A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children… (Prov 13:22)
Like everyone else, I cooked at home a lot during the quarantine. I cook a lot anyway, so things really didn’t change much in that regard. I enjoy cooking. Home cooking is healthier, and it saves money. In the past few months, I’ve perfected several recipes, tried new ones, and combined old recipes to create something new. Continue reading “Cooking with Grandma”
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thess 5:11)
Some people don’t like celebrating or even acknowledging their birthdays, but I’ve never been that way. I view my birthday as an opportunity to connect with friends and family. It’s a time for introspection. It’s a time for fun. And in August 2020, during the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m reflecting on the birthday memory that stands out the most.
One of my most vivid birthday memories is from a couple of decades ago. (How did I get so old?!) My Chicken Soup for the Shopper’s Soul short story, “The Birthday Surprise,” is about my twentieth birthday, when I lived in Germany with my then-husband, who was in the US Army. I had been there about three months and hadn’t met many women yet. My husband was being sent on maneuvers for a few days, so I planned to spend the day alone, thousands of miles from family and friends, feeling sorry for myself. (I know, it wasn’t my finest moment.) Continue reading “A Birthday Memory”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Eph 5:15–16)
I’m introspective by nature, and I like to take some time around my birthday to reflect on my life. This sort of self-reflection must have something to do with getting older. I’m quite sure I wasn’t so contemplative in my twenties.
A friend of mine recently posted about how he uses his birthday as a springboard to reflect and realign his life goals. I loved that idea, and then I realized I’ve been implementing it for a while. No wonder I liked it! Continue reading “Birthday Reflections”
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen 2:3)
Before the pandemic, life had sped up to a frenetic pace that I couldn’t maintain. (This led to my word of the year, renew which I’ve written about several times.) When someone would ask how I was doing, my answer was good but busy. This was the case so often that I found myself trying to find ways to answer without using the word “busy,” but in all honesty, I was busy, so I struggled to come up with another word that summarized my life.
When I returned the question, the answer was always the same. Everyone was always busy. We wore busyness like a badge of honor.
Between work, volunteering, and my social activities, I had filled every last moment in my schedule. All good things, to be sure, but too many good things is still too many. Continue reading “A Slower Pace”
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov 4:23)