simplelife

I'm still muddled after the trauma of unexpected accusations. But the process of thinking through someone else's stuff is almost over. Strange how others can attribute motivations to us that would never even cross our minds. I have been so exhausted lately by trying to fit in, to keep my ideas to myself, to honor a hierarchy that demanded control, when a team that flows with ideas and mutual good will is more my style. These last 2 years have been very hard, and it will take a while to bring my authentic self into the safety of my space again. Today, visiting with a former coworker, I remembered the choir camp I led about 15 years ago. I was made "leader" by default (other leader jammed out a few weeks before camp). I put in place permission for everyone to exchange info, encouraged parents to come up with ideas for consideration, no matter how "silly" or "radical". I asked them to use their gifting, experience, and talents. I welcomed strengths ...

The high hopes for the new year and new decade are tempered by the realities of life. Seattle is a great place to work and live, but life is not always easy. Behind the facade of every care facility - hospital, retirement home, hospice - unfold a host of family dramas. One of those is ours. Our daughter's juvenile rheumatoid arthritis erupted into lesions inside her intestines and a pox-like rash over her lower body. On New Years Day, she entered the hospital burn unit. Nurses and other caregivers have tenderly cared for her, speaking kind words, and responding to her needs for pain and nausea medication with a quick call to the doctor or an addition to her IV drip. Friends have visited, called, written, and prayed. A cloud of God's presence and peace surrounds us as we walk this unfamiliar terrain of a new complication to arthritis. As I sit in the chair beside her another day, I marvel at the privilege of human love. How glad I am to be Kirsten's mother! To share h...

So I finally quit. An explosive negative blast chilled me out of my optimism. I cut myself loose into a future of possibilities. I'm free again to dream dreams, see visions, and write. My office space at home reflects my focus on research. There are eight stacks of papers on the floor around my desk. I can swivel in my chair to find news items, clippings, historical snippets. Within arm's reach, two bookcases are crammed with theology and books on missions. I'll probably donate most of them to the university library when I'm done, like I did with my M.A. books. ("Best donation we've had!" enthused the librarian, after he'd shelved about 50 books on contemporary church culture.) The office is not tidy, but it's highly functional. When we bring in the glass desktop, the light will reflect back into the room like it did at my jobsite. I'm bringing my glass desk home, along with the bright accessories that cheered me each morning. On the othe...

I have all kinds of plans for the office. Put the patio glass on the surface, ease in the glass desk (spare from guest room?) Hope it fits by the door. The monitor in front of the window is bugging me, so I'm going to move it. I'm going to bring reflection and light into the space. The table is set up for printing, and I can't wait to get my hands on water, ink, paints. The mangle is working and ready for printing as well - that should be a fun experiment or two or hundred. Thinking of mounting a ceiling drop for paper - would be nice to have the papers flat and out of the closet, easily accessible though. Just would have to be where the light doesn't catch on the upper shelving. Light light light. I love it, crave it. It is so bright in Greensboro, always sunny. I'm excited to be writing on my papers next week and following. Have a rough draft of DeLonn's SPS ready for the first edit. Mostly, it needs paring down to basics, with examples footnote-d. Lots to...

I miss the trees back home every time I'm on a trip. This time, in North Carolina, the rolling hills are covered with empty branches. There are a few firs and pines scattered here and there. But nothing beats the year-round green of Western Washington. We are blessed to have such a pretty landscape. Throughout the Emerald City, planners have set aside parks and greenbelts where we can renew our connection to nature. The Arboretum is a national treasure. Many of us have vestiges of forest in our backyards, or have planted trees that filter the commute and make the air breathable. The trees also dampen the sounds of traffic and people. Our city is pretty quiet, compared to places in Arizona and the flatlands of Texas where there are fewer leafy plants. When the leaves drop off in October, our family can just hear the whisper of the freeway from the porch, but when the leaves come back in May, all is quiet except for forest creatures. Even now, in the dead of winter, the scrape ...