Author: Meredith Cloninger

Setting Down the Pen

As a writer with zero formal training, I never know quite what to expect in the creative process when I sit down to share thoughts and words. Some days, my words hit dull, and feel more pithy than relevant. There are others where I feel afraid of what I write; ‘what will readers think of me’, and also, ‘am I willing to do what I ask readers to do?’ And there are days when I sit down and words come easily, flow together, and paint a picture. On these days,… Continue reading Setting Down the Pen

Signpost of Love

“God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance…” Romans 2:4      Remember with me for a moment; remember times, seasons, places, people with whom you felt safe. Remember scenes of rest, fun, beauty. My beloved grandmother will turn eighty-eight this year. I take my little one to spend time at her house each week, because I want my girl to soak up the feeling of my grandmother. I want her warmth to be imprinted onto Charlotte’s heart, just as pain and hardship surely will be. We sit on her… Continue reading Signpost of Love

Please Don’t Send Dwight

There is a scene deep into Season 2 of my favorite show of all time, The Office. On an episode titled “The Injury,” the shocking, yet lovable Michael Scott calls in late to his receptionist. He has not shown up for the workday, and as we watch, we learn that he has quite unfortunately burned his foot on a Foreman grill in an attempt to make breakfast before work.  Michael calls his office, because his office is his family. He begs the office workers for various things: toilet paper, a… Continue reading Please Don’t Send Dwight

Receiving the Truth in Love

Psalms 34:5 “Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”     It is said that shame is a function of the eyes, that it involves a public exposure of my inadequacy. In its simplest form, I am seen, and not wanted.  And since, it seems, I have been created to be told who I am, how I am, from some Source outside of myself, shame can feel like a setup. If the thing I crave most deeply is witness, sooner or later my desire… Continue reading Receiving the Truth in Love

A Picture of Self-Care

  The scene felt oddly familiar to me.  Peering through our window, no one would have known we’d just had a three month respite from academia.  It was mid-afternoon in late August at our kitchen table, and I was hovering watchfully over my whining child, trying to convince her six-year-old brain that homework is good for us.  “Charlotte, work is good for you. You can do hard things. Let’s finish this so you can rest or play.” She couldn’t or wouldn’t get there, and I backed away, rolling my eyes,… Continue reading A Picture of Self-Care

Overstimulated Cynic?

A few weeks ago, I read an article about my generation.  I stumbled upon it while scrolling Facebook, the beloved news source option of my generation.  When I’d finished, and put the paper (ahem, iPad screen) down, I felt so understood, so vindicated.  I had been named. According to the author, my peers and I belong to a unique group; we’re called “xennials,” and we are “the microgeneration between Gen X and Millennials.”  We were born between 1977 and 1983, and we are not as tech savvy as the millennials,… Continue reading Overstimulated Cynic?

Grace is Weightless

Last week I had a chance to get in with a massage therapist. I’d had a massage scheduled for several weeks prior that had been cancelled, much to my chagrin. I love this type of therapy, though I do spend most of my time on the table fighting my compulsion to ask the therapist questions about herself.  If I can generally abstain for an hour from my ‘care-taking’ neuroses, I am able to be still and feel my muscles give way to kind touch. I told my therapist I thought… Continue reading Grace is Weightless

On Receiving Help

Last week, my community gathered to talk about lamenting. I had the gift of being able to teach some, joined by two dear friends, who generously shared their own walk with Jesus through the valley of the shadow.  It was all the regular prep, but so very different than any other time I have taught.  I sat in my home and wrote, prayed and thought. My friends did too, and we talked. They shared with me; we laughed and shuddered at how dark the dark had been. We cried, and… Continue reading On Receiving Help

Forcing Solutions?

I will never forget where I was sitting the first time I heard the following quote: “Our thinking becomes distorted by trying to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it.” I had rushed into a support meeting after a day of “forcing solutions.” I had crammed four errands into an hour, the one hour I had between counseling and picking my child up from school. I had not asked for help with so many tasks that day, when people would have gladly helped. I had followed… Continue reading Forcing Solutions?

Receiving Winter

“Do not be in dread, for I am with you.  Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 How do we pick up and begin again? This annual dance in which we participate, marked with seasons, school calendars, anticipated beach trips, families gathered, and carols offered up? We willingly engage Advent, or try to, on whatever level we can summon.  Whether distracted or happy, grieving or… Continue reading Receiving Winter