What are you waiting for?

Waiting has got to be one of the most difficult things. If there is anything I have learned, it's that I am not very good at predicting or even accurately sensing how long something might take.
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Our hearts can grow tough and brittle. The difficulties and challenges, the trauma's and tragedies that we all have experienced in some form or fashion, can do a number on our internal reserves.

Often we shrink from these things. And often rightly so. Yet many years ago I learned a very valuable lesson that has stood me in good stead ever since.

It was the birthing day of my oldest child. I'd never been in labour before, ... << MORE >>

I am only today taking down my Christmas tree. Making it something of a treat too, with the strong voices of Il Divo's Christmas CD keeping me company.

I've waited till now because it feels as though Christmas slipped through this year without much of my attention.

The beginning of December had me returning from Uganda and promptly becoming ill. With no plans of getting a tree or gifts this year, I was content to simply breathe ... << MORE >>

A new baby was born in the community last night and my nostalgia for mothering is brimming.

Being a Mom, bringing life into the world, caring for those little ones and imparting a grand sense of the adventure of living as they grow, is one of the most profound privileges this world holds.

My own young Mom years were an open canvas upon which to explore and find what truly made me tick. The privilege of ... << MORE >>

It was Saturday evening in Madudu, Uganda. I'd been in the village since Tuesday simply basking in the beauty of the people and the land.

Sitting that evening on a bench at a wedding reception, a young girl came up to me to say hello and to shake my hand. Nothing out of the ordinary, I shook more hands and looked into more eyes that week than the previous months.

It is custom in Uganda to ... << MORE >>

A synopsis of my 2011 year in point form:

January - Grand-daughter Anna is born = great celebration
February - Speaking 'freedom' to 100 women = out of the ball-park success
March - Into my own place after the breakup of my 23 year marriage = bittersweet relief
April - months of effort conclude in Defying Expectations Conference = simply stunning day
May - Anna dies of crib death = profound sorrow
June, July & August - a ... << MORE >>

There are so many stories to tell from my trip to Uganda that I hardly know where to begin. My weeks since, laid up with Malaria, has been its own rich time. You know the kind, when the world shuts down for awhile and there is time and space for experiences to percolate... it now feels as though I could write a blog each day for a month and maybe even then not be finished the telling.

It is one thing to describe a trip, telling the itinerary, the stops, the places visited, ... << MORE >>

Christmas is an interesting time of year. Either the best or the worst of times, I've known it as both.

Christmas brings out the joy or pain of our lives and amplifies it either way.

This year I am finding a deep contentment that supersedes the decorations, the gifts, the food treats; all of which are nice but truly do not touch any genuine spirit of Christmas.

It has taken years ... << MORE >>

I'm back! I've been to the land of Illness. Was there nearly as long as the land of Uganda. Quite simply I'm glad to be home.

There is an interesting thing about the Land of Illness. It goes by another name: the land of NOT TELLING.

You know what I mean, when wearing those lovely little gowns and no one tells when a peak here or there happens.

For instance:

The sweet old man making regular trips past my open door to ...

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Twenty-nine days since my last post! Wow, I've lived a whole other lifetime since and it will take some weeks to put words to it all.

Thirty years ago I was given a picture in my mind's eye of speaking the heart of God and praying freedom for people in Africa.

It's been thirty years of preparation

Thirty years of lessons, deep heart-aches, experiencing deep poverty of my own heart and soul ... << MORE >>