Truth, Love And Books

I'll never forget when I found out that my childhood, celebrity crush was planning to attend my cousin's wedding. Well, celebrity to me . Unless you closely followed professional soccer in the late 90's you most likely have never heard of said crush. Seemed like a rare coincidence that at thirty one years old, I would finally get the chance to meet him. I would certainly be lying if I told you I was not hoping to impress him. Before I disclose what actually happened, let me first reveal a pretty vulnerable, newfound realization about myself: I have spent a lot of my life posturing. Performing and striving. Seeking the affirmation of others.  Falsely believing that my value derived from what I could accomplish or how I appeared to have it all together. And it has been a year of learning for me. And it has been oh so good. It is absolutely a beautiful truth to recognize that I can choose to be done attempting to perform. It's been so freeing to understand that I am not en...

Oh my least favorite time of the year is upon us. Every year in late November, I question whether my family and I should pack up and move somewhere South. Like bottom of the continental U.S. South. Somewhere you can still see the actual sky on a regular basis. I know, months of cold and gray, dismal weather is hardly a hardship given what people have endured historically and are currently facing all while I cozy up with a book and check the next day's forecast for sunshine. Even still, it would seem bright light and warmth are natural human longings.  This year there has been no such discussing or fantasizing about moving closer to the equator. The land behind our home is in the final planning stages before breaking ground on development. The plans include primitive walking paths, a natural playground, a coffee shop and wait for it... a library. Yes a library. Sorry crammed-in-fam, looks like we are staying put. Location, location, location right? Who says we can't make do in a...

Encounter is a funny word. It sounds like a word to use when perceived danger is near. As in a Discovery channel special: Tonight at 8pm: Encounters with Sharks or Polar Bears.  This past year I had three conversations with self-proclaimed atheists or skeptics to Christianity. One conversation was in person, another was via email and the last interaction I may or may not have provoked a discussion with an Instagram user that had the words "savage" and "atheist" in his name.  All three conversations were agreeable, kind and fruitful (well besides the Instagram sparring but more on that in a minute). If you want to witness how to engage someone with contrasting perspectives, Dr. Sean McDowell's YouTube channel is refreshing, informative and entertaining. No throwing punches just a genuine, respectful showcase of differing worldviews. The more confident I become in my beliefs, the more I want to attempt to engage in these kind of conversations. The kind of discussi...

I hate wave pools. With a passion. But my children absolutely love them. Every time the bell dings signaling the oncoming simulated waves, they shriek excitedly and dash into the pool. I groan and begrudgingly follow them to ensure they live to see another day.  One time in particular, my husband Winston and I were both in the pool when a life-guard blew her whistle and bounded toward a struggling swimmer. Winston came over to me and said: "Meg, I think she's unconscious." The girl was being placed on a sort of floating stretcher and she appeared knocked out cold. It was a horrible thing to witness.  Me never being the subtle one and in control of my emotions, began to tear up and pray out loud. My young girls noticed my fear and then proceeded to ask multiple questions. "Mom, is she going to die? Where are her parents? How old is she?" All of which I had no answer.  After the wave pool had been cleared, and it seemed the rescue efforts were under way, my family...

When the Covid lockdown was announced, I don't remember booking it to the grocery for sanitizer and toilet paper, but I do I remember heading straight to the library. Walking in felt surreal, as if we were in a movie. People were running and panicky. My mom was with me and we admittedly were both hurriedly determined to cram our arms and bags full of as many books as possible. The shelves were already looking bare and the doors were imminently closing.   I rely quite heavily on the library for my homeschooling and I absolutely love to visit. I view it as my mental health day and honestly don't own a vast amount of books.  That day, I recall looking at my mom and laughingly apologizing for all the times I complained when she drug me to library as a kid.  The uncertainty and fear in the library was palpable but seemed that everyone there knew that having books on hand would be a true commodity in the coming hard months.  I once heard a story of a mother that endur...