Waiting. Our minds work overtime to get us past it. Our bodies get busy to overcome it. Yet somewhere along the way we start believing we’ll never get through it. The truth is, however, waiting is never forever. Just as the dark of a sleepless night that stretches on and on eventually brightens with theContinueContinue reading “Hiddenness: Death to Life”
Category Archives: Hidden
Distraction to Peace
Waiting pushes all our productivity buttons; it ushers in all the mental lists of what we could be doing…if only we didn’t have to wait. The day we got word about our transfer to Atlanta, Larry and I both kicked into high gear. We started four different to-do lists in my notes app, found freeContinueContinue reading “Distraction to Peace”
Hiddenness: Despair to Hope
When we’re awakened in the dead of night by a noise, we jolt out of bed then grope our way in the darkness toward the light switch, banging our shins on the bed frame. We panic when we see a man crouching in the corner – only to realize it’s a chair draped with aContinueContinue reading “Hiddenness: Despair to Hope”
Hiddenness: Darkness to Light
Waiting comes in all sizes and packages. I recall the absolute torment of waiting to open the tantalizing gifts under the tree as a child. And the long anticipation of the coming Christmas holidays as the countdown ticked by ever so slowly each day. While I might be an adult who has a greater capacityContinueContinue reading “Hiddenness: Darkness to Light”
Hidden Identities: Fully Formed
What feels like suddenly, we’re at our thirteenth and final week of our series, Hidden Identities. We have acknowledged that living in this world and in our own bodies can confuse us. We can wander the earth, wondering who we are and why we’re here. All that the world values, all that the flesh desires,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Fully Formed”
Hidden Identities: New Name
Madeleine L’Engle once wrote that “to be named is to be loved”1 – which causes me to pause. And ponder. I think of taking on Larry’s name on our wedding day, a sign of enduring love. I remember all the love that went into naming each of our babies. I recall how loved I feelContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: New Name”
Hidden Identities: New Creation
At some point or other, we all wear masks. We might don a disguise in order to appear stronger or more capable than we feel. We might put on our humor so that people won’t see our pain. We might even paste a smile on our face, hoping that no one will notice our mess. ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: New Creation”
Hidden Identities: Intimate
Have you ever caught yourself making lists in your mind? Maybe I do it so subconsciously because I’m a natural list-maker. For the two weeks in Italy, however, I forced myself not to think about all the things back home. In many ways, I laid down my list-making. What I didn’t understand till now, however,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Intimate”
Hidden Identities: Safe
Decades ago some of my college training to be an educator introduced me to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” This triangular-shaped, psychological device gives us insight into our needs as human beings. Our basic necessities, illustrated by the base of the pyramid, are our physiological needs – things like air, food, and water. These must beContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Safe”
Hidden Identities: Secure
I can’t tell you how many times I watched Pretty Woman throughout the nineties, but it was a lot. I didn’t think much about why I loved it, but as I reflect on it now, I believe it had a lot to do with transformation. Both main characters, Vivian and Edward, changed right before ourContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Secure”