In epic tales, the spiritual mentor dies just when the quest is at its most precarious. As a member of Church of the Redeemer in Nashville, I felt this way when we lost our beloved priest, Thomas McKenzie, to a car wreck this week. In Lord of the Rings, the fellowship is already weary and [...]
Anyone else having a hard time letting themselves rest now that the pandemic is starting to wind down in the U.S.? I've been struggling with this lately, even though I’ve been busy serving as the sole caregiver, friend, teacher, playmate, and germ guardian (virus bouncer?) to both of my children for the last year and [...]
In our neighborhood in the Nashville suburbs, almost every house has a yard sign that reads, “Drive like your children live here,” with a heart emblem around it. There are neon-colored, plastic figurines waving flags that say, “SLOW,” at other houses, and the moms shove them farther into the intersections so that even if cars [...]
As the one year anniversary of the pandemic in America rolls by, I've been reflecting on the sweet summer child who really believed that if she did her duty and stayed home for two weeks during lockdown, life would “get back to normal.” Yes, this was me. I was so naive, as I think many [...]
I'll be the first to admit that I am way, way behind on Christmas this year. As of today, there's tree, no stockings, no lights, no presents wrapped. In fact I've failed to invoke any spirit of festiveness in my household except for a half-finished screening of Elf, which was interrupted because the host (ahem, [...]
Like Kate, I never though I'd be the homeschooling type. But 2020 had other plans for me. So while my son's preschool was cancelled, I took a turn in the driver's seat, teaching-wise, and let's just say I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. Hence, these sight word puzzles that I [...]
I had mostly succeeded at scrubbing my vocabulary of curse words when my oldest child became sentient, but lately they've crept back into my head. And also my speech. Apparently dropping an F-bomb here or there releases endorphins, which is probably why these words keep rising to my lips unbidden. There is a serious lack [...]
Waking up to a whole day without any outings or childcare can be pretty daunting. Especially since we're going on week 8 -- or is it 8,938? -- over here. As much as I love my kids, there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to spending time with them. The longer we're [...]
From Marilynne Robinson's Gilead : "For me writing has always felt like praying, even when I wasn't writing prayers, as I was often enough. You feel that you are with someone. I feel I am with you now, whatever that can mean . . . Well, but how deeply I regret any sadness you have [...]
I keep thinking of this line from Spanglish. Yes, the 2004 Adam Sandler rom-com which netted only 53% on rotten tomatoes. That one. We've brought you Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, and now . . . Spanglish. Bear with me. Let’s be friends: Join our email list Mid-way through the film,Tea Leoni’s character cheats on her long-suffering [...]
