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TEN years ago today, we adopted a loving, and curious chocolate lab in the Chicagoland suburbs. He was full of energy and not yet one year old. Ranger was originally named Sawyer and had [...]

I really wish you an ever deeper peace. I know peace quite often lives underneath the turmoils and anxieties of our heart and doesn’t always mean inner harmony or emotional tranquility. Peace which God [...]

It’s a beautiful night for a stunning and lingering sunset —and the clouds always produce a more poignant effect. One more sunset and we start moving our 3 kids to college. This spot is [...]

While many survived to the 15 August 1945 liberation in the Asian Pacific Theater, my great-grandfather Pieter Pouwels was one casualty among thousands, and died in a prisoner camp on 9 December 1944. Pieter [...]

Every new school year provides opportunities and changes! This school year will be an interesting and monumental shift for me, with all 3 daughters graduated and in college soon. Today we welcomed 9th grade [...]

One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVII — Pablo Neruda (translated by Mark Eisner) Soneto XVII (No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio) No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio [...]

We thought our neighbor’s house was on fire last night. We drove into the neighborhood after dinner out with our girls, and there was thick pungent smoke everywhere, tangible. A pillar of gray white [...]

I can hear an owl in my neighbor’s tall cottonwood tree and pause to listen. No matter how I quiet my steps and remain still, the owl flaps into the night, broad wings carrying [...]

What is a believer to do in times of darkness — a darkness of perplexities and confusion — a darkness not of the heart but of the mind? These times come to a faithful [...]

Be yourself, persevere, live in hope, be kind to others… I think of all I told my girls in raising them into adulthood, all while navigating my own personal challenges and emotions, insecurities, and [...]