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Latest from the Greenhouse
Confessions of a “cropper” – I show the best without the mess
I confess. I’m a cropper. I crop out extra people who are distractions... I crop out the trash at the entry of an inviting alleyway... I crop out clutter and the...
How to bless your kids when you say farewell
This month our four kids are spread across four continents. That means I say lots of goodbyes. My favorite thing about saying goodbye is the opportunity to give my kids a blessing—probably their most embarrassing part. Before we had our first child, my husband and I...
World Cup Soccer and Suffering
The FIFA World Cup is all about soccer—and apparently suffering. “This will be a World Cup where teams that do well will suffer. We want to be the team that can suffer the most.” That’s what Michael Bradley, U.S. soccer team midfielder, said before the World Cup...
“Peace. Be Still” – Why I’m glad to be in the boat with the Prince of Peace
To say that there was tension in the air would be an understatement. It felt more like a Western showdown where both sides came ready to draw after a count to ten. The body language said it all. Crossed arms. Short greetings. I breathed deep and prayed that God’s...
Our Father in Heaven
I am Your Father in Heaven The Father of your spirits. I chose you, rescued and adopted you. I paid a price for you. I am unseen, yet you see me in everything. And I see everything. I see you when you are in trouble or despair. I see when you give to others. I listen....
“Let’s play!” – 4 reasons your family needs to play together
"A family that plays together stays together." I thought of that last week when I looked out the kitchen window and saw our boat leaving the neighborhood behind someone else’s truck. I heard the squeak· squeak·squeak that she always makes when she bounces around the...
Add a new column to your “to-do” list
What will you accomplish today? Yesterday I didn’t check anything off of my “to-do” list. In fact, I didn’t even have a “to-do” list. I didn’t have the satisfying feeling from getting anything done, because I didn’t. I didn’t meet with a student, wash and fold any...
Remembering Mom-from strawberries to an elephant’s rear-end
It doesn't take Mother's Day weekend to remind me of Mom. Anything from a simple flower, a great meal or an elephant's rear-end give me warm thoughts of her. I thought I'd share this list that my sister and I wrote two years ago for a friend to read at my Mom's...
U.S. Easter Bunnies Collide with Costa Rican Passion Week
Easter and springtime--they go together. When I was a kid I probably thought that baby chicks, colorful eggs and spring flowers were mentioned in the Biblical story of the resurrection—at least it’s somewhere in the gospel according to North Americans. Then we moved...