Several years ago, I had a conversation with a woman whose grown children lived all over the country - or even the globe, I think. When I asked her if that was hard for her to be so far away, she said, "Not really. I guess I don't really like being needed."

At the time - as a new mom with one baby boy - this kind of appalled me. I mean, what kind of mom ...

We all know that speaking too quickly isn't the best idea. "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him," says Proverbs 29:20. A quick reply is usually a thoughtless one, and often the words we speak are later regretted.

But what about taking a lot of time before replying?

There is such a thing as ?rehearsal' ...

There was a time when I believed the Great American Idea that your autobiography is your own personal story. Now, after years of exposure to a rich variety of people, customs, and traditions, I realize that our own personal stories are inextricably linked to the stories of our fathers, our mothers, and the people of our culture.

For over a hundred years, most of the members ...

I have a neighbor who is obsessed with the size of my house. Every time we visit it comes up. At first I thought it was just me observing something weird, maybe imagined, but then she said something to my husband and his head is on straighter than mine, so I knew it really was an obsession. Case in point: Last week we saw her at a local antique shop. "Filling up your ...

Yesterday in our weekly team meeting we prayed again for three people we know who are dying from cancer.

Later that day I received an email requesting prayer for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family as they face the tragic death of their youngest daughter.

Today, on my walk home there was a tiny bird squeaking in the grass - its wing broken. I don't know if it will ...

From Hillary to Miley to Condi to Britney, I find most discussion about female role models in popular culture pretty idiotic. There's always some big "controversy" brewing in the media about women in the limelight: Too emotional or too robotic? Way too sexy or too pear-shaped in a pantsuit? Overly assertive or too demure? Too many dates or too many pounds?

Lately, I've been reflecting on the topic of "organization" - living an orderly, well-managed life in every respect. Organization is something that's never been easy for me. I should say, it's something that's never been for me. I go from day to day "reinventing the wheel" so to speak - always trying to discover the best way to keep up ...

Easter is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It's one of those great days that is ripe with nostalgia, with family, and with deepening meaning as I grow older and the clamoring voices grow quieter. I was recently reflecting that it's funny how you can hear a story so many times as a child and yet it can take on a new life and a new voice as the hearer becomes ...

I spent my morning reading the book Ten Apples Up On Top to my three-year-old. For those of you not currently engaging a preschooler in your daily lives, let me give you the quick plot summary of Ten Apples Up On Top.

A lion, a dog, and a tiger compete with one another to see who can stack the most apples on his head. They start with the simple act of balancing the apples. ...

Sometimes I am reticent to invite people over for dinner. I wish I weren't, but I am. This is why: I am tired of people talking about their personal food preferences. Any given day, I can easily list off several friends or acquaintances who are following some sort of individualized diet - weight loss or not. There's the standard vegetarians, vegans, all types of ...