The phone rang a few weeks ago at, of course, the most inconvenient time. I think my family and I were in travail over the deadline of a science fair project. My son was dull to hear my organizational spiel, and I was dull to hear my caller, being preoccupied with such monumental things. But I knew why she called, so I began wresting my heart from frustration to focus. I just didn’t figure I would go all the way to wonder.

I had been traveling the road of infertility with her for many months. What a trip it is. I know; I did it myself. During the process I found myself suddenly aligned with myriad people who long for things unfulfilled. For the first time, I could knowingly nod with a friend who could never answer why life, movies, magazines proceed on a white-dressed parade of "happily ever afters" while she is only invited to watch. I could appreciate the elusiveness of success when hard work doesn’t pay off and of health when sickness will not relent.

There is no sense of justice or even the least bit of reason in such a place. And the questions - ugh - they cut to the core. "Why?" That one is not always answered. So it goes to, "Is it me?", opening the door to all the imaginations that blame and guilt can conjure. All the while your heart is hinting, "God, is it you?" God’s goodness secretly (so risky to mention) comes into question. Though his word states that he is, life sometimes screams that he isn’t.Read more

This time "Who Said or Wrote This?" is not a game or challenge, rather it's an honest question. I'm trying to find out who originated this beautiful quote:Read more

Imagine for a moment that you embark on a mountain-climbing expedition somewhere in the Colorado Rockies with your good friend. At some point along the way, you lose your footing and find yourself in the precarious position of dangling off the edge of an icy two-hundred-foot cliff by one finger (let’s make this dramatic). You are screaming for your friend, crying out for help.

But he doesn’t reach down to help you. Instead your hiking buddy begins to eloquently intellectualize and verbalize his love toward you. He even begins to experience all kinds of wonderful, blissful feelings about how much he loves you and how much he will miss you when you fall to your death on the rocks below. He tilts his head ever so slightly, bites his lip, and says, “I love you so much. I’m just overwhelmed with loving feelings toward you right now.”Read more