I traveled home a few weekends ago for the first time in a long time. And it’s always good to come home. And for me, it really IS home. It’s the same dirt lane, with the same field across the way where I stood and pitched countless balls to my dad in the twilight of […]
Giving Thanks :: Seeing 1000 Gifts and Beyond
He walks with them at sunset and my heart about melts away. I snap pictures and swell with love for them and I add it to my list of one thousand gifts–these blessings I’ve been counting awhile now, into the three thousands now. I remember reaching one thousand and how looking for His gifts had […]
When You Wonder if He Can Use YOU
I have a confession to make. I don’t drink coffee, but I am addicted to Starbucks. I know. It’s a problem. And I’m planning to deal with it, really I am. It’s just that the creamy spice of the Chai tea latte has won my heart … a venti-6-pump-3-splenda-no-water-no-foam-extra-hot Chai tea latte, to be exact. […]
Stillness and Rest {Food For Our Souls}
Stillness and rest are indeed like food to our souls, and to be honest, mine has grown pretty hungry over the past few months. My pace of life seems to run faster and faster as the need arises to I fill every single waking minute of my time with something, just to get it all […]
How to Be Still and Trust, Even In the Pain
He is still and he trusts me and looks up at me like I’m the love of his life. And how can I resist that smile? With those steel-blue eyes and small gap between his teeth. And I’ve been falling for him since my eyes first met him that January morning over six full years ago. He’s calm […]
Only God Can Change Tragedy Into Beauty
Only God can change tragedy into beauty. And it is only because of Him we can give thanks in everything, and by doing so find joy. I first met her 2 years ago when she became my neighbor. I’m really not the bold and brazen type who randomly knocks on a door. And I’m certainly not a door-to-door evangelist, but […]
Why Feelings Are NOT the Dictators of Our Reality {There is Hope}
There are times in life that are stormy and dark, when every heart feels beyond hope. Times when we’re overwhelmed by circumstances that startle and catch us off guard–circumstances that are right here, right now–dark and directly overhead. No anticipation. No warning. And we’re blinded by their presence and sideswiped by their consequences. A lost job. A […]
Because He Really Does Satisfy with Long Life
And what a privilege to return home in the late of summer to celebrate her 90th birthday. Her life has not been perfect; in fact it has been full of suffering… An alcoholic father, an interrupted education, marrying young, and having lots of babies… No running water, almost no money, baking from scratch, curing wild […]
How a Small Act of Being Kind Can Change Everything
Sometimes a random act of kindness can change everything. I have to admit, this morning was rough. I sluggishly woke to the energetic banter of all four of them, and we were already late, as usual. I told them to get ready to go, and they nodded and scattered. And I counted on them to […]
The Whimsy of Living in the Now {Giving Thanks for One Beautiful Thing}
We walk up the hill in the noon of the day and they walk right beside me. And we near the apple trees in full blossom in the shadow of the mountain there beyond. The poppies dot the hillside with the brilliance of orange, and we stop to take it all in. The beauty […]
