At funerals we celebrate what people gave away rather than what they kept for themselves. Andy Stanley This past weekend, we gathered to honor Gary’s Dad’s life. A life that seems to be at once so ordinary and yet not so. Bill and Charlotte grew up together all through their primary and secondary school years. He went off to the Navy and as soon as she finished teacher’s college they married. Thus began the moves,…
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It had been a painfully overwhelming week. Deep disappointment with people close and dear to me and their decisions were running through my mind. Decisions that while not mine to make would make for a path that I could only anticipate for them to be difficult and deathly. I was grateful we had enough relationship that they let me know what was going on but also keenly aware they weren’t interested in or swayed by…
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In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Dietrich Bonhoeffer During this time of year, it’s hard not to compare lives or FB posts to who has it going on better than I do. It would be easy for any of us to go to that soul-crushing place of comparison rather than rest in reflection. I…
3 CommentsIt’s an American season of giving thanks! I know that it doesn’t seem to be true if you only listen to the cultural beat or the daily news. You may argue Mary it is only one day, not a month or more. I would remind us all that that one day we call Thanksgiving came out of the discipline and practice of a people who modeled daily thanks in the midst of life we can…
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When I was young, I had the answers but nobody asked me questions. Now that I am old. people ask me questions but I don’t have answers. Elizabeth Elliot I loved listening to Gateway to Joy when I was a younger mom. And although it stopped airing in 2001 you can still listen to the wisdom of Elizabeth Elliot using the link provided. Her words and this particular quote so resonates with my life. When…
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It was 1982. I was in the Navy and living in the Philippines. I still remember the call. With a twelve-hour time difference between Manila and Washington DC, it was a surprise to hear my father’s voice on the other end of the phone line. Yes, phones used to have cords that connected them to the wall. Dad knowing my love for current events and politics started the conversation. “Mary, good politicians know to keep…
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