Kicking the Caffeine Habit
It was 2 a.m., and I awoke in a literal cold sweat. The room was warm, and I was layered in covers, but I felt freezing cold. My body ached as if wracked by the flu. But it wasn’t the … Continued
Spiegel’s Extremely Excellent List of All-Time Greatest Redundancies of All-Time
One of my pet peeves as a reader, writer, and conversationalist is redundant expressions. Over the years I’ve accumulated a mental list of some of the more annoying redundancies. When I realized my list had grown to about ten I … Continued
A Weekend of Contrasts
Last weekend, I left Indiana in all its blustery glory, along with my four kids and a husband willing to fly solo for a few days. Three friends and I headed south for a girls’ weekend. Other than a few … Continued
Stranger Than Friction
One benefit of homeschooling I never anticipated is that in the process of educating my kids, I have learned a great deal as well. My knowledge of ancient history, sentence diagrams, and a myriad other missing pieces in my own … Continued
Layers
A few months ago, as fall wound down and the air turned from chilly to just plain cold, I began to prepare for winter. Just as the squirrels store up acorns for the barren months ahead and the bears settle … Continued
Kipling’s “If”
The speaker at Taylor University’s commencement this past weekend closed her remarks by reading the Rudyard Kipling poem “If.” A colleague of mine (a professor of biblical studies) who was seated near me not only had memorized the poem himself … Continued
If I Could Turn Back Time
Next month will mark a milestone birthday for me. I have approached the midway point between 30 and the big 4-0, and many moons have passed since dictates of Western culture have deemed it appropriate for me to meet birthdays … Continued
Faith and the Friendly Skies
Have you ever noticed how everyday activities that you do without much thought seem rather odd when you step back and examine them? I have shared my love for carbonated beverages with you and while I am still very much … Continued
Dairy Queen Deserts and Christmas Disappointments
Many years ago, when it was just Jim and I (it actually seems more like a lifetime ago), we took a second honeymoon tour of the Southwest. We drove through Louisiana and then Texas, visiting friends and family along the … Continued