Transitions and altars

While you were sleeping on Saturday night, we transitioned. Stepped straight into September. New months are nothing new, but somehow September signifies more than just a new month. It’s summer’s end, autumn’s advent, and  back-to-school season. Since I was five years old, September meant school. For the past four years, I journeyed back to college … Continue reading →

(to) submit (or not to) submit

I’m a failed blogger. Actually, let me explain – I blog every day. But not on my dear “A Word Paints a Thousand Pictures.” I’ve been writing a good bit for work, and if you connect with me on Google+, you’ll see I’m not a liar. Sadly, I’ve simply dropped the ball on this just-for-fun … Continue reading →

After Boston: what we wrap ourselves in

Horrified. How else to feel after a race gone awry, after shrapnel and blood rained on Boston’s runner’s high? I heard of what happened, appropriately, while running on the treadmill. I guess the gym must be the only place I watch the evening news, because I remember the headlines of the Newtown shooting alerting me … Continue reading →

encounters on the “L” train, and waiting for rescue

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. (Psalm 18:2, also 2 Samuel 22:2) Sunday afternoon. The brown line “L” car was quiet, sunny, and warm.  As we pulled … 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 →

READ ME: marketing, and sneezers, and one book you should read right now

The most effective marketing, said my professor Michael Edmondson in Philadelphia last fall, is by word of mouth. Pinterest utilizes this theory well, as do Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. On Pinterest you can virtually thumbtack everything you love; which, quite simply, markets what you love to the world. It’s totally marketing, even if the primary … Continue reading →

Summers then and now

When I was a child…. Okay, time out. Don’t roll your eyes at me. I know you are! Listen here, I am an adult. Twenty-one, in fact, college student, intern, waitress, and six flipping feet tall, thank you very much. Thank you for settling down. So when I was a child, three months of summer … Continue reading →

‘Tis so sweet

I ate pieces of pound cake and Rice Krispy treats for breakfast this morning. (Hey. You’ve done it too. Don’t judge.) Yep. Remnants of yesterday’s party. You know what? I think this meal totally count as breakfast food. Basically like a muffin and cereal, right? Oh, and I also drank a banana smoothie, because my … Continue reading →