Shutterfly has a great website for creating personalized photo projects. Using the site's helpful templates, I've created memory books, composed greeting cards, and crafted family calendars. I've ordered magnets and mugs. Like most online companies, Shutterfly sends the occasional promotional email. I don't mind, especially since the messages often include great offers. But a glitch earlier this … Continue reading Fly with Shutterfly
For technologically-challenged people like me, the learning curve of adjusting to a new computer can be almost as stressful as having the old one die. Yesterday my old one died in the morning and my new one arrived in the afternoon. By God's truly amazing grace, I remained calm and positive all day and late … Continue reading Learning curves
A tropical sandy beach tempts me more than ever as snow falls and winds rise. Another winter storm in this season's wearying series howls outside my window as I write. Doesn't this fine white sand look inviting? My feet once sank into that powder as I walked across this beach and waded into the warm, … Continue reading Sand and stars
Stefanus Kristianto became my Facebook friend when he messaged that he was translating into Indonesian the catechism workbook I wrote, Not My Own: Discovering God's Comfort in the Heidelberg Catechism. Yesterday (January 22) he shared this picture of the cover, posted by Bayu Gunawan. It's easy to figure out which words mean "Heidelberg Catechism" and "God," but I'm … Continue reading “Not My Own” in Indonesian
Image Journal advertises the Glen Workshop as a week that can change a life, and if you've been reading recent entries you know how emphatically my extraordinary week at Glen West affected my life and my writing. That life-altering experience was possible for me despite Image's near-death experience, which Gregory Wolfe writes about here. Stuart … Continue reading Saving Image and the world
Okay, folks. I've been watching my blog's follower count creep up and have been thinking that it might be a clever gimmick to reward Follower #100 with their choice of my published books. I thought I'd have plenty of time to think this through, but yesterday my follower count suddenly shot up to 99. We're … Continue reading On the centennial cusp
Well-known artist Makoto Fujimura recommends on the Christianity Today site his top five books on creativity. If you click on that last hyperlink, you'll see his five are: The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World by Lewis Hyde On Beauty and Being Just by Elaine Scarry Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L'Engle … Continue reading Makoto Fujimura’s recommendations on creativity
What is Maundy Thursday anyway? Having grown up in a tradition that observed Good Friday, but not the prior Thursday, I've always been a bit unsure. That fount of internet knowledge, Wikipedia, tells me that Maundy Thursday is variously known by different Christian fellowships as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great and Holy Thursday, Sheer Thursday … Continue reading Maundy Thursday thoughts
Some life lessons we're slow to learn and God keeps teaching. Lessons like waiting, trusting, and resting. Even at my mature age, I'm still a novice. I try to wait patiently on God's will, trust completely in his provision, and rest calmly in his care. But when urgent matters continually pull me from my work … Continue reading Slow learner
Am I a Jacob or a Jonah? Sometimes I wonder. Jacob wrestled with God, saying, "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). But Jonah fled from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3). One stood still and grasped God, while the other fled from him. But both were not taking … Continue reading Jacob or Jonah?
Glenda Faye Mathes 