William Stafford’s poem, “The Way it is”, is my companion on this first day of a new year. The Way It Is There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard…
Last night at our church’s Session meeting (our church board), someone shared this quote from Roger Bannister during her devotion to start the meeting: “Doctors and scientists said breaking the four-minute mile was impossible, that one would die in the attempt. Thus, when I got up from the track after collapsing at the finish line,…
I met my birth mother this weekend. (Here is the first post about it.) It is difficult to know what to share here. She remains a very private person, and it is not my role to tell her story. Except, of course, that her story is my story.She still does not want to tell her…
Yesterday I drove to Reno. There’s a whole lot of empty miles on that drive, which was good. Because I needed that much open space to process the journey. I’ve come to Reno to meet my birth mother. And my thoughts are as cloudy as that horizon. I don’t know how today will go. She…
Think about a favorite memory from your early childhood. Maybe you can see it in your mind, like an old family movie, images reinforced with the family stories told about it. I “remember” my first trip to Disneyland, even though I was not quite 3 years old. I’ve seen the home movies. I’ve heard the…
I went ahead and contacted one of my aunts and uncles (my birth mother’s youngest sister and husband). They did not know I existed, but have been kind enough to answer some of my questions about the family genealogy. They have sent me two books of family history, including photos of people who had previously…
A sermon preached at Southminster Presbyterian Church September 25, 2016 Selected verses from Genesis 38 and 50 Joseph is Jacob’s second youngest son, and the first-born son of Jacob’s favorite wife, making him Jacob’s favorite son. Joseph is also a dreamer. And his dreams get him in trouble, because he dreams that his older brothers…
Here’s a brief update for those who have been following my birth family discovery as I met new cousins this weekend. It was great. I met two brothers and their wives. They are first cousins of my birth mother. We had a lovely visit, getting to know each other. One of them has a lake…
I blogged the other day about how the shame my birth mother carries is sticky and how her request for me to keep her secret (by not contacting her children, and by extension, my birth family on her side) is becoming more and more difficult for me. First, let me say thank you to the…
As regular readers may recall, I’ve been on a birth family discovery the past two years, ever since Washington State opened their sealed birth records and I got my original birth certificate in the mail. My birth mother does not want to meet me. And she has asked me not to contact her children, my…
Glass Overflowing 