The Resolute Woman

Author: resolutewoman

  • A friend who takes action

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I showed up at church one Sunday recently in pain. The night before, I had slipped in the kitchen and hit my foot—hard—against a chair. When I woke up Sunday morning, my foot was blue and my little toe was swollen. I gingerly put on the pair of shoes that I thought would hurt the…

  • A friend who listens

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    by

    resolutewoman
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    One day recently, the week before my daughter Ranna had surgery, I was feeling stressful. I had promised Ranna that I would go with her to a doctor’s appointment. I was trying to get caught up with everything so that I could take care of Ranna while she recuperated from surgery. And, I was supposed…

  • The case for optimism

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in , ,

    I often find wisdom in unexpected places. I was standing in line at Chipolte Mexican Grill waiting for a burrito to-go for my husband when I noticed a quote in big letters on a brown paper bag. No, I did not get a burrito for me because I am still trying to lose the five…

  • Like a wall?

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Harold misses his wife, Maureen, even though they had lived together for years in silence, never talking, never relating. “He and Maureen could pass hours without saying a word, but her presence was like a wall that you expected to be there, even if you didn’t often look at it,” writes Rachel Joyce in her…

  • The effort to be normal

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    One of the important lessons that Harold Fry learns is that he’s not the only one with problems, that he has much in common with the people he meets. In The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce writes, “People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what…

  • His sweet, sunny, loving nature

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I just read a book about James Garfield, who spent his childhood in poverty on an Ohio farm and then eventually was elected president of the United States. He served for 200 days in 1881 before he died from infection after he was shot by an assassin. I never would have read the book—Destiny of…

  • The amazing Helen Keller

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in

    We were reading a book about a girl who is deaf when I asked Elizabeth if she knew the story of Helen Keller. Elizabeth, the elementary student I mentor every week, had never heard of Helen Keller. As I struggled to explain the story of this woman who was deaf and blind, I realized anew…

  • Shirley Chisholm had guts

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in

    I’ve always admired Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman ever elected to Congress. In 1972, Chisholm ran for president of the United States, the first African American and only the second woman to seek the nomination of a major political party. When I discovered “forever” stamps with a picture of this smart, courageous woman, I…

  • Share the gift of peace

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    I found this lovely message on a Christmas card from my friend Mary Ann. Peace is not something you wish for. It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are And something you give away. Share the gift of peace. –Joy

  • Happy New Year!

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    It’s the beginning of a new year! Today, enjoy the blessing of the year ahead. Don’t make resolutions. You can do that tomorrow. Don’t think of all the things that you didn’t accomplish last year. Think about what you did accomplish. Don’t think about all your problems. Think about all of your blessings. We wish…