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Break the Tape
When motherhood required me to sign up various and sundry children for athletic activities I had two choices: 1) appear confident and knowledgeable with a firm grasp of the rules/culture/uniform requirements/bleachers vs. lawn chairs/snack routine/and social hierarchy of said sport, OR 2) admit I knew less than squat about that world and cling to the…
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Putting a Pin in Hope
Over your lifetime, whether long or less long, how many staff meetings have you sat through? This is not an attack on staff meetings . . . they are (usually) a necessity. I’m just curious as to the nomenclature of the room according to the decade in which you sat/are sitting. It’s been a while…
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The Towel and Basin
Several nights ago a darkness stole over my spirit. Admittedly, being all too familiar with this heavy feeling, I nonetheless allowed its seemingly inescapable, nearly imperceptible narrowing of my eyes, as I began seeing through a filmy and scurrilously critical lens. A wrong needed righting. A culprit needed correcting. A stance needed taking. A hill…
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Enough is Enough is Enough
My beloved and I have two mom and pop recliners in our house as empty nesters often do. Red ones because I’m the one who picked them out. Mine’s on the left. Just to keep things spicy we switched up sides when we changed houses. I used to be on the right. Risky business. If…
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Dera Lee and the Fish Knife
Of all the stories I could tell you about a mother on this 25th anniversary of her sudden death, I will choose it to be about the fish fillet knife she carried for protection. You’ll have to wait though, because there’s a prologue. You’ve heard folks talk about “karma” and the concept of “what goes…
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This Old Guitar
The word “blog” makes me roll my eyes. That’s why I prefer to think of what I do as more of an “anecdotally illustrated Christ follower’s motivational chit chat.” Sadly, that does not roll off the tongue. So “blog” it is. Eye roll optional. The redesigned Beyond Lashley Lane will have a similar feel to…
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Duck Jams
A scenario plays out multiple times daily at a four-way stop here in town and there’s not much that can be done about it. On the southeast corner a canal flows, Elijah Drain. Due to the constant presence of water, there are trees, shrubs, weeds, and tangled masses of ground cover, all of it becoming…
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Meat Hungry
When you tell life stories to people do you wonder if there’s any common thread between the teller and the listener, the writer and the reader? I do. Can you relate to me? Can I relate to you? Do my words speak your language? Certainly we are not all the same age (stop clapping your…
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Relentless Goodwill (Ugh)
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away I stood chit chatting with a lady at church. She was somewhat older than I, respected in the congregation, a well-liked person with a nice circle of friends both there and in the community. She explained to me why she and her family decided to…
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In the Light of Goldie
Louella Goldie Westmoreland lived 32 years, never married or became a mother, did not know the enjoyment of a good book or scintillating after-dinner conversation, did not attend school and was dependent on her loved ones to care for her. A high fever as an infant immediately changed her life and the lives of her…
Beyond Lashley Lane
Plain talk about life from a Christian perspective woven together with humor, practicality, and God willing, a bit of encouragement
Beyond Lashley Lane 