What’s Your “How We Met” Story?
My beloved mom turned 93 this week. It was hard losing my dad 10 years ago, but we have been …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Share our Joy? Nothing Could be Finer
In a world gone so heavy, with heads slung low in sorrowful sympathy, could it be that sometimes we need …
When Those You Love are Facing Their Last Christmas
Do you know them, too? Beloved friends, kin of all kinds, who are facing their last even as most of us …
Lessons from Libby: What I’ve Learned About Compassion from a Four-Year-Old
Remember that old saying, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy?” As our former neighbor Steve used to say, fuhgeddaboudit. …
When It’s Too Good to be True…It Just Might Be Anyway
The unexpected knock at the door. The friendly woman motioning to the candy dish on her table at the trade …
The Difference Between Having Character….and Being One
While searching for some old documents the other day, I came across a yellowed envelope containing my report cards from …
When You’re Just Not Good Enough…And That’s OK
You were up for a job promotion, and it went to someone else. That audition for the role in the …
Your Magnificent Chooser
After more than forty years of life together, Mike and I have often joked that he functions as the gas, …
You Know What They Say About Millennials, Don’t You? They Just Might be Wrong
“I’ve seen you somewhere before…” It happens to all of us. That familiar face, but out of place. Mike and …
When You’re Trying to Figure Out Where to Stand When it Comes to the Refugee Crisis
Originally posted on Tuesdays with Maggie:
With Christmas just past, I’ve been thinking about that family a lot. THAT family…you know the…
Christmas at the White House
POTUS and FLOTUS we’re not, but guess what? Everyone (as long as you can pass a security check) is welcome to …
The Best Retirement Party on the Planet
If the collective weight of grief could collapse a church, we’d be calling the insurance company already. Shirley, how can …
When a Detour Takes You Where You Were Meant to Go
You know those times when you have to brake suddenly and take another exit? When you were heading to Chicago …
Seven Layer Cake
We never wrote that book. And now she has taken the stories with her. When the man we shared – …
When You’re Trying to Figure Out Where to Stand When it Comes to the Refugee Crisis
With Christmas just past, I’ve been thinking about that family a lot. THAT family…you know the ones. The impoverished teenage …
What I’m Into – December Edition
I’m into bliss beyond measure – a new grandchild is due in June. Our children are coming home the week …
What I’m Into ~November Edition
Planting trees is a spiritual activity, it seems to me. Active faith that the thing will grow, fervent hope that …
What I’m Into – October Edition
For the past 30 years or more, the month of October has been Retreat Season for me. Tops on my …
Three Ways to Decorate on Purpose
This girl adores the domestic alchemy of turning a house into a home. Call it what you will – …
Letting Them Go (2)
I can’t believe she saved it all these years. The yellow post-it note caught my eye as we sifted through …
Breakfast Hacks for the Office
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Preach it, sister, I hear you. Except when you’re trying to …
The Friendliest Place on Earth
There couldn’t be a more perfect way to spend a Friday evening. A week ago tonight, Mike and I plopped …
Letting Go
It never gets easier. Losing a member of your family never does. The bond has nothing to do with biology. …
When You Really Need to Know “God’s Got It”
Two months have passed since my beloved’s first surgery, elective. Second, emergent. Third, pneumonia that scared me to tears in the woman …
Guest Post: Smushed in the Middle of the Sandwich Generation?
Have you ever felt stretched between competing needs in your family? Smushed like the filling spread too thin between two slices …
Fabulous Fall Retreat Weekend
Originally posted on Women's News and Events at First Baptist, Wheaton:
Under the leadership of Natalie Lederhouse, the women of FBC had a wonderful weekend retreat event.…
Hunger Pains
It took me three years to figure it out. The answer, that is, to the two most frequent questions friends …
The Fawn, Reprised
After I related the story of Libby and the fawn, the small moment shared in last week’s post, my coworker …
Well, Hello There!
