• 07.31.2007 Hello, again…
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    I’ve been taking LOTS of pictures of my kids. I’ve been capturing LOTS of video of them singing, eating, arguing, and laughing. I’ve been soaking in the strangely clear reality that you’ll never get back the minute that has just passed. That it’s a waste of time to bury your face in a magazine and say, “uhuh,” when your toddler says, “look, mama, look what I can do.” That it’s not absurd to document your children’s voices with a voice recorder going at the breakfast table. That it’s worth the time it takes to charge your camera and have it at the ready for a spontaneous outburst of Solid Gold dancing from your three year old. For someone who has to fight to find the meaningfulness in the mundane, these are lofty aspirations. But it’s like that one song says…”don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone.” Perhaps the melodrama […]

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  • 07.18.2007 I Feel Like a Grown-up When I Make Lamb
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    Up until about two years ago, I thought lamb to be out of the scope of reasonable supper-time fare. It always seemed too gamy, too expensive, too Easter. My husband Troy loves lamb (any meat, really), so I’ve broadened my menu. Lamb is that unique je ne sais quois in such ethnic delights as Gyros, peppered Mongolian stir fry, or Irish mutton stew. The Chinese say that lamb is a “hot” food, meaning that your internal systems are therapeutically warmed or inflamed if you are gluttonous. Maybe that is why lamb pairs so well with mint. If you are like me, you love the contrast of flavors: sweet and savory, strong and subtle, warm and cool. Tonight I made boneless leg of lamb. The already marinated leg of lamb was purchased at Trader Joe’s (love that place!) for only $3.99/lb. While I waited for the lamb to grill (per instructions […]

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  • 07.14.2007 Pretty Book Issues
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    Maybe I’m the only one who buys beautifully bound journals and keeps them on the shelf untouched. Leather ones, silky ones, miniature ones, grandiose ones, all sitting silently because I’m not willing to mar their preciousness with my imperfect, unedited musings. I’m not ready yet, I tell myself. I want so much to be more than I am. I want to be gracious in suffering. I want to record more glorious victories. I want to be more joyful in the day to day. I fear not producing a finished work my children and their children would marvel at. That’s why the grace of God captivates me. The great love of Christ offers me a brand new, fresh, beautiful book to write in each day. Yet, when I gingerly turn to the first page, hoping not to “mess it up,” I find with great relief that He has already filled in […]

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