Our power recently went out and the digital clock on our microwave went out along with it. My husband usually resets it, but for some reason, this time he didn’t. So I found myself looking over at the blank screen, instinctively, throughout the day, and then I had to remind myself to look a few feet away at […]
5 Tips For Taking Better Pictures
I take less pictures of my children now than I did three years ago. It’s not because I value their “moments” any less. It’s just that the longer I am a mother, the more I recognize the sacredness of those moments. And one of the most puzzling and frustrating qualities of sacred things is that […]
Seven Ways To Silence Your Phone
It takes courage to live in the present when we are constantly tempted by the endless escape and connectivity of technology. But how do we cultivate such courage? As with developing any virtue, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to create an environment that is conducive to that virtue. Surround yourself with beauty. Try to make […]
When We’re Afraid to Live Beyond a Screen
The other day my family and I were out to dinner and at the table next to us everyone was on their phone. For the entire meal, eyes were never lifted except to take a bite of food and words were never said except to share something from the phones. I know I struggle with […]
Smartphone Rules
Like most people, I benefit greatly from the use of my smartphone– but sometimes I get the urge to throw it over a cliff. We all know how addictive smartphones are and how harmful that addiction can be to our physical, social, psychological, emotional, and relational health. After months of frustration with my own addiction […]
Why Home Videos Make Us Cry (And Why They Don’t Need To)
Yesterday my husband and I were trying to fix my computer and, in the process, stumbled upon a slideshow of home videos. We were sucked in. And as always seems to happen with home videos, they roused within me that deep longing feeling, that pervasive, aching bittersweetness. And as always, I asked myself why? I […]