Friends in the Fog

Sometimes the fog in the wilderness obscurs the beauty still abounding around us. At first glance a wilderness looks bleak. Feels forsaken. Even a deeper look brings confusion and lack of direction. Barrenness has a way of disorienting.

Broken places pierce.
Brambles, sharp with thorns, menacingly snarl.
Our feet catch, knees buckle, we pitch forward.

Landing with a groan, we lay there, wind knocked from our lungs. We feel our loneliness, the destitute terrain we’re traversing. Emptiness echoes and the winds of despair huff over our heads. Our fragility raps in resonate refrain. The powerlessness of despair mocks sneeringly.

Insignificance shows up next, waving poster board taunts.

“Failure!” “Worthless!” “Unredeemable!” “Hypocrite!” “Ugly!” “Rude!” “Impossible!” “Despicable!” “Jerk!” “Rotten!” “Stupid!” “Ignorant!” “Incompetent!” “Unlovable!”

Turning our heads to hide the tears running into the sand, slowly it comes into focus. Tucked under the shrubs and sage, a cluster of magenta Indian paintbrush bravely colors the landscape. Maneuvering slowly upright and sliding a bit closer, a glimpse of saffron catches our vision. Goldenweed spreads a profusion of bright blooms. Further on, thyme desert buckwheat joins the growing bouquet.

Suddenly what once was an ominous, empty wasteland begins to show hidden depth, resilience, rootedness, perseverance, hardiness, abundance, fruitfulness, beauty.

The posterboard taunts begin to flap, tremble, shake. The wind of Endurance hurls them away, one by one by one. Our friend Good Cheer appears and offers a hand. Grasping our forearm firmly, she tugs us to our feet. Gratitude slips in with a hug.
Justice whispers, “It will be worth it.”
Chosen races up. “I’ve been looking all over for you! The branches hid the path, but the larkspur spurred me on.”

Somehow as we look around the starkness has softened, the fog faded, the way widened.

The branches and brambles, stickers and thorns, trials and tribulations will not wholely disappear. But with our comrades to link arms with, we will rise every time.

Ways to Flourish

F ~ follow goodness
L ~ live grateful
O ~ offer compassion
U ~ utter tenderness
R ~ rest and renew
I ~ inspire gentleness
S ~ savor today
H ~ hope always

A thousand and another thousand plus a few more years ago, a baby King was born bearing the qualities that bring forth flourishing and bringing us the redemption and renewing and becoming so we might bear them too.

Oh hallelujah! He is mighty to save.

Books + Bibles

Rest: A Journal for Lament
Every Day With Jesus CSB Bible
Lifeway Women’s Bible in marigold
The Abide Bible
Learning Humility by Richard J. Foster
Jewish Flavors of Italy
How to be a Wildflower by Katie Daisy
The Song of the Cardinal by Gene Stratton Porter

READ

God’s Word
Word of God
What if Frodo Said No?
Holding It Dear

Booky Questions for Readers

What are you currently reading?
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What genre{s} do you love to read?
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Audiobooks, e-books, or physical copies?!
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Movie or book?
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Fill your own bookshelves or borrow from your local library?
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Bookmark or turned down corner, old receipt or nearby photo?
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Book darts, highlighter, notes in margins?
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Book journal or another way of listing books you read?
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Number of books you read this year?
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Do you ever mourn because your TBR stack will outlive you?
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Plus, the stacks you would like to re-read?
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Have you ever exclaimed to your spouse or friend in urgent tones, “There are so many books I want to read!”
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Do you find yourself wishing to have already read more of the books waiting quietly in the wings so the message could be absorbing into your life? 😄
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IF you have instantaneous answers to these questions, YOU,
my comrade friend,
are a fellow

R E A D E R.

🙌😊📚💖⭐

Delightful Incidentals

Aren’t these socks adorable?
I’ve been wearing this shirt during the Christmas season. It’s comfy and I like the fit for my body shape.
Loving this Jannu Ceramic Ridge mug from Serrv.

This booklight was in my stocking and I’m so sold on it.
This journal from Cavallini is all the hearts.
I love this Dark Berries and Bergamot Candle and this Rose Floral one from the same company.
I ordered this wireless keyboard to use with our tv. I haven’t received it yet, so we’ll try it out in the new year!
And this Qwerkywriter keyboard is all the hearts! It was my WOW Christmas gift this year and I’m so excited about it.

My dearie daughter gifted me this fantastic mug and I could not be more delighted!

Isn’t this Five Solos bag lovely?

If you’re looking for candles and creating hygge in January, check out this company ~ hyggelight The Growing Candle. Such a fun and fantastic idea!

