On my Very Big Adventure where I drove across Canada into the heart of mennonite country, it was so exciting because I had to navigate to a place so remote that even the GPS had never even heard of it. Not the village. Not the road. Of course not the house. After several phone calls… Read more »
how to help someone who is grieving
Sheryl Sandberg recently shared movingly about what she has learned about motherhood through grief. But how do we help someone who is grieving? We don’t know what to say. So, too often, we say nothing. Or worse, avoid. When my family suffered devastating loss years ago, it was our muslim neighbor who came to our… Read more »
happy coronation day
I recently had an audience with the Queen. Well. With Helen Mirren (if we’re being picky) who played the Queen in the spectacular production call The Audience. The most moving part of the whole play for me was at the end of Act 1. The soaring music, the frailty of the woman, the greatness of… Read more »
a thought to make your heart sing this Memorial Day
MISSING SHOVEL In World War II prisoners of war were building a railroad. After their days work, the shovels were counted. The guard became enraged. One was missing. The prisoners were lined up and ordered to stand there until someone admitted they’d stolen the shovel. No one said it was them. The guard shouted…. Read more »
Hop It — Simon’s Cat video
It’s Cat Monday! Once again! Oh Hooray! (Last year, I found this fantastic series of small cat videos that are funny and they will make you laugh. Even on a Monday.) And so, because I’m nice like that, I’ve been posting every single one I can get my hands on. And there are LOADS hooray!… Read more »
Visiting Ann Voskamp
(Welcome to readers hopping over from Ann Voskamp’s A Holy Experience blog!) Ann and I knew each other via the Twitterverse and Planet Instagram and were each other’s big fans. (Ann has generously shared my books with children in Guatemala, in Africa, in other underserved areas of the world, working alongside Compassion International and returning… Read more »
Happy Birthday, Eeyore!
“Eeyore Alone”. Alone. Poor Eyeore. Of course, he would be alone on his birthday that no one has remembered. Did you remember? No of course not. I didn’t either. But the Guardian remembered. They wrote a whole article about him and how great a literary character Eeyore is (“archetypal” is what they said). You can… Read more »
Connecting children with books!
Good news! You get to drop everything and read a children’s book! Why? It’s Children’s Book Week! What a great excuse (although did we really need one?) to share a favorite children’s book with someone you love–be they little, big, young, old. (I don’t think we ever grow out of them do we? Not the… Read more »
Happy Birthday Penny Black!
Today, in 1840 — 175 years ago! — the first ever postage stamp was born in Great Britain. Before then it was awful because the person getting the letter had to pay–upon delivery. Rates were high and never the same and very confusing–so, not surprisingly people often refused to pay. But a teacher saved the… Read more »
Happy birthday, Ludwig Bemelmans!
Happy (117th!) birthday to Madeline author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans!