As always, I spent some time thinking about what my New Year’s Resolution/s would be this year. Part of this process was reviewing my resolutions from the last few years – which is easy for me to do since I devote a column every year to the subject. It’s become a stroll down Memory Lane for me, as well as a good analytical tool. I can see which resolutions became habits and routines that I still follow today, as well as ones that I’m still [...]
A friend of mine posted the details of a recent experience she had, and the story was so heartwarming and uplifting – not to mention perfect during the holiday season – I knew I had to share it with others. I told her I wanted to write about it, and she graciously gave me her permission. The story ended with someone’s prayer being answered. And it started a few miles away from a home improvement store. That’s where my friend first drove past an elderly, [...]
It was a conversation that made me want to crawl under a table and hide, and never come out again. It took place at a meeting I attended last weekend, when everyone was still in shock over the attacks that took place in Paris last Friday. Before the meeting started, several of us were discussing the attacks, each of us contributing additional information and details we had read in the paper or heard on the news. From there our discussion broadened into the subject of [...]
Before last Sunday, I had never been to Lake Elmo. I also had never been to a Lutheran church service. Later in the day, back at home in my own church, I was chatting briefly with one of the deacons about the religious, racial, and cultural differences many of us can find not only in our communities, but among our friends and even within our own extended families. “Our differences shouldn’t just be tolerated,” he said. “They should be celebrated.” His words were music to [...]
I just returned from the retreat I mentioned a few weeks ago. If you read that column, you know there was a “silent retreat” portion of the weekend that had me a little apprehensive. Not that I didn’t want to honor the silence, or didn’t think I could. I was just afraid I’d forget and start talking to someone – or myself – or that without realizing it, I’d start humming a song that popped into my head for some reason. I’m happy to report [...]
Have you ever watched a movie or sitcom in which someone has a loud, emotional outburst in a noisy and crowded restaurant, and then suddenly realizes everyone in the entire place has gotten silent and is staring at him? Or one in which someone is alone, having a lively conversation with himself while engrossed in some mundane chore, and then he looks up to find a room full of people watching and listening to him? Or worse, he sees only one person – the one [...]
I just completed a 7-day challenge issued by one of my cousins. She had been tagged on Facebook and challenged to post a Bible verse – and to tag and nominate someone else to do the same – for each of the next seven days. I was one of the people she chose. I took on the challenge, although I decided to skip the part about asking others to do the same. Even though I could easily think of seven other people who would probably [...]