{affiliate links in this post, friends!}

Delight in 2022

2022 delighted me with new friends and old friends, new endeavors and opportunities, a few weekends at fantastic conferences + retreats, growth + change, spiritual direction + therapy, book club and writers cohort, boundaries and growth.
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2022 held challenges and disappointments, hard conversations, discouragement and things I didn’t enjoy doing,
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2022 held laughter and love, compassion and kindness, arguments and angst.
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2022 presented good food and gatherings, dirty dishes and crumby floors, coffee and conversation, grocery shopping and organization needed.

2022 brought books and movies and documentaries.
Writing and reading and pondering. Podcasts and Bible study and journaling.

2022 offered space for silence and solitude, gratitude and goodness, reflection and rest, happiness and home.

2022 held a lot of simply being human.

What delight and beauty did 2022 hold for you?

EMMANUEL ~ GOD WITH US
in all the delightful, in all the disappointment, in all the chortling, in all the challenges,
in all the gratitude, in all the grief,
in every aspect of our humanness……Jesus entered earth, to be WITH US.
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Eugene Peterson sums it up succinctly.
“God Loves You.
He’s On Your Side.
He’s Coming After You.
He’s Relentless.”

Gratitude • Beauty • Delight

Gratitude. Beauty. Delight.
Laughter. Wonder. Fun.

I believe in the power they all wield.

Because here’s the thing. It’s often life finds us in hard and hurtful places. In unsteady waiting or loneliness. Forlorn days and fretful nights. Overwhelm and misunderstanding.
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All that is lovely, holds virtue, carries nobility, sparkles purity, brings a good report, tells truth, esteems excellence, proffers praise, is authentic and admirable, gives graciously, compels charity, all these things, require much of us.
They request intentionality, urge diligence, call up strength of character.

And in the practice, they push back against the darkness.

They remind us of the Light. The Way. The Truth.

Whispers of a good, good Creator come to us in them.

Reminders of life as it should be are in their open palms.

Encouragement of renewing and refreshing and a making new of all things is found in their happy chatter.

Each one adds value and wisdom and insight to life.

They are worth pursuing with steadfast care.

I believe in the power they wield.

Fun. Wonder. Laughter.
Delight. Beauty. Gratitude.

Words • Hands • Jewelry

I’m contemplating my focus word for 2023. It’s also a bit astounding to type 2023 as the approaching year.
CHAPTER was 2022’s focus word.
2022 did bring forth new beginnings. There were new chapters opened and chapters finished. Some long overdue.
Mourning and rejoicing found, much good for growth begun.
In the photo above, the jewelry on my hand and wrist each represent deep meaning for me personally.
One of my friends in my writer comrades cohort shared a written piece about hands with us at our meeting in December. It came from a journaling prompt she writes and group she leads.
I looked down at my hand this week and I thought of her piece.

I thought about the meaning of my bracelets and ring.

I wanted to document it, so I opened my phone, opened my camera and snapped a photo.
The five solos bracelet I’ve had for a number of years. It’s my favorite and I wear it often. It serves as an Ebenezer, a touchstone of remembrance.
I want to remember.
I want these in my life.

Scripture Alone
Christ Alone
Grace Alone
Faith Alone
Glory to God Alone

The cruciform bracelet was a gift and a reminder of my internship this year. A reminder of a way of living.

“It’s like this is one wild dare to live cruciform, to let life become shaped like a cross. This could be a dare to let life be shaped like union.It’s a dare to be married to mysteries so Christ has hands again in this world — and specifically mine.All is sacred in the givenness — the givenness of God through everything, the surrender of everything to Him.”
~ Ann Voskamp

The ring.
I absolutely adore it.
Matthew and I grew up in an Anabaptist denomination. Much emphasis was placed on a simple life, a separate life, an abstaining from common cultural practices.
Exchanging of wedding rings was not practiced.
When we married, we did not give each other rings.
And I’ll be clear. Simply exchanging rings does not guarantee a long-lasting marriage or happiness together. Rings don’t guarantee commitment.
For our twenty-fifth anniversary, we spent the weekend in Tulsa and my good man took me shopping for wedding rings.
I had so much fun learning about rings, looking at rings, and finding an affordable ringset I love.
It’s simple with a touch of fancy. This encapsulates my style perfectly.
It reminds me of our commitment to each other. Our love. Our memories. How much we’ve hit potholes, been thrown for a loop, yet we keep repositioning, we keep practicing how a happy marriage is the partnership of two good forgivers, we keep pressing in to teamwork.

Maybe that’s what a diamond represents.
Strength. Unbreakable. Sparkly. Dependable. Beauty.
It is cut to reveal its color and clarity.
Maybe this is what marriage does to us. It reveals and refines and reflects who we’re becoming.

I love the symbolism and metaphor of my diamond-shaped stone. It’s definitely been a delightful part of Chapter 2022 in my life.

{As a total aside: we also went to a fantastic coffeeshop I hope to visit again.}

“If God supplies you with some gift, beg Him that He might teach you how this gift can help you progress in humility….or else beg Him to remove the gift from you so that it might not become the cause of your downfall.”
~ Isaac of Ninevah