Recently, I’ve had an opportunity to read a handful of interesting non-fiction books. The first, Keri Wyatt Kent’s Listen: Finding God in the Story of Your Life, was a wonderful treat to myself. The next three were review copies offered to bloggers by publishers. The books have taken me from contemplative life to life between…

During our search for a church some time ago, we landed for a season at a small congregation that had been a part of the community for about 20 years. The people seemed friendly enough, the corporate worship was solid. We appreciated the family feel of the place, and hoped we might have found a…

Imagine being a thirty-something who’d spent your entire life living a nomadic existence in the desert. You’d played on the hard-baked sand as a child. You’d nursed your babies in a tent pitched next to a lone barren tree. The repetition of a lifetime manna-diet mirrored the bleached, unchanging environment in which you’d laughed, loved,…

“I’m sorry, but there’s no room for you in the program here,” my advisor looked up from a stack of papers centered on the desk in front of her. “If you’re convinced you want to pursue this teaching certification, there are other colleges you might consider if you’re willing to transfer out of state.” I…

When we first moved to Wisconsin in 1995, we had no idea how deep the pull of “up north” had on the psyche of the entire state. People didn’t have to say the name of a place. They’d just get a misty look in their eyes and say things like “We’re going up north this…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a book review. I’m typically a blazing-fast reader, and finished one of the two books I’ll be reviewing today in a couple of nights. But N.D. Wilson’s Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl forced me to suspend my Evelyn Wood-style speed-reading habits in favor of the kind of slow savor…