I've got a hefty backlog of articles I've written elsewhere as October was unusually prolific (and, truth be told, I missed a number of deadlines). No matter: our first stop is at VOX for ruminations on the no-win situation women, and mothers particularly, often find themselves in.
Read moreA Noble Irish heroine and just one happy ending
On Facebook today, I saw another blogger share the trailer of this film, marking it with the hashtag: #ad. This made me cringe. I don't mean to share this film as an ad; I'm under no obligation to do so. In fact, I ignored it for a long while because I didn't really want to watch this film. To be honest, I hate living in a world where we must watch documentaries and films of child poverty, abuse and sex trafficking to believe it's real and under our noses.
But my love for an Irish heroine and just this one happy ending won out...
Read moreon motherhood, grad school and bobbing towards shore
A Yes Woman
If you had asked me to do anything in our first few years of ministry, I would’ve answered in the affirmative. I wanted to be used, anywhere and in any way, and I was anxious to send news home of all these needs that had been answered through me.
I didn’t feel called to bulletin making, but I was good at it. A lifetime in traditional church combined with entry-level training in graphic design came to good use on the field. It wasn’t my gifting, but I did it… because I could.
I didn’t feel called to teaching a children’s Sunday school class, but I was a young mom and it was my turn in the rotation at our new young church. It wasn’t my gifting, but I did it… because I felt like I had to.
I didn’t feel called to website administration, but if I didn’t do it, who would? It wasn’t my gifting, but…
I'm sharing at Velvet Ashes today about skills, giftings and saying no to some good things.
Good Intentions & Thank Yous
We were going through old boxes, that necessary yet emotionally-exhausting rite of passage before moving overseas. Before our first term in Ireland we carefully labeled and stowed away mementos and heirlooms, birthday cards and documents. These were all the things we wanted to keep, but didn’t really feel like lugging across the ocean.
So just a few weeks shy of returning for our second term, it was time to cull, save or throw out what remained of our first 10 years of marriage, the things held together with faded tape and cardboard. Our bed was a disaster zone of papers and trinkets and, much to my dismay, a half dozen never sent thank you cards… from our wedding.
Oh the shame of finding these outdated remains of my good intentions. With clarity I remembered a distant relative’s queries to my grandmother when a thank you card for hand towels never appeared in her mailbox. Oh, I sent it, I told Granny. No, Karen. You didn’t send it. You didn’t even put a stamp on it.
I'm writing today at Velvet Ashes about saying (or forgetting, or putting off, or actually just being really terrible at) thank you.
