Category: Uncategorized
Letters to the Lord: Going Out of Our Way
Reflections from a visit to our missions’ old headquarters in Fall of 2008 I walk into the bare apartment and it all comes back to me, rushes at me like a gust of wind in my face. I spiral back 26 years and am that girl again, the terrified and excited coed, the child of privilege walking into the missions house and wondering, “What … Read More Letters to the Lord: Going Out of Our Way
Letters to the Lord: Of Blood and Chocolate (the stains of childhood)
Having just celebrated Mother’s Day in the States, I thought I’d share an essay I wrote way back in 1993, long before my first novel was published. But even though the story comes from the early 90s, my reflections about kids and motherhood remain the same, and now I pray the same things for my grandkids. I’m a real klutz with stains. … Read More Letters to the Lord: Of Blood and Chocolate (the stains of childhood)
Letters to the Lord: Quit While You’re Ahead
During the coronavirus pandemic, I’ve been deeply moved by so many random acts of kindness around the world, from a neighbor singing “Happy Birthday” to the 94-year-old who is home alone to John Krasinski throwing a prom for the class of 2020. So many different ways people are pitching in to help make this crazy time bearable. And each Friday night, Andrew Lloyd Weber … Read More Letters to the Lord: Quit While You’re Ahead
Letters to the Lord: Resurrection Yard
Lord, my yard is shouting the proclamation that life wins! You win! You have won over death. You are alive. You have risen indeed! And You will win over the Coronavirus. Thank You for spring, Lord, and for a yard that shouts it so loudly. First the daffodils poked their heads out, and then they bloomed into bobbing bright yellow or white cylinders, while … Read More Letters to the Lord: Resurrection Yard
Letters to the Lord: Not in a Hurry
Lord, I keep hearing You tell me not to hurry. Even in confinement, I’ve felt like I needed to get so much done, more even than usual. It started with finishing up edits for a novel and catching up on all the crazy correspondence after being offline for two weeks in early March. Then it morphed into not only the typical video calls we … Read More Letters to the Lord: Not in a Hurry
Letters to the Lord: Confined in Spring
Confined in Spring Lord, how can I complain when I’m confined in Spring? When a chateau sits in my backyard When snow white calla lilies curl towards the sun And lilacs bloom and tulips tilt their crimson heads And butterflies, like wind, like Spirit, flit to who-knows-where? When everything outside proclaims this simple truth: Life wins! So may I not complain, dear Lord, but … Read More Letters to the Lord: Confined in Spring
Letters to the Lord: Early Resurrection
+Ten days ago, on Saturday, March 29, my laptop died. Perched on the lounge chair admiring blooming tulips in the sunshine, I was delightedly finishing up the very final edits of my new novel, The Promised Land. I closed the laptop, brought it inside, and went about my day. A few hours later, I opened the laptop, preparing to Skype with my brother and … Read More Letters to the Lord: Early Resurrection
Letters to the Lord: A Poem for Lent
I wrote this poem several years ago now (when our sweet dog was still alive), but it still communicates my heart. I gave up chocolate for Lent And thought it would be hard But actually I spent No time grieving the loss At all Gave up movies on TV Which consumed an evening that could Otherwise be spent On something deeper for the soul … Read More Letters to the Lord: A Poem for Lent
Letters to the Lord: War Within My Soul
She came on a day already rife with paradox: ~the first day of spring; the next day of a seemingly never ending lockdown because of coronavirus ~the beauty of our yard, all yellows and whites and purples as forsythia and daffodils and hyacinths are in full bloom; the lingering grief as we remember this day, the 4th anniversary of my mother’s homegoing. And her … Read More Letters to the Lord: War Within My Soul
Letters to the Lord: The Safest Place in the World
Lord, as I sit in our den in Rochetaillée, soaking up the scents of spring, I am in awe that Paul and I are here, safe and sound and ever so grateful. It could have been different. Early Friday morning, after 13 planned days at sea on a repositioning cruise, we watched our ship dock in Barcelona. Then as the sun rose in pastel … Read More Letters to the Lord: The Safest Place in the World
Going Home Again
Paul and I are getting ready to go ‘home’ to France. For most of the last thirty-five years, returning to France has been ‘going home’. But in this season of our lives, we’re spending more time in the States, and I literally have another ‘home’ here. So it gets a little confusing. However, one thing is for sure, these months back in the US … Read More Going Home Again
Celebrating 60
Yep, I did it! Walked right into a new decade, Lord! And because it’s a new decade, I felt obliged to celebrate it all month long! And what a celebration we’ve had. I’ve been loved on by family and friends from every decade of my life. I’ve received such sweet words of affirmation through beautiful cards, calls, emails, and phone conversations. I’ve been spoiled … Read More Celebrating 60
Elizabeth Musser 