Firefly Lane: The Boring Book I Couldn’t Put Down

Firefly Lane isn’t what I expected. The Netflix series or the book. I watched the Netflix series first, it seemed like it would be up my ally as I used to be a huge Grey’s Anatomy fan (technically I still am I’m just ready for the saga to be done at this point). I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the Netflix Firefly Lane series. But I also can’t say I fell in love with it. I couldn’t quite figure out the complexities of all the relationships. The dynamics between Tully, Jonny and Kate seemed a bit SUS to me. ...

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Answering a most asked question: ”How are you?”

“How are you?” This is a simple question. One I struggle to know how to answer. I want to invite people into my life, I really do. And I want people in my corner, cheering me on or helping me back up when I’m down. Also I want to be listened to, cared for, even pitied. Yes, for some reason, pity sounds good. Perhaps it’s because I feel so pitiful myself and I’m worried it doesn’t show. I’m worried no one sees through my fake smiles and insincere small talk. You see, lately for me, a genuine smile on ...

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Dear Mr. Friendly,

I am blessed beyond words to tell you that my husband completely ignored your advice from a few years back. You remember us, right? Your church is too small not to notice when we arrived… And when we left. Your “counsel” is the reason we ultimately left your church. This allowed our marriage space to heal and then seek out a new church family that practices grace and forgiveness. It’s absolutely disgusting that your first reaction to our marriage story was divorce. Even worse, you attempted to convince my husband to leave me. Convince. That word alone is problematic ...

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First Heartbreak

Heartbreak is inevitable. My first was around the 8th grade or so. He was never even my boyfriend. Yet I cried about him like he had been the love of my young life. I don’t want to forget this painful experience because it’s memories like these that keep me open minded to my own daughter’s journey through life. His name was *Chad, which may or may not have been short for *Chadwick. He was a quiet boy, a good boy, a Christian boy. He was cute, not incredibly tall but taller than me. Tick, tick, tick, he checked off ...

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How Journaling Shows Me Dreams I Didn’t Know I Had

Journaling is how I taught myself to write. And yes. I have taken some classes over the years as a girl and as a young woman, mostly creative writing classes. Those types of classes definitely came from my mom‘s influence. I would say, though, the biggest influence in my writing has been me. Simply the practice of writing. I have two bins in my upstairs closet full of old journals and diaries. They start when I was five years old up until the past couple of years. I never thought too much about the power of journaling. Then I ...

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The Most Beautiful Gift That Never Was

A gift can be given and taken away. Is that how it goes? Well, that’s basically how this story goes. Two years ago or so my dad texted me out of the blue, asking to meet up soon. Because we had not had any kind of relationship for 5 about years before that, he clarified that “Everything is okay” and he wasn’t dying. I appreciated him saying that. One of deepest fears is his death before reconciliation. During our awkward meeting- because none of us really knew each other anymore – my dad did the one thing I had ...

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