Our Christmas tree is decorated. It was my seven-year old Rose's year to climb the ladder and place the gilt-winged angel on the top. Elise carefully unwrapped the santons I collected years ago in France and placed the nativity figures in the arch window. Charlie hung the six stockings and
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I am reminded today of the gospel story in Mark of the two fishermen mending their nets on the beach when a stranger approaches and simply says, "follow me." I have always been struck by their response. There was no hesitation. The Bible says they "immediately" laid down their nets
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Sometimes we are beckoned to slow down the hectic spin of our lives and take stock of who we are, why we are here and where we hope to be going. Last month, David and I got away for three whole days without the kids. Such a rarity, we called it,
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Life can be so exquisite but also so full of heartbreak. Sometimes we just need a little nudge of hope to take on our wings and rise. A couple of years ago a family friend lost their son tragically. My heart was broken. I created for them my first box of
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And what else can we do when the mysteries present themselves but hope to pluck from the basket the brisk words that will applaud them
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When you are secure in your soul, what's to fear? -Ram Das On a day like this when I have just been told that not one, but two people I love have just received the dreaded sentence: Incurable. And my hometown of Nashville is shrouded in grief for all the unnecessary
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Growing up my grandfather, Papa Charlie, would come over for dinner every Wednesday night. After a Southern feast of fried chicken, rice and gravy, butter beans, homemade biscuits and sweet tea, my five sisters and I would put on a lively performance for him. As I was the oldest, and
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"We are made for transcendence and endless horizons, but our small ego usually gets in the way until we become aware of its petty preoccupations and eventually seek a deeper truth. It is like mining for a diamond." -Richard Rohr This Summer, I was introduced for the first time to the
Continue ReadingEarth is crammed with Heaven -Elizabeth Barrett Browning I recently read an interview with an author I admire. He said his family plays a game at dinnertime called, "Crossing the Wonder Line." The object of the game is to take a review of one's day to recall a moment where you
Continue ReadingI have always loved trees: the prehistoric ginkgo, the Angel Oak, the sweet Southern magnolia, groves of olive trees and the elegant weeping willow, to just name a few. I fell in love with my husband hiking Sewanee's famous Perimeter trail beneath a fortress of pine trees. For my fortieth
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