to be cleansed

For many college students, Christmas is a season of detoxing from all the virulent nastiness of a busy, stressful semester. With sixteen weeks of never-ending study completed culminating in a hellish finals week, we collapse in weary heaps in our childhood beds, finished with finals but nevertheless feeling grimy and covered in grit. We need … Continue reading →

I don’t want to write today

It’s 2:24 p.m. on Friday. The library is quiet. Outside, it is an Indian summer kind of day, 68 degrees with the yellow-green leaves fluttering on semi-full trees. Fall is near. It’s a gentle day, a sunny day letting go of one week and ushering in a new one. I’m sipping coffee from my favorite … Continue reading →

stinky

Lately my nose has been persecuted by a terrible smell in Holland, MI. One word: skunk. The majorly nauseating stink of skunk is especially pungeant when I walk into my townhouse complex. I shouldn’t be too quick to blame our little black-and-white friends, though, because I never see skunks around here (black squirrels are a … Continue reading →

a different kind of counselor

I was never a camp counselor. I never did the entire summer grunging around (is that a verb? now it is) with no makeup, a ponytail, and a camp t-shirt. I never led silly campfires and prayed with little girls to receive Jesus. There was ONE week when I worked as an assistant counselor. I … Continue reading →

How great thou art

When I was seven years old, on a frigid January night, my dad baptized me in our church baptistery. That was the night I publicly confessed my desire to follow Jesus as his disciple, my faith in his saving grace. That night we sang my favorite hymns (yes, I had favorites at age seven). One … Continue reading →

C’est la vie

After ten days of being home, I have realized I belong to a very specific club: “Welcome to the Society for Young Seasonally-Employed Of-Age-Mostly-Educated Home-Dwelling Student-Professionals with Small Incomes, Impending Graduation, and No Clue What’s Next!” I really want a New Members Kit. Finals finished two weeks ago, and I moved home, tucked my semester into … Continue reading →