It's been more than a year since we got this kind of snow in Denver. And it's fun to see how we fall in love all over again with the blanket of white. If this happens every week for the next eight weekends, it will be a different story. But for today, we are a […]
"You did not forget to punish the guilty or listen to the cries of those in need." Psalm 9:12 Those first four words have captured my heart this morning. You did not forget. We are living in a time when something is wrong every single day. Hurricanes. Investigations. Allegations. And this morning, the worst mass shooting […]
One of the funny gifts of the internet are the friends I've never met. There are people who engage my writing and show up in my inbox, and each message feels like a reunion. I'm delighted to see their names that I recognize, and it feels like we're really going to hit it off someday […]
You already know I'm something of a podcast junkie. I straight up binge-listen to these conversations. For an auditory learner, they're music to my ears. (Literally. As in, I prefer them over actual music.) I'm spending a lot of my car-time these days with Jen Hatmaker on her new podcast, For The Love. Her current series is called For […]
Please indulge me while I tell you the story of the first and last time Bee ever claimed she was bored. Bernadette and I were driving Bee and a friend, both preschoolers, to a birthday party. There was traffic. Grace said, "I'm bored." "Yeah," Bee mimicked, "I'm bored." Bernadette pulled the car over, took off […]
Want to be happy for an hour? Have a steak dinner. Want to be happy for a day? Play a round of golf. Want to be happy for a week? Go on a cruise. Want to be happy for a month? Buy a new car. Want to be happy for a year? Win the lottery. […]
When you write a book, you sign up to spend a lot of hours alone with the idea, never really knowing if anybody else will sing the melody with you. You dance with it on the pages, and it shows up in your dreams. The story begins to grow in length and color, like a bracelet strung together one bead […]
Nolan Bushnell* is the creator of Atari video games. He has been quoted as saying, "Everyone who's ever taken a shower has had an idea. It's the person who gets out of the shower, dries off, and does something about it who makes a difference." I think I identify with this so closely because most […]
I happened onto this gold nugget my brother gave me several years ago, back when I was in the trenches of potty-training and naptime schedules and dispensing Cheerios. He said - "The thing is, Tricia, when they're grown, when these stay-at-home years are over, you can look back and say, 'I did that.' Don't let […]
"I have a handful of prayers that I pray all the time. One is that God will put my books into the right hands at the right time. I've prayed this prayer thousands of times, and God has answered it in dramatic fashion countless times. The right book in the right hands at the right […]
The world is so hungry. Surely someone needs what it is in your nature to offer. What do you do that causes you to lose all track of time? Where do you most often experience delight, and when do you sense God's pleasure? Make an altar there, and climb on. You'll love how it feels […]
This conversation happened on a Sunday morning nearly a decade ago. This couple sat near us, and I met them during the 'meet-n-greet.' Back then, little conversations like this one were a highlight of my morning, back in the days before I became an introvert. They struck up a conversation. "So, do you have any […]
To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number One is Laugh. You should laugh every day. Number Two is Think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number Three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be […]
Anne Lamott says you should always carry a pen with you. She says it's the secret to life for a writer. She says, "If you don't carry a pen, then God is going to give me the good ideas that would have gone to you. He may say, 'I was going to give her that […]
"An intriguing entomological experiment shows that a male butterfly will ignore a living female butterfly of his own species in favor of a painted cardboard one, if the cardboard one is big. Nearby, the real, living female butterfly opens and closes her wings in vain." ~ Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Today, keep an eye on […]
People don't notice your mistakes as much as you think. It's okay to ask for help. Most decisions don't require extensive research. Do good, feel good. Bring a sweater. By doing a little bit each day, you'll get a lot accomplished. Soap and water remove most stains. Turning the computer on and off a few […]
You have to know that I’m a conference junkie. I’m a 100% auditory learner, which is maybe an exaggeration since I do most of my learning through books, but still. I’m a lecture-lover at my core. Talk to me with your stories and your bullet points and your sound bytes of glorious quotability, and I […]
“When strong women do great things, they have to do what it takes for everyone to be taken care of.” ~ my friend, Diana I serve on a team with Diana as we host a monthly event for women. (It’s something I’d love for you to come to if you are: a) anywhere near the […]
It would have been great if we could have made it just a few more weeks (or longer… longer would have been great, too) into football season without a concussion. But here we are, sitting in a room with no light, no stimuli, and no fun, while Tucker recovers from a fall and blow to […]
