My Mother-in-Law’s Garage

The remote door opener clicks under my thumb. From my parked car across the tidy suburban street, I watch the two-car garage door lurch upward and begin to glide open. The accumulation of medical equipment and old resentments ends today. The final clear-out begins. My mother-in-law still owns the house....

May 20th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

Drone Zone

Just outside Las Vegas sits a cluster of camouflaged trailers. Inside one trailer is Afghanistan. Inside another is Iraq. Other trailers serve as portals to Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, and so on. Stepping inside one of these trailers is kind of like Lucy stepping into the wardrobe to find herself in Narnia,...

May 15th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

The Grand Mother

My son Abel is from Ethiopia; he has been with us since 2009. Before we adopted him, he lived with his grandmother in a small village in the Mekelle region of northern Ethiopia. She worked in a motel as a maid. His grandmother would wear him to work, strapped on her back with a Khanga, until he got too...

May 13th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

Dumpster Diving

Every job has its perks. I work at a shelter for women and children. One day our entire building went to the zoo. Every woman and child, every staff member along with their families, and several volunteers all took a zoo day. We brought in 175 sack lunches for the women and children. When I say...

May 8th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

Seeds Grow in Broken Earth and Not in Clouds

This morning I took my first crack at the fifth workout of the CrossFit Open. Up until this point in the workout, I’d been doing reasonably well for having only done it “full time” for three months. I was in the middle of the pack in my division. Workout 13.5 let me know that my...

May 6th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

A time to Mourn

Remnants of dirty snow line the sidewalks, and the air is bitter cold as we gather in the stuffy warmth of the chapel. Candles are lit and prayers are lifted up for peace and comfort for those who mourn. The family is remembering the loss of a mother, daughter, sister years ago, but the wounds...

May 1st, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

The Incredible Shrinking Mom

My mom was diagnosed with three autoimmune diseases about 10 years ago. She takes each day with more grace than I would find possible. I am continuously surprised by Mom never letting illness get her down. Well, almost never. There was one sad day for Mom. *** Mom came home from the doctor and...

April 29th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

How Do We Say Goodbye?

How do we say goodbye? It’s something I’ve never been very good at, saying goodbye. It can be friends and family I see on a yearly vacation trip to another part of the country, or a friend at work who is leaving for new frontiers. It can be something devastating on the level of losing...

April 24th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

How to Respond & Pray in the Midst of Crises

Earlier this week a friend of mine remarked, “Is it just me or is the world starting to spin out of control? It seems like all we’re doing is going from one major crisis to the next to the next. How are we supposed to catch our breath anymore?” How should we respond in the midst of crises? The...

April 19th, 2013 | Featured | Read More

Love the hungry

I sat in the back of the classroom in a green metal chair, just small enough that my knees bent at an uncomfortable angle. The room hummed with the morning activity of students unloading backpacks, turning in homework and making their lunch selections on the white board. I waited patiently for my morning...

April 17th, 2013 | Essays, Featured | Read More

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