We went to Texas for Spring Break so  Malaika could meet her birth father. Both Richard and I were dreading the trip, even though we had the opportunity to see close friends while we were in Houston. We stayed with our friends of over 25 years, Bill and Barbara. They took wonderful care of […]

This morning the topic of my devotional was saying “yes”; to God or whatever higher power you have, to your calling in life and even to yourself. What struck me was that the author included saying yes to herself. As women, we say yes to everything but ourselves. I’m really guilty of that, but I am […]

I was driving along South Boulder Road the other day and saw a sign that said “Preaching is easier than practicing.” How true! Most of the time when I write this newsletter, I’m telling you what I need to hear. But the truth is that it’s much easier to say something than to do it. […]

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I think that’s a very good definition and, by this definition we are probably all a little bit insane. We fall into patterns of behavior; some which serve us and some which don’t. My habit of swimming and yoga […]

  I got an e-mail from my dear friend, Paula, commenting on my article about cutting down the cottonwood tree. She reminded me that roots are not always bad, squeezing our hearts. Sometimes roots are good, helping us grow and reminding us of where we came from. We get our roots from lots of different […]

Raising a 13 year old has given me a lot of reason to think about control and how little of it I really have. And since Malaika is adopted I have been appreciating how much heredity and the environment play into life. Do we really have control? We do have the free will to make […]

Last week, we had a 25 year old cottonwood tree taken down. It was very gnarly and the roots where far enough out of the ground to trip over and make mowing difficult. I have been wanting to take it down the past couple of years, even though I will miss the shade. I told […]

  Each day we generally follow a routine, at least I do. I get up and have my quite time, then get the family up, work out, go to work, come home, walk Mav, have dinner, read or watch TV and go to bed. Sounds kind of boring, doesn’t it. But it’s not. I try […]

  We will open the book. It’s pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it’s first chapter is New Year’s Day. – Edith Lovejoy Pierce For the first time this year, I got a New Year’s Card instead of a Christmas card. The words […]

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” I’m not sure where I found this quote, but it said something to me. So many times I have failed and decided to try again without stopping to think about what went wrong. How can I possibly succeed if I don’t stop and evaluate what […]