Soli Deo Gloria

"When there are thoughts, it is distraction;  when there are no thoughts, it is meditation."  Ramana Maharshi The beach is my meditation.  I sit.  I listen.  I watch.  I feel the sun.  I feel the wind.  I feel the sand. I hear the waves. I hear the laughter. I watch the horizon. I watch the children. I can't seem to think one thought.  I try. Any thought would be distraction. And no thought even comes to distract. If I read, it is frivolity. No thinking required. Pure superficiality. The beach is my meditation.   When I lived on the California coast, I jogged at the beach, I walked on beach; kept my chair and towel in my car to sit and read for a hour or two to unwind from my day.  Drove to the beach in the predawn light to meditate on God's word and fellowship with Him. Many parties were held at the beach. Many glasses of wine savored watching the sunset over the ocean.   Many romantic walks, fingers entwined. Ma

A Classical look at Faith through the Trivium I got to thinking this morning about the Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric of our faith.   And while none of life is separated perfectly into neatly packaged seasons, I thought about these sweet years of training up our children from infancy to adulthood as phases of our faith.   The Grammar stage are the years our brains aren't fully developed to think logically.  From birth to about 10-12, we love the facts and order and routine.  We parrot and memorize well. These years of our children's lives are filled with tiny chiseling events that strip us of our much of our control, causing us to cling to Christ in the minutia and for practical help. We begin with giving birth and then sleep deprivation and then all the small moment to moment events in a mommy-of-young-children's life that cause her to not even be able to finish a thought or sit down for an entire day.  These are exhausting years physically and emotionally c

This year marks our 10th year in Orlando, Florida! One seminary degree, two houses and three children later, we are still here.  I don't think I've ever been in one place this long.  You would think that would be a reason to break out a library wine and celebrate.  But I truly love change.  I long for change.  I miss the freedom to come and go as I please.  I miss immersing myself in other cultures and ecosystems.  And honestly, I miss home. Being in one place for a decade makes me feel...well...stuck.  My family moved around a lot when a kid.  So, consequently I am really good at meets-and-greets.  I am good at maintaining many acquaintances, and I think at this season in my life there are many women I would enjoy the opportunity to have deep relationships with, but time for any of us does not afford much socializing.  I've realized that if you move away from "the friends of your youth," only time provides longevity among friends and, as a mom o