There is a series of very good articles here on how to help a grieving friend. Learning to grieve like a Christian woman is a grace, and learning to minister to those who are grieving is so important for us in the church. Be sure to check out all her short articles.

I know, I know. Some men want elaborate five-course meals. But this is what rings my husband’s bells: mac and cheese. And I hope you enjoy the poofy shot while it is still in the oven. Now you know for a fact that my daughters did not get their flair for art food from me!

One of the reasons reading P.G. Wodehouse is such a jolly good time is his casual manner of strewing brilliant metaphors around carelessly every paragraph or two. Here is one that made my afternoon brighter:

“Something of the gallant fire which was animating him seemed to pass out of Sir Aylmer Bostock. He blinked, like some knight of King Arthur’s court, who, galloping to perform a deed of derring-do, has had the misfortune to collide with a tree.”

This one is from Uncle Dynamite, one of the hilarious Uncle Fred (Frederick Altamont Cornwallis, fifth Earl of Ickenham) and Pongo books that for some reason I have never read before. It’s a dilly. Uncle Fred is one of our family’s favorite Wodehouse characters, known for spreading sweetness and light as well as for stepping high, wide, and handsome.

What does it mean to be flexible? Able to bend easily without breaking; not stiff or rigid; adaptable, adjustable to change to suit the circumstances.

This is a clearly something that Christian women need whatever their calling, whatever their age. It is a spiritual trait, given by the Spirit, not something we can generate ourselves. What is it that makes us flexible, able to bend without breaking? It is our faith. And to maintain flexibility, what do we have to do? Exercise our faith. Practice what we know. Use our opportunities.

When changes in our circumstances arise, we must remind ourselves that He has ordained all things, that He loves us, and that whatsoever comes to pass is for our good and His glory. This is our faith.

When do we need flexibility? Well, when don’t we? We need to adapt to change pretty much day in and day out. Our mothers needed it when they were raising us, and we’ve needed it all along. Each new milestone in our lives requires flexibility. Whether it is Continue reading ‘Flexibility’

Well lookie here!

After a mere, what? 6 weeeks? I now have a website up again!

Now - all of you who have been anxiously checking the internet every day, holding your breath and going on hunger strikes until you can buy a Skirty . . . this is your lucky moment!

Here’s the tricky bit though. The Skirty comes to you now with a new web address. (I finally gave up the battle with the cyberspace bureaucrats who were holding my website hostage and just got another one. That’ll learn ‘em.)

So . . . NOW when you want to order a Skirty, you need to go to www.amoretti-designs.com

Alright then. No more excuses. Sally forth and go get yourselves some Skirties!

Years ago when I was graduating from college, my future father-in-law dropped by the little Christian bookstore on campus that I was manning for him. After a few pleasantries, he asked me what I was going to do when I graduated. At that point, I really had no idea. Find a job was all I could think of.

So, in his very pastoral way, he told me that I had three choices. Choice #1 was that I could get married. But the problem with this option was that I had not yet met his son. Choice #2 was that I could get a teaching job. This he assumed was a safe bet, seeing that I was an English lit major and all. But I had no desire to teach. In fact, not only had I determined that I would never, never teach, I had also taken the precaution of never enrolling in an education course just to make sure that I would never, never teach.

So I awaited choice #3 with baited breath. His final suggestion was that I go on InterVarsity staff. Now at that time, IV was a happening thing on the campus, and I had been enjoying their meetings and conferences and books. So, at the next conference, my future father-in-law took it upon himself to talk to the regional director about me going on staff with IV, and I became an associate staff member some months later. Continue reading ‘The Debt I Owe InterVarsity’