Prisoner of Hopes

Category: Perspectives

  • Confessions of an Extroverted Introvert

    Confessions of an Extroverted Introvert

    Sometimes it just seems too “peoply” out there. Don’t get me wrong, I love people. I enjoy extended time with friends and families. I love going to work and encountering new individuals of all ages. But I am an extroverted introvert. There is something in me that screams for alone time. If I am in…

  • Decoration Day

    Decoration Day

    My grandma always called Memorial Day by its old name…decoration day. It was a day set aside to decorate the graves of soldiers with flowers and to honor their memories. Eventually, decoration day became Memorial Day. She was adamant about honoring family with artificial flowers. My decoration day celebration, however, is always the 48 hours…

  • Thanksgiving

    Thanksgiving

    The leaves have turned. The air has turned colder. The days are shorter. There is an urgency to make the most of any weather that permits outdoor living. Winter is coming. It is the time of year that family negotiations begin. Where shall we meet? How many will come? Who will bring food? The coordination…

  • The Mother Road: Rural Road Trips Route 66

    The Mother Road: Rural Road Trips Route 66

    Standing under the sign that signals the beginning (or the end) of Route 66 on Santa Monica Pier, I feel the excitement and anticipation that a great road trip always brings. We are in Los Angeles to help my our daughter and son in law make a cross country move to Chicago. So for the…

  • Nature’s Cathedral: Travel Goals Australia

    Nature’s Cathedral: Travel Goals Australia

    There is something magical about authentic encounters in nature. I am never more aware of God and moved to worship than when I am surrounded by the natural world. Walking in the early morning woods while the dew is still heavy on the leaves. Watching a deer silently follow me along the trail. Viewing the…

  • The Agony And Ecstasy Of Air Travel: Travel Goals Australia

    The Agony And Ecstasy Of Air Travel: Travel Goals Australia

    I have a love hate relationship with airlines. I love to travel. There is nothing that can beat the feeling of being on a jet that is taking off and knowing that your next stop will be halfway around the world. I love having the time to watch multiple movies that I somehow never got…

  • Friends Old and New

    Friends Old and New

    I am sitting in my pajamas after just talking to a friend on the other side of the world. In seconds, we were connected and speaking as if we were sitting right next to each other. A pleasant conversation to end her day and to begin mine. Meanwhile, I received a social media text from…

  • Peace Be Still

    Peace Be Still

    The words sound simple and joyful. Peace be still. It is peaceful here. The birds are singing. The sun is shining. I am sitting by a campfire and in the stillness of the morning, I am thinking of my beautiful aunts. They are all with the Lord. But today, they are also vivid in my…

  • Life is hard. God is good.

    Life is hard. God is good.

    The last few weeks have been difficult; not because there is anything wrong in my life, only because I feel unsettled. Call it a physiological response or existential angst. Maybe it is the summer blahs. Perhaps it is living in what I like to call “the age of anxiety.“ It doesn’t really matter what it…

  • Headed Home

    Headed Home

    I am driving home after a lengthy stay with my son. Leaving his house, I have very mixed emotions. I am feeling that (I am dropping you off for college, I don’t know when I will see you again, you are smart and capable but my life’s mission is to make sure you are okay)…