Sometimes I sit in from on my computer screen and read about the world. Ok, not sometimes. Pretty much every day. I read about convicts on death row in Florida, orphans in Syria, American pastors imprisoned in Iran. I read about the city in Spain that sends dog poop back to their owners when they … Continue reading I don’t know what it’s like to know everything.
As I walk down the streets of Swaziland, there is an obvious absence of father’s. There are babies everywhere I look. Infants are being taken care of by three year olds. Teenage boys living on the street, with no father figure. Twelve year old girls pregnant… abandoned. There is an oppression that I can hardly … Continue reading A Not So Happy Father’s Day
I saw Man of Steel last night. It was worth every penny and not just for the references to Kansas State University. It got me thinking; about men, sons, dads, strength, and honor. There were four key men in the story: SuperMan/Clark Kent/Kalel, his father on earth, his father on Krypton, and the antagonist, General … Continue reading Super man & men of honor
When I was in college, I took a poetry class. My professor was a woman who carried as many poems around with her as there were political buttons pinned to her leather coat. With such a teacher, our poetry was less about gardens flecked with mid-morning sun, and more about the broken lines of sidewalk in … Continue reading I Carry Your Heart With Me
During the World Race (an 11 month mission trip) we fought for a lot of things. We fought to be present where we are, fought to be positive, fought to maintain honesty and vulnerability when we just wanted to shut down and tune everyone out, fought to make every day the best it can be. In Kenya another fight … Continue reading Rethinking a Drop in the Bucket
A look on the floor of my tiny apartment and I ask myself, “What have I done this week?” Piles of books, papers, notebooks, bibles…hard to decipher letters…”I agree to waive testimony in this case.” (No.) And a line from a vintage Talking Heads song, “this is not my life”, mocks me in my despair. … Continue reading Shelter seeking
To be brief, January sucked. There were these perfect moments, you know? These moments when all it took to feel alive was driving through the mountains with my windows down, feeling the crisp north Georgia air on my cheeks. And then there were the other moments. Like being so incredibly ill I didn’t move from … Continue reading 3 Things We Forget While Looking in the Rearview Mirror.
As a typical child, I never wanted to go to bed. After a bedtime story and elongated conversations and organizing stuff animals, I’d say to my parents, “Just one more thing Mommy, just one more thing.” I thought that if I could just prolong the act of sleeping by a few more minutes, I’d have … Continue reading Just One More Thing
When I was a kid I literally thought I was invincible. I felt completely safe no matter what situation I was in… But as I have grown up and experienced some things, I’ve realized how freaking crazy this world is. How we are not promised another day. When I was a kid… the extent of … Continue reading Let’s Be Free.
“I’ve begun a notebook of “things I’ve noticed” because in trauma your world shrinks to a tiny pinpoint. On my run today, I noticed a vole, the breeze cutting through the humidity, and a smiling dog. It felt good to laugh.” – May 30, 2013 You see that photo of the banana wagon? Yep. It … Continue reading What I’ve noticed
