Sometimes life can be messy, so let's have a cup of coffee and talk about...

Por fin tuve la conversación con Dios que debí haber tenido hace seis años. «Dios», le dije, «extraño mi casa». Las fiestas regresan y una vez más, llegó la hora de reunirse en la casa y en la iglesia con familiares y amigos. Pero ahora, no tengo dónde hacerlo. Hasta una cena simple con mi hermana, mis hijos y mis nietos, no la puedo hacer aquí en este sótano. He ido de anfitriona a invitada, porque ni siquiera tengo sillas para todos, ni una mesa grande, ni una cocina cómoda. Todo mi equipo de anfitriona está guardado en un armario. Aunque no me considero la mejor anfitriona, me gusta hacerlo, y cuando lo hago, lo hago de la mejor manera posible y lo disfruto al máximo. Ya no tengo una casa. Vivo en el sótano de la casa de mi hija. Extraño la casa que tuve en Miami y la que luego tuve en Texas. No eran grandes ni lujosas, pero eran mías, todo mías. Entonces pienso en los últimos cuatro años de la vida de mi madre, en la prisión de un hogar de ancianos por motivos de salud. Recuerd...

I finally had that conversation with God. The one I should have had six years ago. “God,” I said, “I miss my house. The holidays are approaching once again, and the time for dinner parties and church fellowship gatherings. Yet, now I don’t have a place to host. Even a simple dinner with my sister, children, and grandchildren. I can’t do it here in this basement. I have gone from being the hostess to being a guest, because I don’t have enough chairs or a big enough table, or a comfortable kitchen. All my hosting equipment, stuck in a closet. While I don’t grace myself for being the best hostess, I do like to host, and when I do, I make the best of it and enjoy it to the max.      I don’t have a house anymore. I live in a basement below my daughter’s house. I miss the house I had in Miami, and later the one in Texas. They were not big or luxurious, but they were mine; they were all mine.      As I look back at my mother’s last four years of her life, stuc...

  “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of  grace , that we may receive mercy and find  grace  to help in time of need”. ( Hebrews 4:16 ). I drove to church by myself last Sunday. God arranged it that way because He needed this time alone with me. No interruptions. No distractions. He had me stay after church for a meeting, so my husband and I went in separate cars. I’m glad.      It happens that on my way there, for some random reason (really?), the word “grace” popped into my mind. Also, for some “random” reason, three situations also came to mind, one after another, just like that. One, two old friends of mine, both pastors' wives, from two very opposite denominational doctrines and theologies, yet best friends and colleagues. I always found it refreshing to see their love for each other and for their congregations and ministry to the people around them. Another one, my relationship with my prodigal, his journey, and his eventual ...