The Holy Spirit's Family Room

I vividly remember being a young mom and attending a fund-raiser for my children’s school. It was an auction, and it was lovely! There was a huge array of items to bid on, the tables were set with beautiful centerpieces, the gym was transformed with hanging banners hiding the basketball hoops, and people everywhere were…

The famous line “No man is an island” applies to each one of us. We are all connected and we not only rely on and benefit from the actions of others but we are called to be a part of our human family. We are called to be a part of the family of believers…

Who is a freelance lover? Where did that title ever come from? As I was recovering from cancer thirty years ago, I was re-examining what my life should be like going forward. I had limited energy and focus and was evaluating what I could do as a child of God with my graced, bonus time.…

“Who is the King of Glory? How do they call him?” What we call someone has a huge influence on how we see them. We call this newborn babe “the Son of God,” “Jesus Christ our Lord,” “The Messiah.” Every time we pray to him or refer to him, his name alone (Jesus the Christ)…

“The water heater needs resetting – this shower just isn’t warm enough! I’m freezing.” Where is the focus here? Not on my safe shelter, or clean running water, or abundant power to heat my home, but on what is less-than-perfect. This attitude of looking for what is wrong is a nasty habit and one that…

The date is late November, but the “time” in the world around us is . . . pre-Christmas! What’s wrong with that? There is a risk that we can lose sight of one of the most important feasts and seasons of the year – Thanksgiving! We don’t need to jump on the Christmas bandwagon. We…

How we long to capture the gift of transient things! The wonder of a newborn baby, the first day of school, the beauty of the seasons! It all seems too good to be true, and we say, “I wish they could stay this way forever!” Sometimes we enter Advent with this same mood. “I love…

Today is my 29 year anniversary of my diagnosis with ovarian cancer. How does that make me feel? Euphoric! Greatly blessed! I was told at that time that 95% of patients with my type and stage of cancer die within 5 years. Every year on November 4, I remember that day and how far I…

What a loaded word this is! It implies goodness, and the sense that something we have done is the source of that goodness. Is that politician worthy of my vote? Is that doctor worthy of my trust? Is that friend worthy of my love? In the most far-reaching sense, it is God who is worthy…

How humbling it is to spend an hour or so in a wheelchair! Not only is the view different when looking up at everyone else, but the people we interact with are literally looking down on us! It gives us a taste of what the world is like for a child or someone who is…