Trials of Life or Trials of Faith?
I’m working on absorbing a powerful testimony I heard given by a friend of mine with whom I’ve traveled through life for the past twenty years. As we sat in our pews listening, she volleyed one family trial after another onto our side of the congregational court:
Tabouli
Do you ever have one of those memories where all your senses are captured? I have a tabouli memory like that! I was in high school spending a few days with my BFF at her grandmother’s home in a mountain village in Lebanon, as we were in the habit of doing during the summer. We were there for the National Holiday of Eid Al Saydeh, Feast of the Assumption, which also coincided with the grape harvest season.
Mother’s Day
According to my young idealistic twenty-something-year-old self-assessment, I was positive that the most challenging aspect of raising my two, twelve-months apart boys was getting them through the first years of their lives, protectively shielding their little eggshell heads, driven by the anguished sense that death could swoop them away at any moment.
Why Should I Tell My Story?
Twenty years ago, I wrote this story for me, for my healing. But I also had others in mind who I knew were out there, who might have walked in my shoes and needed validation, to be seen and feel safe in their vulnerability, to know that their feelings and experiences were authentic and not something to hide.
Speak Your Truth, You’re a Witness
Witnessing is telling the truth about your first-hand experience. It’s sharing intertwined small vignettes of authenticity, like a pearl necklace. Each bead of truth on its own might not be of great import but laced together, becomes a credible story to tell. Usually, the storytelling starts with a question asked, then the one who has witnessed the answers is inspired to share his/her experience. The pearls of answered questions ping one right after the other in the strength of their veritable purity.
Dry Creek Bed
Do you have a soggy boggy area in your yard after a heavy rainstorm? Make your own picturesque dry creek bed and solve the water drainage problem! It took us most of a Saturday, with a noon hamburger pit stop, to finish our project.
Talk to Me Face to Face
I needed a straight up, talk to me face to face, direct, kitchen table conversation with God. An ask, an opportunity, a request, a plea has landed in my lap this last week that has the potential to turn my safely choreographed routine-driven life upside down. Bear with me as I back peddle.
Perfect Pound Cake
Nothing makes a house more like a home than a tantalizing wife of a cake baking! The practice of baking and sharing the goodies was deeply ingrained in our upbringing. Mother baked one main dessert each week which was shared with Sunday company and nibbled off of the rest of the week.
Betrayal
Before we can rejoice in the Easter resurrection, we need to take a long look at betrayal, an experience that isn’t unique to the Apostle Peter, but an encounter through which we all have lived. How many times have you been wounded by a person or entity’s words or actions that felt like betrayal? Often this betrayal comes from a most cherished source, so it hurts exponentially more.
Oh! How I Love Writing
My book, Tell the Truth About Adultery, is coming out on June 28th, so I feel the need to let you know what’s behind the curtain my writing.