WHAT IS CONTINUALLY UNDONE IN MY LIFE?

For young mothers, it’s pretty obvious what stays undone in their lives. Keeping up with energetic, curious toddlers, and perhaps having a husband whose mother failed at teaching him what a laundry hamper is for, can be exhausting, if not downright infuriating, until Moms finally just give up. At this … Read more…

What I Have Overcome to Be a Writer

Limitations I’ve had to overcome to reach my desired writing life include the physical and emotional. Some people we call “fortunate” face few, if any, obstacles in this earthly life. I am one of the many for whom “few obstacles” doesn’t seem to apply. From the day I was born, … Read more…

Keeping the Family Safe

Various blogging experts have expressed the view that we should only write positive material so that our readers will like us and come back to read our commentaries in the future. I’ll be the first to admit I’d rather read and write positive stories any day. And yet… In all … Read more…

God is No Respecter of Persons

Deep pain results from hearing someone say, “It’s their own fault” when someone whose life doesn’t meet their definition of righteous is murdered. It’s a torment that doesn’t easily go away. Everything in this fallen world too often reeks of tragedy: From the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida in … Read more…

Are You an Introvert? Yay!

Is your son cautious? Bravo! Has your daughter been told she’s shy? Good for her! Society as a whole does not value introverts, even though introverts are variously estimated at 1/3 to ½ the U.S. population, more or less. Everyone is supposed to get out there and do whatever other … Read more…

Abuse Is Never Justified or Deserved

Most religious communities teach husbands, wives, and children to love, honor, respect, and nurture each other. In the most enlightened, “obedience” is somewhat downplayed because when it comes right down to it, we only owe obedience to God (and to those civil authorities who can otherwise make life unpleasant for … Read more…

The Best Date Ever

Thinking back over the years of bad dates and good dates brings both awesome and bittersweet experiences to the surface. How do so many vibrant memories of everything stay crammed into our overloaded brains until the right question releases them? After 44 years of an up-and-down marriage, I found myself … Read more…

We Teach the Most by Example

To state the obvious, civility in the nation is rapidly evaporating in the heat of anger, misunderstanding and wrong-headed beliefs. We now have dozens of opportunities daily to teach adults as well as children that human kindness and respect are still alive in the land. But will we do it? … Read more…

Do We Really Need a Schedule?

Does your life need every hour scheduled? Every 15 minutes? Does that even make sense? Some folks live and breathe the How to Succeed books, devour them, in fact. They do everything the books say and begin the climb up that corporate ladder or grab the brass ring as it … Read more…

Mama Said…

When Mama opined there’d be days like this, sometimes she nailed it! Other times she really had no idea what we’d be dealing with today. Our world is so far removed from the one she (and every mother of my generation) grew up in. Even so, dealing with a spouse … Read more…