A  few weeks ago, my husband got us tickets to see a live Christmas show at the historic Ryman Theater. I’m a huge fan of Christmas music, making this a great gift. If you’re in Middle Tennessee, you can’t throw a steel guitar without hitting a super talented musician or two, so, as you might assume, this was a stage full of Music City pros.   Pretty quickly into the show, even with all that was happening on the crowded stage, my attention was nearly consumed by the half-a-do

Now that we’re in the middle of December, most of us are running around with long lists and busy plans and random dots of glitter speckling our cheeks which came from the many sparkly cards and ornaments lying around the house. It’s my favorite time of year, but with all the glittery rigamarole of the season, I have to remind myself of why I’m actually counting down the days until Christmas.   When I was growing up, my mother would hang up our Christmas stockings on December

There are a lot of great things about the holidays (aka, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years). It’s a season designed for time-honored traditions, contemplative reflection and showing generosity, and it all begins with an emphasis on thankfulness.   If you do a Google search for “thankful people in the Bible,” you get a few well-known names, such as the Apostle Paul and King David, men who professed their gratitude even in the midst of tragic circumstances. Another name in

Around 15 years ago, my sisters and I took a cooking class together. All three of us are relatively good cooks but we decided on a basic knife skills class to improve our cutting proficiency. (My older sister’s then ten-year old son was disappointed that “knife skills” didn’t mean that we’d enrolled in a self-defense class. I think he was hoping we’d return as full-fledged ninjas.)   There were just six students in the class. The other three were older than us—a couple and an

With Halloween around the corner, this seems like the perfect time to talk about fear. (Typing the above words, I just realized that sentence could’ve ended multiple ways. “Halloween is the perfect time to talk about…wearing masks or gluttony or showing hospitality to people who turn up at your door.” So many directions to take!)   Though I’m not a fan of the scary side of Halloween, such as horror movies and haunted houses, I know that fear is definitely tied up with this ho

When my husband and I traveled to Savannah, GA last summer, we took a trolley tour of the beautiful, historic city. A frequently highlighted feature of the homes in the wards and squares of Savannah is the presence of red doors on some of these incredible houses. We were told that there is a very strict rule about choosing this particular paint color: the only homes allowed to have a red door are ones that have been fully paid off with no outstanding mortgage.   I’ve been rea

Here recently, I’ve really enjoyed a podcast about the Titanic . Over the 13 episodes, it goes in depth into the giant ship’s design and...

When our son Ezra joined our family after living his first five years in Africa, he became exposed to a lot of food he’d never eaten...

One of my favorite verses is 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are...

My favorite goalie! As a parent of a soccer player, specifically a goalkeeper, there have been plenty of times when we get to the end of...

If I had to describe the month of August in just a few words, one of those words would probably be thirsty . I try to begin each day...

My husband and I took a trip to a couple of beautiful, old Southern towns recently. We stayed in homes near the bustling heart of those...

One of the most reviled species of birds has got to be vultures. When I go for my morning walks, it’s not unusual for me to see...

If you ask anyone who knows me—family, friends, people who sit near me at church—they’ll tell you that I am a big cry baby. Well,...

Apart from my seasonal allergies, this is my favorite time of year. April and May are glorious in middle Tennessee. I’m currently typing...

When I was growing up as the middle of three sisters, we spent a lot of our summers in the Great Outdoors. Getting kids to play outside...

I’ve always been a big fan of those TV makeover shows. My favorites are the episodes that tell the backstory of deserving families who...

I love to study Scripture, and one of my favorite moments is when I stumble across a person whose story is barely known, but who still...

A few weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to be in the car with just me and my youngest son, our 14-year old Question-Asker,...

I recently learned a fascinating fact about the North American elk, a giant species of deer which can weigh over 700 pounds. Because...

You had your last time to drive a car or read a book or solve a crossword puzzle. You've already knitted your last sock and sewn your...

There’s a song which I really love that we sing at our church a lot. The chorus comes straight from Psalm 86. It goes like this: “Give me...

Thirty or so years ago, I spent a few summer months in eastern Europe. I went with a group of college students who offered free English...

When I was a little girl I had a very high standard for beauty. (Not my own personal prettiness, of course. I was just your average,...