communication

Yesterday, Ray and I celebrated 35 years of marriage. My good friend and fellow Tapestry blogger Gwynne Johnsons wrote on my Facebook, “Congratulations…got you beat by 15 years : ) :) ...Good guys are the BEST of God's gifts…” Amen to that!

I’m going to tell you something not too many people know: I have danced at church. In fact, I have danced at a few churches. You see, I am a dancer—trained in ballet for most of my life—but only those who have seen one of my few praise dance opportunities have seen me dance liturgically. Many of my friends have not. As we are all aware (dancers especially), dancing is a sticky subject amongst the people of God.

I've been ruminating on an op-ed piece that Bono wrote for the New York Times recently. After getting over the fact that the man seems to know no bounds of influence (and I admire his tenacity), I was particularly struck by a thesis in his article. The foundation of Bono's piece is the duality of celebrating this New Year, which he likens to two Sinatra renditions of "My Way"; one brash and cocky, the other regretful and introspective.

Back before I’d ever published anything, I used to look at all the books on the market and think, “Do we really need another book on prayer?” or “Why a new book on marriage?” or “Why would someone want to publish another Bible study on Sermon on the Mount?”   What I didn’t realize back then but came