yet reminds me of the rugged beauty of our beloved Lookout Mountain where we all…
