Last cup of coffee on the deck at Silver Lake. Time to pack up, clean out the refrigerator, and wash the sheets and towels before leaving. This is a beautiful place, full of the grandeur of God. The silvered surface of the lake when it is calm. The dunes rising up out of the lake. […]
I’m sitting on the deck of an A-frame cottage on the shores of Silver Lake, Michigan. It is windy, and it’s a good thing the orange sun umbrella on the edge of the deck is tied down tight. It twists and turns in the stiff breeze, looking as if wants nothing more than to fly […]
Have you ever given birth? Remember the stage of labor called “transition”?
Transition: “A period during childbirth that precedes the expulsive phase of labor, characterized by strong uterine contractions and nearly complete cervical dilation.”
Ouch!
I’m 57, soon to turn 58. It may be physically impossible, but here I am, in the throes of transition. No, I’m […]
I sit on the deck in the (relative) cool of the evening. 96 degrees has dipped to 89, and a hint of a breeze plays through the walnut’s leaves in the humid soup of air. I sit, limp and dejected. While the humidity has frizzed my hair, anxiety over Joel’s new placement at Safe […]
We moved Joel in to Safe Haven Farms yesterday. He was fairly agitated the first 90 minutes, while Wally and I worked in his bedroom, making his bed, hanging pictures, putting away clothes, etc. With one of the staff, Laura, following him, Joel ran from the barn to the pond to the office, and […]
“It’s can’t be much different than getting a kid ready to go to college!” I’ve heard that comment numerous times as I’ve prepared our 25-year-old son, Joel, for his move into his new home, Safe Haven Farms, a farming community for adults with autism located in Butler County.
Wrong. Sure, we all shed a few tears […]
In my Lenten reflections this morning, I came upon this strange passage from the book of Numbers:
“The people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord to take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord […]
“…(Jesus) said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.” Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining […]
“The most frequent commandment given in scripture is so simple, so plain: ‘do not be afraid.’ And it is so hard to practice, so hard to model, so hard to live.”
Thom Shuman, Occasional Sightings of the Gospel
I am most likely to shed my well-worn cloak of fear over Joel’s future when I take […]
I can’t believe it—the sun is shining! Have you ever taken sunlight for granted until it disappeared for weeks on end? I have, but no more. Today I’m praising God for Monday morning sunlight in the middle of January!
This weekend we had dinner with two other Safe Haven families. How I needed the intimacy of […]