So on this, the first day of the week, Mary comes to the tomb with the spices that she has carefully prepared. But she is not alone. Other women are with her, all undoubtedly traumatized and frightened and floundering in a flood of grief. It is early in the morning, so early that the garden… Read More At the Empty Tomb
photo credit: St. Stephen’s Church, London, England It’s here. The weekend we have been waiting for! This most important celebration on the Christian calendar. This pinnacle of the liturgical year. I don’t know what’s been happening in your household, but our kids have been counting down the days. In part, because of Jesus’ Resurrection. In… Read More 10 Ways to Observe Good Friday
The only lions I have ever met have lived at the zoo. I’ve only respected and admired these creatures from a safe distance, through iron fences and thick glass. Encountering one up-close-and-personal would be an entirely different matter. Can you imagine? For one thing, lions are the second largest cats in the world, passed only… Read More God As Lion
Our family has given up sugar for Lent. What this means on a practical level is that we have replaced our actual consumption of the “sweet, short-chained, soluble carbohydrates” with detailed and descriptive conversations about what we look forward to eating come April 16. Five-year-old Amelia is typically the one to broach the topic. Several… Read More Lent & What We Long For
“Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I’ll say, rejoice!” I grew up regularly singing that chorus at a little Baptist church in Richfield, Minnesota. Sometimes, when we were feeling fancy, the congregation even broke into two sections and sang it as a round. So when I hear anyone recite this audacious verse from Philippians… Read More Think on These Things
“The Holiness Project” continues here at This Odd House—with both successes and “opportunities for continued growth” to report thus far. How are you doing? I must admit that, once Peter abandoned the Whole30 mid-month, my motivation waned. I didn’t jump ship completely, but I did bring cream unabashedly back to my coffee, and one day… Read More For February
A few months ago I had the following email from Valerie: I wanted to mention the couple of blog entries about your family’s experience with Whole30. That information was tucked away in the recesses of my mind; and then I read another blog (a young woman trying to lose weight—no one I know personally), and… Read More Is Whole30 Right for You?
On Tuesday we dropped everything at 3 p.m. We left Daryl’s math lesson, half-finished, on his desk. We set science to one side. And we took a trip—a pilgrimage, really—to the Spring Hill Mall. There’s nothing special about this particular shopping establishment—except for the fact that we were there when I received one of my… Read More For the Ones Who Wait
Guest post by Peter Worrall Last Thursday, my husband Peter gave this brief address on the campus of Moody Bible Institute. It was a part of a program, honoring the life of Martin Luther King Jr. As a foreigner, I am a latecomer to the appreciation for Martin Luther King, who is celebrated on this third… Read More In Honour of MLK
Tuesday was tough. It was my first day back as “homeschooling teacher-mom” after Daryl and Amelia had almost an entire month off. (Not recommended!) Supplies were out of order. Books had gone missing. The kids had forgotten how to behave. I had forgotten how to behave. And to top it all off, I caved and… Read More Get Back on the Bike!