Cyber broom, anyone? Digital dust mop, maybe? This tiny space of real estate on the web has lain fallow for …
Take this with a grain of salt
I sat in a Salt Cave on Sunday. No, not the kind that is springing up in day spas around …
Regrets, I’ve Got a Few
You’d hate the song, too, if it had happened to you. It was 1978, and I was working Saturdays as …
Handling the Heat – Part 3
It’s Election Day in the US of A, and by the time you read this we may well know who …
Handling the Heat, Part 2 – Prison on Our Backs
Are you one of those people who‘s completely impervious to how others regard you? Tell me how you manage it …
Bad Luck Bridesmaid
I have a hot tip for you today. If you’re planning on getting married anytime in the future, do not …
Guest Post: “We Are All Theologians”
I was out of town this past Tuesday so once again I missed posting a “Tuesdays” reflection, but this week I …
Almost Heaven
Friends, thanks for reminding me when weeks have passed without a “Tuesdays with Maggie” post. I love connecting with you this …
Amish Hospitality 2.0
If you want to study biblical principles for “welcoming the stranger” first-hand, there are few better places to do it …
The Holiness of Community
“I’m so glad we are related in more ways than one,” our daughter Amber remarked this past Sunday morning. We were …
Stories of God at Work: New “Miracles for Jen”!
Yesterday I wrote about my young friend Jennifer Barrick, whose body and brain were battered five years ago when her …
Miracle for Jen
It’s been over a month since I’ve done one of my Tuesday posts. My soul is just beginning to …
The Blogpost I Was Scared to Write
It’s the start of a new year, right? Time for inspiration, revelation or at least a resolution or two. Dieting? …
Freebie Friday: The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven
Congratulations to last week’s winner of Run to Overcome: Lisa Hansen of NYC! _____________________________________________________________________ Many of you reading this post …
Freebie Friday: RUN TO OVERCOME by NYC Marathon Champ Meb Keflezighi
So what do Eritrean-born Meb Keflezighi and Winfield, IL residents Dick and Marge Foster have in common? A love for …
New Freebie Friday Giveaway: The Narnia Code by Michael Ward
I first became acquainted with C.S.Lewis’s classic Chronicles of Narnia as a college student when I took a modern mythology …
New Freebie Friday giveaway: 30 Ways to Embrace Life
Don’t you love this cover? The dresses the women are wearing might be vintage 1950’s, but the book’s contents are for those of …
And the Winner is…
…Sarah Shrauger of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts! Sarah has won a copy of last week’s Freebie Friday giveaway: LOL with God: …
Brand-New Freebie Friday Giveaway: LOL with God~ Devotional Messages of Hope & Humor for Women
Congratulations to last week’s winner of A Pastor Prays for His People: Theresa Cann of New Hampshire! Living life at …
Brand New Freebie Friday Giveaway: A Pastor Prays for His People
Congratulations to last week’s winner of the trio of historical novels by Jennifer Valent: Glenda Alexander Chilton of Superior, AZ! …
Freebie Friday: 3 novels by Jennifer Valent
Congratulations to last week’s winner of Whisper on the Wind: Peggy Reu of Carol Stream, IL! What’s significant about 10.1.10? …
Freebie Friday: Focus on Fiction
Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winner: Charlene Dennen of Cotuit, MA! Now that fall has officially arrived, it’s a great …
This Week’s Giveaway: The Devil in Pew Number Seven
The winner of last week’s “Freebie Friday” giveaway copy of Beth Moore’s So Long, Insecurity is Kristi Stoughton of Hudson, MA. …
Riding the Rails
As far back as I can remember railroad tracks have intersected my life. The Illinois farm where I grew …
Freebie Friday: So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore
Introducing something new…Freebie Friday! What’s the fun of working in publishing if I can’t tell you about the books that …
Sacred Symbols
No one, I suppose, tears up at the sight of an old wooden ice cream maker. No one has reason …
Coming Down from the Mountaintop
After a lengthy conference call with one of our authors yesterday afternoon to plan her media campaign, I returned to …
The Best Thing I Overheard on Sabbatical
What’s the nicest thing you’ve heard your spouse say about you? No, this is not a rhetorical question: I really want …
Into Every Life (make that Basement ) Some Rain Must Fall…
I was at work last week when the end came so I didn’t attend the burial. Watch …
Tubin’ the Chatahoochee: Lessons on Life, Leisure, and Lost Soles
“I think I learned something today,” commented our oldest son, Adam. “And I figured it out when Liz went scooting …
Sacred Companions
Which would you choose if you had your druthers: visiting tour sites with a private guide or as part of …
Our International Exploration Comes to a Close
Theologian Karl Barth once said, “Gratitude follows grace like thunder follows lightning.” It is Monday, July 05, and we are …
