A Messy Situation
I met a friend for coffee and catch-up last week. At one point, she pulled out a pocket-sized notebook to write herself a reminder for something she had to do later. “I just bought myself a fancy new notebook,” she told me, “but whenever I need to write myself a note, this is the one I always use.” She added that she doesn’t want to “mess up” her new notebook with notes and scribbles. She wants whatever she writes in [...]
I see the light!
“Follow the light.” Those were the instructions given to me as I got ready for my first cataract surgery. And frankly, it made me nervous for a moment—just long enough to remember all the movies and stories in which someone died, or had a near-death experience, with a bright light beckoning them to the other side. I wasn’t really nervous about the surgery—not too much, anyway. Since the time I found out I needed it, I’ve talked to a number [...]
A Call to Arms
I’m on Day 15 of a 21-day challenge I started on April 4. Please don’t do the math. Not long ago, a friend of mine mentioned she was getting ready to begin a 21-day challenge for toning and strengthening her arms. A few days later, we had an unseasonably warm day, and I texted my friend this message: “I put on a short-sleeved shirt this morning and realized I REALLY need that 21-day arm challenge! Can you send me the [...]
Learning Today from the Leaders of Tomorrow
I recently went back to school again, and I was amazed at all I learned. Especially since I was there for barely an hour. The Georgia Writers Museum offers a number of educational programs, one of which is a Junior Board consisting of students in a Leadership class at the county high school. When the teacher of the class was recently named Teacher of the Month, and one of the students in her Leadership class—and on our Junior Board—was named [...]
Easter Observations
Our church was crowded last Sunday, as it always is on Easter. Sitting in the pew in front of us was a young family. The two boys, about five and ten years old, were well-behaved and well-dressed, each in tan pants, a button-down shirt, and an adorable bow tie. This reminded me of a column I wrote more than 20 years ago, about another Easter Sunday. I think it’s still relevant today: As I waited for Mass to begin on [...]
Reflect on This
Throughout the Lenten season, I’ve been reading daily meditations from a booklet our church distributed at the beginning of Lent. Each meditation is just two pages long. The first page usually tells the story of a saint or saintly person relevant to that day in history, such as St. Patrick on March 17. The booklet understandably refers to the day as “The feast of St. Patrick,” rather than “St. Patrick’s Day.” The second page of each meditation begins with a [...]