I've been in my share of parades. Probably more than my share, actually Marching band parades, down the main street and next to the fire station of my home town, ringing in the glorious mark of Memorial Day. (You have to love a town that has a Memorial Day Parade.) Halloween parades with a whole […]

I love the smell of gasoline, and I am somehow fond of fresh cigarette smoke.  I've always felt like I shouldn't like those, like they are guilty pleasures.  But I think both of those scents remind me of different grandparents for different reasons, and that makes me neither guilty nor sorry.  It makes me want […]

"Remember when you went camping and it rained the whole time and you were soaking wet and the car got a flat tire and the raccoons got into your food? (Insert a similar story here.) When you tell that story years later at a dinner party, you tell it with a smile on your face, […]

Sometimes I picture myself standing on a tree stump just big enough for my two feet. In my mental image, the stump is surrounded by danger or things I’m afraid of – like I’m in the middle of a pit of snakes or a river of bubbling lava. I’m safe on the tree stump, but […]

So, remember when I was all lit about about the book When We Were on Fire? And I invited all of you to read it and join me for a giant book club discussion over lattes and scones at the world's biggest Starbucks which might just be in my imagination and an ethereal dream? I'm […]

"Christians kind of suck sometimes," I said, holding her hand. "Oh, I know this." "I know you know, because you haven't been loved well. But here's what I want you to know: there are many of us who are mean and judging and hurtful. But those are just Christians behaving badly. That's not God. That's […]

I cleaned the boys' bedrooms. Yes, I know they should clean them on their own. There are many things they should do. Add this to the list. I laid down the ultimatum a couple of weeks ago - you have an afternoon to clean your room. If you choose not to, then I will clean […]

"Boys, I bought new summer shirts for you. You can choose which one you'd like to wear to school today." There comes a time when their search for seasonal clothing isn't about tidiness. Although it might be about laundry. Meh. That's not what this post is about. "Oh, I love these. Thank you, Mommy." "And […]

"Tricia, you seem to write and think and talk about marriage as if it's definitely going to happen. Like it's a foregone conclusion." Actually, that's exactly what it is. I know I'll marry again. I know this with an absurd sense of clarity and assurance. "So does that mean you're seeing someone?" Nope. But one […]

  I have a love/hate relationship with the book of James.  I love it because it's just so practical that I can't miss what I'm supposed to do; I hate it because it's just so practical that I have no reason not to do what I'm called to do!  When I read the book of […]