My mom and I once made a solemn vow: If either of us is ever in a coma, we promise to pluck one another’s chin hairs. My petite, five-foot-tall mom once grew out a single hair to see how long it would get. The coarse black hair spiraled below her chin until my brother and […]
Barrenness in the Midst of Creation
by on March 18, 2019 Leave a Comment
By Anne Moman Brock | Instagram: anne_brock_ A birth announcement on Facebook. Weekly baby bump updates on Instagram. An email from a co-worker sharing the news that his wife is pregnant. “I’m pregnant.” “Do you have children?” “Did you hear that so-and-so had a baby?” I’m surrounded by new life but can’t create it myself. There’s […]
Letting Go of the Life We Had Planned
by on January 9, 2019 Leave a Comment
By Marlys Johnson | Twitter: @iMarlysJohnson They left a card on our oak dining table wearing an E.M. Forster quote: “We must be willing to let go of the life we had planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” While I spent my first holiday as a widow with family on […]
Acedia and the Gift of Epiphany
by on January 2, 2019 Leave a Comment
Autumn had the potential to be an exciting season. My daughter started her freshman year of high school. She loved all her classes, flourished in the drama department, and was content in ways that delighted me. My son played fall football, and began his final year of middle school. Both of them were happy, settled, […]
When Forces Collide
by on November 15, 2018 20 Comments
There are seasons when troubles seem to multiply like rabbits. I’ve lived through a few such seasons in my life and they are always tumultuous. It feels like all the gathering winds are blowing in opposite directions and the resulting chaos becomes the new normal. A decade ago, our family walked through the valley as […]
