I am a grammarphile. I enjoy the undervalued punctuation marks. I revel in a properly placed em dash. I snicker at how commas can change meanings entirely . There is also a purposefully placed comma in my title. I am not ceasing to worship. I am ceasing, in order to worship. My life is full of activity,…
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Un-tweetable and Un-instagrammed
I told a friend once he’d know the end was near if he ever saw a tweet from me. So far he hasn’t. No one has. If you’re a person who lives life 140 clever characters at a time, by all means tweet well and often, and be happy. Or if you’re more the visual…
My Mother’s Day Hangover
The Monday after Mother’s Day, I was emotionally hung over. I love my mom and have a great relationship with her. I was happy to see her, give presents, and celebrate. But at the same time I ached. I want a husband and children. I want to participate in Mother’s Day as a mother,…
Give the World a Reason to Dance
I have recently been introduced to a world changer. He’s powerful, influential, brilliant… and eight years old. He goes by the name Kid President and has a dream, to make the world a nicer place. To fill it with hope and encouragement and lots and lots of dancing. He understands that life isn’t always happy.…
An Authentic Imitation
This is genius. A talented singer performs songs in the style of other singers. She’s good. Spot on. And it’s a joy to watch and listen to. I’m totally impressed how she can change pitch, stance, gestures, facial expressions and trills to mimic famous people. But my favorite is when she sings as herself. She’s…
My Words are Like Pickles
I love Chick fil A. In fact, I’m fairly certain that it will be on the menu in Heaven. It is certainly a treat for me to stop and pick up a juicy, perfectly breaded, chicken sandwich with polynesian sauce. (Who else is drooling now?) But there’s one thing I don’t like about Chick fil…
Ubiquitous Work
Everywhere I look, work has been done. Every chair set up for a conference. Every clean floor. Every nicely folded shirt. Every customer service question answered. Every meal cooked. Even tasks completed by machine were designed, coded, and constructed by someone. I marvel, thinking, “For everything I see done, someone had to do that.” I…
Parsing Struggles
When discussing sin and struggles, the tense of the verb matters. I’ve heard loads of testimonies over the years and it seems that most people speak about their struggles in the past tense. They say things like, “When I first became a Christian, I struggled with/was addicted to/ was beset with _______.” We, as the…
Dabbling in Thievery
My conscience is needling me. I have something to confess. I stole this week. Twice. But before you report me, let me explain. I went to [a local store, omitted to protect the innocent] to pick up a few items, one of which was a pack of Chapstick to donate to a charity drive going…
A Hospitable Life
Sometimes I see people. I hold doors. I help carry boxes. I let them in traffic. I send encouraging notes. Too much of the time, I don’t see people. I rush past them onto the elevator. I miss seeing them in the lunchroom. I fail to follow up on their rough days. I am too…