Church retreat weekends have always had a special place in my heart. I love the change of scenery and being in nature. I particularly love the way that being apart from the routine seems to stretch time. It allows you to look back on yourself and your life in new ways. Each spring, our…
Author: Amy Rogers Hays
Six Strategies For Having Paleo or Other Special Dieters Over for Dinner
Sharing a meal together is a wonderful way to practice hospitality. It is symbolic of communion and a special part of every culture. But cooking for people with food allergies, intolerances, and preferences can feel overwhelming. It’s harder to break bread with people who don’t eat bread! Today I’ll suggest six styles for inviting…
Belonging to a Church
Last Sunday our church moved to its new summer home. This is the fifth space that we have regularly worshiped in over the past six years, just now overtaking the number of apartments that my husband, Evan, and I have shared over the same time span. As I stood toward the front of our…
Summer Reading: 10 Children’s Books Set in the Late 19th Century
School is officially out in Maryland this week, so today is another installment of Summer Reading: 10 Favorite Books. (Check out my fantasy series list). Just like the charming May B that I wrote about on Thursday, these books are set the in rough and romantic late nineteenth century. The late 1800s with its…
Reflections on Dyslexia: May B. A Novel by Caroline Starr Rose
When I picked up Caroline Starr Rose’s book May B. this spring, I did not know it was going to be about a girl who had dyslexia. Until I was in my 20s, I did not know that I had dyslexia. I checked out May B. along with a host of other…
Natural Hair Care: Baking Soda, Apple Cider Vinegar & Vodka-Gelatin Hair Gel
My first foray into natural hair care was when I went to France in the summer of 2005. My gorgeous spiral-curled brunette artist roommate Charity had brought along two English books. One was Gone with the Wind and the other was a paperback called Curly Girl by Lorraine Massey. Charity was the most beautiful…
In Honor of Anniversary Weekend
In honor of our sixth anniversary last Sunday, here is the beginning of the story of Evan and me from seven springs ago… We met at history honor society. He was a tall handsome senior. I was a curly-haired, blond junior. In such a small program, we were both surprised there was a…
Summer Reading: 10 Favorite Fantasy Series
As temperatures fluctuate from 50 to 90 in late May in Maryland, and trees are in full summer greenery, school is about to be out. Summer is upon us. In honor of all my tutoring students who, even if they do not know it, are in search of good books to read over the summer,…
Wishes, Names, & Yellowstone Pools
At Yellowstone, there are signs that ask people to not throw coins (or anything else) into the whimsically named colorful springs and pools. Since ancient time, waters have been seen as places of healing and life, where little water spirits might dwell and grant a wish whispered with a coin thrown. The sacrament of…
A Moving Meditation, yoga and prayer
On vacation my mom, sister-in-law, and I will often do yoga together. My mom goes to yoga classes a couple times a week at home, and she is a good sport about trying my routines. Our exercise time in Yellowstone last week was mostly devoted to hiking, but we did squeeze in a quick…
Packing Lighter
When my brother and I were little, we used to play a game on long car rides called “In My Suitcase.” One of us would start out saying, “In my suitcase you will find” and then name something, like “five pairs of teal polka dotted socks.” The other person would then respond, “In my…
Making Time to Connect
I have found growing friendships after college to be slow work. In college, it was a bit like scattering wildflower seeds on a fertile hillside. In only a few weeks or months, I had a beautiful array of budding blossoms. But after college, it seems that friendships mature more like trees. The growing seasons…
Comfortable but Presentable, A Well-Curated Life
A few years ago when Evan and I went to visit our dear friends Julie and Brett, I noticed some of their beautiful books arranged by color on an antique bookshelf. I was smitten. I came home and promptly over-hauled our main three bookshelves by color. Every day, I look at them and enjoy…
Handmade Creativity: Adventures in Canada
Every few summers, my family has made its way to a small cabin in northwestern Ontario. For a week or two we live without electricity or running water in a little Canadian log cabin. Over the years that I have gone to the cabin, I have learned a little about making things by hand….
Creative Movement
Ballet has shaped how I think about exercise and movement. My experience with ballet was marked with beauty and strength, focus and challenge. And that’s how I want to move now. I want to move within beauty. I want to grow stronger. I want to learn to focus, control, and challenge both my mind…