Photo: kids in Zimbabwe along for the ride to fill water containers I'm currently en route from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to Colorado, wrestling with the joys and tragedies I witnessed of a courageous people under the siege of a bankrupt economy. Why are kids orphaned in Zimbabwe? What are their lives like? Travel along vicariously with…Read more Orphans in Zimbabwe
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Vietnam – So Much More Than a War
The tank squats low and heavy in the middle of the city at the center of a roundabout, a giant hunk of refuse. Dark, cold metal, it absorbs the tropical light like a black hole. Afforded monument status, it reveals a past seemingly out of congruence with the idyllic mountain town facade, an ugly scar…Read more Vietnam – So Much More Than a War
Vietnam, fires, and Christmas…
Vietnam, fires, and Christmas.... my excuses for disappearing from the blogging world since late October! (Lots more dramatic than saying my dog ate my rough drafts... although that could happen.) Vietnam: Still can't believe I got to do this - absolutely amazing trip to Vietnam with a Hope's Promise Connection Team in early November. We witnessed the…Read more Vietnam, fires, and Christmas…
The Deaf Dog Who Heard What Matters
Strange that I would start painting again, after falling off into deep discouragement earlier this year, with Henry as my subject. But Henry was truly special. He was completely deaf. In a household clattering with four active kids, that was a blessing for him. And in a family with special needs kids, his disability endeared…Read more The Deaf Dog Who Heard What Matters
When Your Child Leaves Home
The experts say: when your child is moving away from home, don't let your him or her see you cry! Smile with your child; cry with other parents. I tried to follow their advice, I really did. I rarely cry; but one recent day, with two of my sons' departures to out-of-state locations less than…Read more When Your Child Leaves Home
Great Sand Dunes, Colorado
Suddenly sprawling at the foot of the Colorado mountains, the Great Sand Dunes are a gateway to a world simplified into sun, sand, and sky. Into texture, lines, and contrast. A portal into a magical, eerie other-world. A space where the barrenness only accentuates my love for those with whom I wander, swelling higher than…Read more Great Sand Dunes, Colorado
A 25 Year Flame (25 years of marriage)
When I was just twenty-years-old, God lit the flame. I stood in the kitchen with my mom, probably doing something mundane like cleaning up after dinner, and divulged - I know who I want to marry. Perhaps she thought I was too young; but then again, she pledged her heart to a lifelong love (44…Read more A 25 Year Flame (25 years of marriage)
Years Bending Into Time
Years Bending Into Time hot the night air white the hot light dancing in distant moonlit fields drowning in years of gathered emptying skies pouring down our windowpane drumming our whispers into the restless drone of the fan of still musty the dusty presence of settling walls of eyes in photos in every room settling with…Read more Years Bending Into Time
My Son’s Last High School Baseball Season
After a dreadfully dry winter, snow fell last week – must be baseball season in Colorado! Through the rain, snow, and sleet of year after year of springs in Colorado, I’ve witnessed the transformation of a boy into a warrior, slaying his opponents with a white orb and a long, skinny chunk of wood. With…Read more My Son’s Last High School Baseball Season
When the Darkness Comes to Your Town
Last week on Wednesday, my two high school kids and my middle-schooler were on lock-down due to a teenager who shot another youth between the two buildings. Then, my middle-schooler was again on lock-down two days later as a precautionary measure due to rumors that a classmate was planning a shooting at her school. These…Read more When the Darkness Comes to Your Town
