When elementary school teachers across our nation tell their students the origins of Thanksgiving, there are accounts of pilgrims and Indians, complete with black-buckled hats and feathered headdresses, talk of starving people and the wisdom of men like Squanto who taught the Mayflower pilgrims how to survive amid a challenging new world. And while none of these accounts are wrong, the breaking of bread between the new Europeans and the Wampanoag tribesmen were not the beginning of Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today. In 1789, Read More
thanksgiving
Will You Take the 30 Day What-You-Say Challenge?
Words are powerful. They can build up a life through language doused in love, or they can cut a life down like a scythe slicing through brittle grass. When I recently asked my oldest daughter what she loved most about her best friend at school, she replied, “I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anyone. She speaks the truth, sometimes very directly, but always with kindness of love. She’s not a backstabber. It’s hard not to love being around someone like that.” Her Read More
When Life Hands You…Wigs?
Yes, I know the saying goes, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” Sometimes there’s not a lemon to be found but a startling abundance of hair pieces. Hang with me and I’ll explain. Not long ago I ordered a pair of pants from an online store. I was supposed to appear on a television interview and I thought the pants would be cute paired with a top I already owned. The company promised the product would arrive before my interview. You know what’s coming. Read More
What a lie: If My Life Were Different
If my life were different, I would be different… If my job only paid better… If my husband treated me like he cared… If our house wasn’t so small… If my health was good… If my kids would listen… Have you been there? It’s a tempting way to live life. The “If onlys” provide us with a fantasy world of perfection. A land where all our troubles vanish and then, finally, we can be who we really want to be. Happy. Content. Joyful. There’s just Read More
Fleas and . . . Thanksgiving?
I recently heard this funny little story at an event where I was singing: There was a little old lady who woke up one morning to realize she only had three hairs left on her head. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because I can braid my hair today.” So she did. The next day she woke up and only two hairs remained. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because today I can Read More
Moving Down Alto Side: The Thankfulness Perspective
I stared at the seat I’d occupied in the church choir for nineteen years. End seat, soprano section. No longer. This was the day. I had to do it. It was past time. I swallowed and grabbed my black folder, clutching it to my chest as I marched past the director and plopped next to the empty chair in the alto section. My friends gave me quizzical stares. I smiled weakly. “Looks like I’m an alto now. You’re stuck with me.” I know this sounds Read More
The Obscure Thanksgiving List: Banana Pudding, Spanx and Tweezers…Oh my!
This is my girls’ attitude of gratitude board. Every month we have a new theme and each day they put a new sticky note on the board. November’s theme is, you guessed it, thankfulness. Their first sticky notes were broad things, like their gratitude for God, family and friends. Lately though, they are starting to get a little more specific…hair, turkey, movies. My two-year old said, “Buzz.” (As in Buzz Lightyear.) Several days ago, I polled my Facebook friends, asking them what they were thankful Read More
Fleas and…Thanksgiving?
I recently heard this funny little story at an event where I was singing: There was a little old lady who woke up one morning to realize she only had three hairs left on her head. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because I can braid my hair today.” So she did. The next day she woke up and only two hairs remained. She looked in the mirror, smiled and said, “Lord, I thank you because today I can Read More