I'm just trying to walk myself home.
Browsing Tag
Beauty from Ashes Twelve years ago today, we received one of those phone calls you never want to get. A family friend called from Switzerland to let Taido know that his father had tragically drowned trying to recover his daughter, Maya, who had also drowned. Maya, Taido’s half-sister, was five years old at the time, …
A Story about Yoga {On the Beach} It was that time of day when the light is so magical you can hardly bear to tear yourself away from staring at the horizon, except that there are young children with you who do not care about the color of the sky. They care about making it …
A Story about a 1D Concert Some things in this world just have to be experienced rather than enjoyed. Even though I love being outdoors, I can also admit that a long day of climbing can be rough. Especially if it is raining. But rough days both build and reveal our character. And often …
I try not to hate airports. I really do. Hating is just not in keeping with the positive energy force for good that I want to be in life. So I focus on the end goal of what the airport, or more accurately the airplane, is bringing. A new destination. An adventure. Or arriving home …
My sister has an uncanny ability to accomplish whatever she sets her mind to. She does not waste a lot of time on the what ifs. She pushes forward and deals with problems as they come. It’s not that she thinks everything will always run smoothly and be perfect. She anticipates that there will be …
My home church in Arkansas, the one I grew up in and that my Daddy preaches at, is celebrating being a church for 30 years this June. In honor of that anniversary, I wrote this story: Sunday Showers circa 1989. Mother had just settled into her Sunday afternoon state of being half asleep on …
She made me a scarf at Christmas. Crocheted by her little hands, the same hands my grandmother had and that I have. Sky blue cozy yarn. To match my eyes and to keep me warm. All through the long cold Scottish winter. I wore it double wrapped around my neck for all of January and …
A Story about Simon Simon is growing up so fast that sometimes I forget how much he still has to learn. Being the youngest means he is constantly trying to keep up with the older three. In fact, even though he is almost eight, he has just discovered all the Disney movies. He fell in …
A Story about Ben When my kids were still very young, before Simon was even born, I went through a season where I was really into personality testing. My favorite ones followed the four temperaments (or humors) from Ancient Greek medicine. Four temperaments is a proto-psychological theory that suggests that there are four fundamental personality …
A Story about Cole Hello, Mom? I’m in trouble and I need you to come pick me up. As a mom, you know you might get this phone call one day, but it still surprises you that first time it happens. Cole is my first child. I have strong memories of his nights as a …
A (Short) Story about Spring When she came through the door, she handed me a small wooden charm. It was a colorful shamrock shape, tied with red and white striped string. “We wear these in my country when we are waiting for spring to come.” “What a lovely tradition!” I said, as I took it …
One of the wonderful surprises about art is how the forms reach out and speak to those who have no official knowledge or learning about the art form itself. You don’t have to be a painter to love a painting. And while it is almost certain that if I had some experience as a painter, …
Back in January, I mentioned that we gave the kids tickets to events this year for Christmas presents. (Which is making Christmas last all year!) When I took Ben and Simon to Edinburgh to see The Lion King, we made a day of it, enjoying the city and taking loads of photos. We even had …
Giving Things Up: A Story about Lent The thing about giving up something for Lent is that it is sometimes hard, especially for children, to not make the thing you’ve given up the focus of one’s attention. I think the point of giving something up during this season is to make more space for God. …
What kind of images come to mind when you hear the word needy? Is there a certain name that pops up on your phone that makes you hesitant to answer? Is it the person in your life who takes more from you than they give? More money, more time, more energy. The word draining is …
http://www.alisonchino.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=15178&action=edit&message=1 photo by Whitney Loibner, who shared our love letters on her blog recently. A Short Love Story (for Valentine’s Day) Recently I opened up a document I had put away for a while because I wanted to be able to look at it with fresh eyes. And here is what my fresh eyes saw: …
A Story about Trash In my unwavering attempts to look on the bright side, I may have neglected to present my new hometown of Aberdeen in the most accurate of lights. However, I think it is a case of selective omission rather than blatant lying to show you pictures of sand, sea and granite instead …
I’m still trying to tell stories on Tuesdays, so in January I told a few stories about Walking Towards The Unexpected. For the month of February I am writing about Walking in the Dark. Because I was trying to choose a happier theme. (sarcasm) Actually, if I didn’t feel light in my heart today, I …
A Story about Growing Old Together One day I came home from visiting with our ninety-year-old neighbor and said to Taido, Do you realize that if we both live to be ninety that we will spend more years of our marriage alone than with children? We moved into our house on Cedar Street after five …
Traveling with Ben and Simon can sometimes feel a little bit like having Pippen and Merry in tow. Simultaneously fun and exhausting. The trick is to keep them moving, which is how we found ourselves walking around Calton Hill in Edinburgh one day last week. In addition to the National Monument and other various important …