Bruce Willis might be surprised to learn what this woman wants. If he took a peek at her Christmas list, he’d discover it was pretty short.

Because this woman doesn’t want more stuff.

Not after cleaning out her mother-in-law’s house in 2003 and her own mother’s house in 2008. She’s still trying to find places for some of their old stuff to live and convincing herself to learn how ebay works to get rid of the rest of it.

Really, this woman wants what most mothers want.

For her children to be happy. To find purpose for their lives and joy in completing it. She wants them to be healthy, to have secure jobs, and discover the sweetness and sadness of raising their own families.

This woman wants what most authors want.

To write books that impact readers and help them make sense of their lives. Along with sales enough to pay the expenses so she can write more books to impact readers and help them make sense of their lives.

And this woman wants to encourage others to know Jesus.

Not because she’s got all the answers and feels superior. But because she makes plenty of mistakes and her Savior loves her anyway. She wants everyone to experience that same kind of love and security.

But today, most of all, this woman wants to bake a pie that doesn’t boil over.

Even though her mother says the best pies always run over, this woman would like to take one of her crowd pleasing pies to a family gathering. Without fruit glaze dripping over the edges. Without the pan bottom sticky with fruity goo. But this woman won’t get what she wants until she gets over 1) her tendency to overfill the pie pan with fruit filling, and 2) her paranoia that a pie can’t possibly be cooked through until the middle is bubbling merrily, which means the edges are frantically boiling and spewing over the edge of the pan. This woman wants the impossible.

Bruce Willis has his work cut out for him.