writing in the margins of life
I sat on the playground once with a co-worker of mine while her kids played on the swings. It was the last work day of the school year and we’d just finished cleaning out our classrooms before summer vacation. I watched her son swing back and forth and her daughter dance around in the spray [...]
"All music is created equal." I remember my piano teacher telling me this after I informed her the piece she'd just assigned was "too hard" for me to sight read. She sat there, took a sip of her coffee and bounced her baby on the knee before continuing, "You know how to read music, Madelyn. [...]
I was walking out to my car carrying an armload of Bibles, sketchbooks, and coats when I heard her call my name out from across the parking lot. She was standing in the church's side doorway, waving her arm to get my attention. I stopped, and we met halfway. "I have something for you!" she [...]
The sun was coming up in all it's golden splendor peaking over the tree line of our backyard. Almost all of the snow has finally melted, and yesterday afternoon, I could taste a hint of the coming spring in the air. It will be a few weeks yet until coats can be stored and sandals [...]
You were sitting across from me on Saturday morning, your iced coffee in hand, and that tired smile on your face. You were talking about everything, what your schedule looked like these days, appointments, what you were reading, watching, and listening too. You mentioned things you were struggling with and other things you'd been encouraged [...]
Twelve months ago I wrote in my journal, "Lord, I feel so desperate. Take away this desperation." Time had done it's job and shown me the insufficiency of my wisdom and wit to sail smoothly through life. I'd messed things up. I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I'd frazzled myself in a state [...]
Where are the bells? I've strained my ears, longing for the sweet, familiar sound, but they feel so far away. I look out to the horizon, searching for those singing the unbroken song of wild, sweet words, but I cannot see them. Can you? The world revolves from night to day, I long to hear [...]
All year long I've been planning what I would read for Advent. In typical 2020 fashion, those plans fell through and in a last minute decision, I decided that instead of trying to quickly come up with an alternative, I would just read the opening chapters of Luke each day. There's something about reading the [...]
The old Thanksgiving hymn "We Gather Together" has been stuck in my head the last few days. It was stuck in my head as our Governor gave a press conference on Ohio's dangerous spike in cases. It was stuck in my head when our elders let us know we would be cutting back on evening [...]
During one of my last autumn walks this year, I came across an open field on the other side of the woods behind our house. It was close to the elementary school, and the strong scent in the air clued me in to the fact that it had recently been mowed. Well, that, the large [...]
Madelyn Istrate 