If you want to hear God laugh tell God your plan. Have you ever heard that saying? It’s one that comes back to me time and time again. As a person well into her forties now, I often look back and think about how grateful I am that I wasn’t in charge of everything. But I also wonder about the things that I kind of miss—even though they never happened. As a kid I wanted three kids. Two girls who sandwiched a boy, then after I had my oldest and I realized how cool she was I wanted her to have a sister and maybe two brothers, so they had…

***** TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide and child loss. There’s a little red candle at our church. It sits right under the pulpit or altar, at the ready. Waiting until we eventually “need” it again. I can go for a while without thinking about that candle, until… Last night, my daughter came home and told me about a commotion down the road. Fire trucks, police and what she assumed was the coroner. So she called a friend who is an EMT and he informed us that it was a murder-suicide and my mind immediately went to a domestic dispute. Although pretty rare out in the country where I live (the murder suicide,…

When we moved into our “new house” 15 years ago. We had less than zero desire to befriend the new neighbors. When you want to hear God laugh… It turns out that particular plan was side splitting to God! Dan, Michele, Danny and Kristine have become far more like family than neighbors. In a time when I was learning to manage the anxieties of a small child, Michele taught me to let go of the little things and that being present was what really mattered not how much of the house was cleaned how often. On the other hand, Dan and Mark *caused* quite a bit of my anxiety. And…