[This article also exists in podcast form, on Pondering Purple. Click HERE to listen or find it on your usual podcast platform.] We like Top Ten lists, don’t we? Bite-sized bits of information we can easily process and implement if we choose. Fashion trends. Vacation spots. Kardashian Katastrophes. I figure if it’s good enough for God’s Commandments, […]
There’s a common mistake we make when speaking with someone who isn’t doing well. It’s a three-letter word: but. A recent trip took me to Europe, where I met with dozens of couples living internationally who were concerned about their children. As we discussed the challenges and solutions pertinent to each of their situations, I began […]
[Are you an MK? Please briefly submit the reason(s) you loved growing up as you did in the comments space below! And don’t miss the video.] I’ve received several emails, lately, that ended with a disheartened question like this one: “Is it even possible to raise a happy MK?” Yes. A resounding yes! That’s why […]
[A retrospective for World Cancer Day: this post was written two days after I discovered I had breast cancer.] June 5, 2008 – After a series of surgeries that removed a large, tentacular tumor from my cheek, I leave the hospital with fourteen stitches and “You are cancer-free!” ringing in my ears, thinking Microcystic Adnexal […]
[For those whose stories feel too dark to share—take courage. Others need to hear about your Postcards from the Pigsty.] In recent weeks, I’ve been contemplating the importance of speaking about the challenges and mistakes in our past. An article about parenting I read this morning (I’m not expecting—just learning!) further stressed the value of […]
[WARNING: Sexual content below.] Shameful admission: in the year 2008, when I was waging a twofold battle against cancer, I began to watch a show called The Bachelor. Or maybe it was The Bachelorette, that season. Whatever the gender of the mate-seeking protagonist, it afforded me a bit of an escape from my torturous reality, […]
Because many of you who read my blog knew him, I thought I’d post this video commemorating my dad on this ninth anniversary of his passing into glory. The eulogy I wrote for his memorial service in 2005 is below. I miss him every day. +++ As mom and I sorted through hundreds of pictures […]
Getting to the truth in modern America is a bit of a slimy process. Respectful debate? So old-fashioned. Dissenting civility? Boring and unTweetable. We prefer our “people of influence” to lob a grenade back and forth in a pathetic game of hot-potato until the least agile of the adversaries explodes in a hail of “gotcha” […]
[Scroll down for the musical video at the end of this post…or read the context first to get more out of it!] I was at a Women’s Christmas Tea in London, Canada, last week, where I’d been asked to speak on the topic of angels. Angels, huh? How very Christmas-themy. Though I’ve believed in their […]
(This article was first posted in 2009, when I still lived in Germany. See the end of this piece for the current “State of the Tree” update. If you’re single or know a single person, this might be an idea for you/them to consider…) I briefly visited the Basel Christmas market tonight, and as […]