I took the ornaments from our Christmas tree one by one. I threw away cookie crumbs and wrapping paper, vacuuming up the disposable elements of Christmas in our home, all the while contemplating the decrescendo from a major day of celebration. A couple of days of...
I took the hand-made houses that my Grandmother cross-stitched with yarn out of the box as we began to place them on the mantle. It was her "Christmas village" - a delightful little community including a church, store, and homes that she would display each...
"You need a break - a chance to really get away and rest." My husband's words felt like refreshing water to my parched soul and yet I immediately began to state all the reasons why this was simply impossible: homeschooling the kids, regular commitments, and...
I opened the news app on my phone to see the breaking news of yet another powerful leader who has been found guilty of sexual harassment in the workplace. I read the story and sighed with anger and sadness as I thought of the many...
One of my good friends has in her living room a very large jar of marbles which are noticeable to anyone who enters her house. I remember when she got them I couldn't help but ask, "Why the marbles?" To which she responded, "They each...
Nearly ten years ago I walked into our house in Cheverly, Maryland for the first time, but it wasn't yet our house. We had been looking at the house next door when we ran into the next door neighbor who told us their house was...
For those who are unaware, in mid-October, actress Alyssa Milano shared on Twitter: "Me too. Suggested by a friend: If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote "me too" as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude...
What says "It's fall" to you? A few things do it for me. Multi-colored leaves crunching under my feet, sweater-wearing, apple-picking, and pumpkin cooking. Let me tell you, I wasn't always a pumpkin cooking type of gal. The only times I used pumpkin in a recipe,...
My first child was just four months old when we went on our first vacation with her to a small, quiet island in Florida. As I strapped my baby girl into my infant carrier and hugged her close to my chest, I took a short...
My Dear Chesed, Naming. It has been happening since the beginning of creation. God gave Adam the responsibility and honor of naming first the animals and then his own wife! Every two seconds in the world, a new child is born and given a name. Someone (usually...