Piano was my major when I first went to college. Before you get the wrong idea, it was not at a school known for its piano prodigies. I didn’t have to try out or take a music theory test or send in an audition video to get in. I simply declared it, and it was. For a while.

It wasn’t long before I realized how very much practice was expected of piano majors. The bottom line was that I didn’t love it enough to get better.

Now I’m writing. And writing. And writing. I have designated writing days marked off on the calendar. On those days, after getting the kids off to school, I head to my chair and I sit. I never know what is going to come out.

Writing this book is humbling, overwhelming and even a little bit lonely. I pray. I think. I procrastinate. Sometimes I cry. But before the time is over, I write. And something always happens, because I love it enough to get better.

So this is me, saying hello from beneath the weight of a deadline. And thank you for your kind support.

***

Tomorrow I will be posting another Glimpse of Home, a simple photo project. Join me?

Posted in a writer
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There’s a reason we unwrap on Tuesdays. It has a lot to do with the song Tuesday by Sarah Masen, the song that was the inspiration for the title of this blog. It also has to do with a real life Tuesday I lived in February of 2009. The 24th, to be exact. I hung my camera around my neck and decided to document the day as it happened: the messy, the lovely and the unexpected.

This is one of the 136 shots I kept from that day. It may look like an ordinary moment, but the truth is he doesn’t really play with those blocks anymore. So what was an ordinary, regular day is now a sweet memory I want to keep. I wondered about all the other ordinary Tuesdays passing by and decided not to let them go without at least a little reflection.

What about you? I am so thankful for the community of women (and sometimes man) who gather here every Tuesday to unwrap the gift of the everyday. One thing we all collectively realize is that what seems everyday today will not be so tomorrow. And so we pause. Join us?

First time? Click here for details on how to link using the permalink to your blog.

Posted in Tuesdays Unwrapped
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She wanted the pencils, I could tell she did. Her daddy sat with her on the too-small chair in the child section of the bookstore. I watched them with stranger’s eyes, slowly browsing a shelf nearby. Read more at (in)courage…

Posted in (in)courage
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I love the idea of doing a 365 project where you take a photo everyday. Maybe next year I’ll discipline myself to do that. One thing I’ve been doing in place of that is to take snapshots of home, of the familiar corners and quiet spaces that make up these walls where we do life. The memories captured and framed out on shelves, the faded pillow fabrics and even the overflowing toy baskets all make up this place where our souls to breathe, and its rhythm and pulse changes as we do. I don’t want to forget what it is now, so I plan to post glimpses of home on Fridays. Want to join me?

Posted in a house-lover
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When we were kids, summer vacation lasted at least two and a half years, didn’t it? The excitement of the last day of school couldn’t be topped. It was as if there were a thousand warm miles of tree-climbing, pool-splashing, Barbie playing days ahead of us.

I think back to those long days and want to remember only carefree, but the truth is my kid days were filled with lots of worry. I worried about school starting back. I worried about tornadoes. I worried about robbers and flat tires and divorce.

The things we practice, we tend to get good at. My worry habit didn’t go away when I grew up. The worries just became more complicated. I learned how Jesus takes care of sparrows and lilies and basically knows everything, but that knowledge seemed to float on the surface, never really dissolving deep into my belief.

That is, until I didn’t have any other choice. Faith is often a last resort when everything else stops working. It’s ugly to admit, but sometimes ugly is the narrow road to true. What did it take for you to believe?

Posted in a mess
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I didn’t use to believe him when he said he loved me. Not because his love wasn’t real, more because I heard the words through my own messed up filter. Somehow during the last ten years of knowing him and being known by him, of failing and receiving grace, of risking rejection and being accepted after all, the filter faded away and truth took over. We choose messy, fantastic love everyday. It’s a gift I sometimes forget to remember, but it’s the best one I’ve got.

Do you have a gift you need to remember? Link up below with the permalink to your Tuesdays Unwrapped post and be sure to include a link back here to make it easier for unwrappers to navigate the links. All are welcome to join.

Posted in Tuesdays Unwrapped
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