While things have been a bit quiet here at thisoddhouse.org for the past few weeks, they have been far from quiet at This Odd House in McHenry. In the midst of some sicknesses and the end-of-semester stress, we have also been celebrating the season in several special ways. We put up our tree. And while… Read More BIG NEWS!
Here’s what happened at our house last week… Daryl started first grade. Amelia started the 3-year-old program at the same school. Peter started back to work with faculty meetings. And so did I. (The blurriness is absolutely apropos.) Thankfully, Grandma came from England last Wednesday and is helping us through the transition.… Read More For the New School Year
July has been a big birthday month in our house. I turned xx. In the beautiful Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. And discovered the ideal spot to finish writing my book. (See that cabin back there? Donald Miller would approve.) This little darling turned 3. At the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. Where even the sharks seemed to grin… Read More Six Lessons I Have Learned as a New Blogger
”Adam and his wife were both Naked, and they felt no Shame” (Genesis 2:25). I’ve been called “vulnerable” more than a few times since I launched this blog last July. It just happened again last night. And actually, it’s a label I’m happy—and humbled—to own. Or, at least, aspire to. If I’m going to share… Read More Just Call Me “Vulnerable”
Last week I attended the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For three intense days, I basked in the wisdom and wit of writers/speakers such as Bret Lott, James McBride, Anne Lamott, Richard Foster, and Rachel Held Evans. I scribbled pages of notes on subjects like Writing as Lament,… Read More What I Took Away & What Is to Come