A Prayer For Us Jesus,may your spirit find us,fill us,on this February morning,softly,with intensity and warmth,giving grace,bringing beauty for brokenness,offering respite and restoration,showing us shalom in the showing up,reminding us how deeply we are loved,how fantastically we are delighted in,how infinite is your shepherding staff,caring and seeking and saving,curving waves of refreshing,carving humility and dignity […]
January Kaleidoscope
One full month of 2023 has ticked away. I love this idea of living as an observer of beauty. Paying attention to details. Noticing shapes and nuances. Giving gratitude for aesthetics and texture.Our lives are stories.Our stories are a constantly changing pattern made up of a mixture of excitement and pain, new and old, adjustments […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {December}
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, […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {November}
Gazing around the circle, joy and delight tighten my throat and wrap warm right around me. Fifteen faces. Voices mingling. Eyes closed. Open palms. Raised hands. “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your Glory Lord is what our hearts long for. To be overcome by Your Presence, […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {October}
“Please Aslan,” said Lucy “What do you call soon?”“I call all times soon,” said Aslan.” ~ C.S. Lewis, Voyage of the Dawn Treader “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {September}
“Being scared isn’t really that much different than being scarred.” I read it on Ann Voskamp’s blog. It’s true. I nod my head. Read further.Tears prick my eyelids and squeeze at the corners. Scared and scarred both carry trauma and pain. Truth is, it doesn’t even have to be big or deeper traumas. It shows […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {August}
We Are Not Alone Ah, friends. We are not alone. Some days our emotions shoot up, out, over with the pressure of a geyser. Sometimes the pressures of life sound like the roar of the river, tugging, tugging, tugging until we waterfall over the edge. I was wrong when I pictured life flowing as a […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {July}
Hello! Hi! July has been All The Summer here. High, high heat. The forecast hangs hot and heavy with the same heat forecasted and not a sign of a drop of rain!The sprinklers are running on our little patch of lawn by our basement patio and the irrigation systems churn water onto our beans. I’m […]
What Really Matters Now…..
What really matters now is linen overalls and Arnold Palmer and air conditioning…. What really matters now is ice and water and insulated jugs….. What really matters now is embracing the unexplained right next to the unavoidable and offering it all a measure of trust and hope and longing…. What really matters now is rambling […]
Bits and Pieces to Delight In {June}
Every year we have wheat fields to walk and combat our nemesis known as rye. It waves, delighted with itself, a bit above our winter red wheat. We are not so delighted. If left, and consequently run through the combine, it will multiply in staggering amounts thereby consuming our clean wheat fields. Last October, we […]
Bits and Pieces To Delight In {May}
Peonies. Beautiful blooms. They delighted me for every minute they swayed on their stalks. They don’t hang around long. I wonder if that isn’t part of their enchanting charm. They are a distinct reminder to savor What Is Here and Now. I’ve been writing the books I’m reading in My Reading Life journal. I have […]
Bits and Pieces To Delight In {April}
Spring is my favorite. I’m glad to welcome it in, though it’s been slow and teasing and windy and springing from hot and cold in all of its edging in coming. The violets have sprung up in the woods and daffodils and tulips delighted us with their blooms. Here are a few of the things […]
Bits and Pieces That Delight {March}
Our weather springs back and forth, teasing and taunting. Cold and cold. Wind and a blow of snow. Pivot. Sunshine and seventy-five degrees. Loveliness and a nod toward spring.Hard left and back to winter and cold and wind.Hmmmm.It must be March in Kansas. Chit-Chat Are you a Wordle-er?! I am and I love it. I […]
Bits and Pieces That Delight {February}
Bits of this. Pieces of that. Here’s a compilation of places I’m finding lovely, things I’m anticipating or eyeing, words I’m pondering, and a sprinkling of laughter and delight. I’d love to hear what’s adding joy and gratitude to your life right now….. Three things that bring you delight • Three things you love to […]
A Layered Life
Life happens in layers. We aren’t always told this. Maybe because much of the time we don’t notice, don’t realize, don’t know how to name it. “The days are long, but the years are short” is a perfect capture. I don’t miss stumbling about at night with an infant or toddler. I do miss baby […]
Bits and Pieces That Delight {January}
I like lists. I like fun stuff. I like beauty. I like delight. I like books. I like quotes. I like stickers. I have several blogs or newsletters I enjoy reading which consist of lists similar to this. I’m bringing my own for any of you who, like me, love browsing this type of thing. […]