My son David put it best, He’s the light that never blows out… This Christmas, Let Jesus fill all your dark places.
Katie Swift
For me, growing up was a lot like the ocean. I was born and raised in Florida and the salty air still hangs in my memories. The waves were much bigger then. I can still remember… I am small and looking up. I am anticipating that which is greater than me. The foamy water breaks...
There is something empowering about getting rid of toys. It’s like a proclamation. A declaration for my children and for myself. A bold statement to all the advertisements, the billboards and the commercials that never shut-up. We don’t need your stuff! Your stuff does not make us happy. Because the things you promise will bring...
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written. I want you to know that it’s not personal. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. There is so much that I want to say. I have met someone. Ok well technically I met Him years ago and He’s known me since, like, forever....
Is there anything better than pancakes in the morning? What else can summon us to the table tops? Fill us with joy and wonder? Make us lose our inhibitions? Is there anything better than pancakes in the morning? Maybe…
When I was 12 years old my father showed up at our little house on Watervliet and I can’t remember why. I must’ve said something to upset him though because he looked me straight in the eyes and said, “You know Katie, you ain’t shit. You ain’t nothing but me and your mama put together.”...
Has anyone ever really been convinced by a bumper sticker? Or been changed by a church sign? Can a facebook comment really be that profound? Do I really need to take a stance? Maybe I should just take a seat. Next to you. Relax. Enjoy (turn the phone off). And be convinced by your laughter. Be changed...
I once was afraid of the dressing room, the things I could not fit into. The lights, the mirrors, the mockery. A thousand girls made of magazines. A thousand friends with knives in their hands. A thousand sisters, a thousand demands. With shiny hair, poked out ribs and sunken in bellies. Staring, comparing they’d find me there and tell me:...
It was easy to see that cigarettes would kill me until I was nic’n for a smoke. And to have a candy bar until I was afraid of food and the sickening compulsion to make myself throw it up later. It was so easy to talk about how people are overmedicated until it was me...
I think the hardest thing about life is death. And I believe in Jesus, I believe in heaven. I believe that someday I will see my Nanny and Papa again. Cousin Joe, Uncle Jack, Marquis, and all the people. And really I can’t imagine not seeing them again. I don’t think I have enough faith...
I remember spending the weekend in the mental ward at Miami Valley Hospital. I was suicidal. And really it wasn’t like I had plans to kill myself…I just didn’t want to live anymore. So my doctor asked if she could pray for me and than I was admitted. The walls were padded and none of the doors...
I think the hardest thing is that no matter what I do I can’t make my my children happy. I try everything to entertain them: parks, pools, swing sets, popsicles, toys, gumballs, play-dates, preschools, you name it. It doesn’t work. They fight and they whine and they cry mommy mommy mommy. And I have a headache....
wake up take a shower brush your teeth pick out your clothes iron your shirt eat a bowl of cereal take your vitamins take out the trash make me coffee kiss me before you go work all day in a cubicle a family of frames do the bills schedule the appointments go to the post...
my Mama she’s daisies she bends down low you can cover her in concrete she’ll find a way to grow in between the cracks the grey and the black is where she loves to go my Mama she’s daisies she dances with the wind no matter if it’s raining she moves like a sacred hymn...
Faith feels. It’s not doctrine or theory taught in a fluorescent room somewhere. It’s not a quick fix for my problems, a medicine I can shove down my life, a simple slogan to cure my grief. It’s not the reason for war, to kill a man or to say that to my sister. It is...
When I was a little girl I did not have a daddy. I did not get spun or twirled and when I put on my pretty dresses I had no one to show them to. Now I am all grown up with a daughter of my own. And she has a daddy. And a lot...
My husband and I have a beautiful story of how we met and fell in love and eventually- very swiftly, got married. It’s the kind of story that makes movies. But I am not going to tell it today. Because the longer I am married, the more I realize that almost everyone has a beautiful...
Last thursday morning I was talking to my mom about all my plans and visions and great ideas. I have a new one about each week. I want to change the world and minister to all the people, And apparently, my mom does too. She told me something that just might change the world. Or...
Want to stalk each other and pretend we're good friends? Me too!