Weightless
Our family usually bids farewell to summer with a “last blast” trip to the beach right before the school year kicks off. It helps keep the anxieties about all the unknowns from compounding into a giant wave of overwhelm for our girl. We’re simply having too much fun to worry about the challenges that are […]
Empty Nests
I was walking on the greenway with the fam last week when I stumbled across a tiny little bird’s nest on the edge of the blacktop path. No birds were anywhere in sight and it looked as if it had been discarded – perhaps thrown there by a lawnmower that moved through earlier that morning. […]
Have Faith
When the hubs handed me these flowers today he said, “These have a little summer in them, but they’re also a reminder that change is on its way…”I needed that – after a year, I mean a WEEK of virtual 4th grade – technology failures, tween meltdowns, screen fatigue, off the hook anxiety, and everyone […]
Grace for the Pivot
Today feels like I’m squeezing lemons to make lemonade…only to realize I’ve nicked up my hands while slicing the lemons. You know the tiny little cuts you don’t even realize are there, until the acidic juice hits and makes you want booboo kisses from your mama. Today I want booboo kisses from my mama. I’m […]
The Rising Tide
The news is bad. Each day it seems worse…and more complex…and more uncertain. Daily I have to fight my addiction to MORE information. Higher death tolls, faster spread rate, lack of protective equipment…the list goes on and on. I hear the words that we’re doing good, but nothing I read sounds very good, and it […]
The Dust & The Dirt
In my family, we didn’t do much in the way of observing Lent. It was a bit too liturgical for the church I grew up in, and as kids, our focus was solely on frilly dresses and white patent leather shoes, and OF COURSE, Easter baskets and bunnies and the goodies that would leave me […]
Deep
I’d been through the darkest years of my life and had somehow survived thanks to the kindness of close friends and church family. But it was such an anomaly – an uncharacteristic blip on the screen – that it was easy to just tie a millstone around it all and send it straight to the […]
Listen
Listen…to the sound of the silence around you, the beating of the heart within you. Listen to the feelings coursing through your veins that have never been given the power of voice. Listen to the memories of old – moaning in deep, hollow tones on cold, dark days. Listen to the ache of long-held regret […]
Life Over Death
It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve painted during a worship service, let alone painted as my husband played drums on the worship team. We love it when we get to use our gifts in tandem worship. We’re just better when we’re together. I’d decided during the week to give myself much grace in […]
Chips and Cheese
My husband and I snuggled in the other night to watch a movie. We had our feet propped up, our warm blankets draped cozily across us, and our standard fare of tortilla chips, pub cheese, sodas, and the remote lined up just within arms reach. Sheer perfection. The only thing that came close to dulling […]
Pizza – With Mercy on the Side
I know we’ve all been there at one time in life or another – where the very thing you need to happen just isn’t coming soon enough and your heart is waging the war between what is on it’s way and what reality has to offer right now. Truly, I think this is one of our most significant […]
Princess Warrior
I am a Princess Warrior…with face set like flint and heart strapped into place, I answer the call into battle. My hands do not tremble, my knees do not quiver, my heart does not faint. White-hot Strength runs through my veins, once cold with crippling fear. I am a Princess Warrior…efficient and agile, rushing to […]
From Absurd to Absolutely
As an act of utter defiance against my impending 40th birthday, my husband and I decided to train for a triathlon. Actually, decided isn’t quite the right word to use…more accurately, I was coerced. You see, it’s a crazy enough notion in its own right – this “exert-yourself-til-you-just-wanna-die-while-someone-actually-times-you” kind of thing…but for those who really […]