Yes, it costs money to go to the University of Chicago Divinity School.  Quite a lot of money, actually, even with scholarships. And living in a townhome whose value has decreased by a third since the mortgage was financed costs money too. So we empty the closets, clean out the basement, scour the shelves. Or mainly, she does.  And drags me along, ( Read more... )

I did not write a Christmas letter in 2008.  I started to.  This was as far as I got.

The Random House Unabridged Dictionary has four definitions of epiphany, only one of which - “a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi” - is capitalized.  Since there’s not ( Read more... )

Ghana, situated as it is next to the Cote d’Ivoire, was once the Gold Coast colony. Its top two exports continue to be gold and diamonds. The entire country of Ghana is 92,000 square miles. Minnesota is 87,316 square miles. The Prime Meridian goes through Ghana, which had Maggie a little uncertain as to what day it would be there when she arrived ( Read more... )

 
On February 4, I got up at 3:30 in the morning and put my firstborn on a plane to London, where she was going to spend a week in a hostel with her roommate Stephanie before boarding a flight for Accra, Ghana, for her semester abroad at the University of Legon. This was not an easy thing for a mother to do. I am, of course, immensely proud of her:  ( Read more... )