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Daily Reflection From Laity Lodge
You Can Hide Under God's Desk
When I was a young boy, one of my favorite photos was a picture of John Kennedy, Jr., hiding under his father's desk. Of course, his father was the President of the United States and the desk was in... Read More +
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Books on Culture: The Life of the Body, Week Three
She’s only a girl—a girl with fire engine red hair and a thousand freckles. She limps on shrunken legs across the commons room and slides weakly into a chair at a glass table. Glancing around the room, she looks at those of us in scrubs like she’s figuring an escape route and when her eyes land on me, I notice the prominent cheekbones, the sunken eyes,...
Read More +Avoiding the Success Trap
Some might say that insecurity is my vocational Grim Reaper. I’d prefer to see it as ingenuity keeping things fresh. Either way, the traditional success story of rising to the top eludes me because I don’t stay on any work path long enough to go Big. I get bored, say yes to the next shiny opportunity, or fill my life with so many engaging tasks that the...
Read More +Still Time
I thought I had plenty of time. My water broke around 10 pm on February 28. We called our friend Lisa who lived around the corner. The plan was for her to stay with Hannah, our two-year old daughter, for the night and take her to daycare the following morning while we were at the hospital. Anticipating a long night, I thought of Hannah’s birth after a...
Read More +Leaving a Trail
They call me the trailing spouse, the one-half of a marriage who gives up her comfortable life to follow her breadwinning husband and his new job posting overseas. Three years ago, I gave up everything—my family, my friends, and the home we remodeled with our own blistered and calloused hands. I gave up my Saturday morning run and the local library...
Read More +The Secret to Better Work and Life Is Not Rocket Science
What if someone told you they knew the secret to a better life? What if they shared this secret with you? They promised you would be able to concentrate better, enjoy life more, increase productivity at work, decrease stress at work and at home, and have a better sense of self-esteem. It sounds too good to be true. But researchers at Lancaster University...
Read More +On the Shoulders of Others
In the article The Misery of Mentoring Millenials, BusinessWeek writer Marina Khidekel suggested, "For a new generation of workers, the idea of seeking out a single career confidant is…old-fashioned…." Old-fashioned? Initially, this struck me as insulting. But I’m 40. My young professional (YP) days occurred years ago. So I considered that maybe Khidekel...
Read More +Scars and Roses
This Mother’s Day, I long for my grandmother’s Ponds-scented soft skin, Jamaican-lilting voice, and treasured hands clasped in prayer morning, noon, and night. She’s gone—died almost 16 years ago, taken in a whirlwind of unconsciousness and impotent medical interventions. Grandma lived with my parents and me for many years. I observed her daily, on her...
Read More +Learning to Mother
On a recent Friday, my 9-year-old stepson was home from school while both my husband and I were working in the home office. Between running reports and sending emails, I made toast and baked potatoes, refilling his water bottle with Sprite. “I thought you were supposed to be working,” he said, as I made his second baked potato of the afternoon. After the...
Read More +Be the Best (Insert Your Name Here) You Can Be
Last week I attended a meeting where a very famous sports broadcaster gave a motivational speech. Generally, I am not very motivated by motivational speakers. This gentleman, however, was sufficiently non-motivating in a way that was actually inspiring. Let me explain. Rather than hyping up the audience with animated clichés and pithy anecdotal stories...
Read More +Books on Culture: The Life of the Body
“Being made one with Christ, we are made one with all who belong to Christ, united with the church in every time and place. One people…one body…” The pastor stands in front of the communion table and says these words, and I feel the power of truth course through me—enlarging all of who I am. One body. This is who we say we are. We use the terminology of...
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